DIGS is the premiere luxury real estate lifestyle magazine serving the most affluent neighborhoods in the South Bay and Westside of Los Angeles, California.
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APRIL 19, 2024 | ISSUE 324 TO OUR READERS South Bay DIGS welcomes your feedback and encourages reader response to our editorial features. Please send your letters to the Publisher at 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 or via email to Contact@WestsideDIGS.com. Please include your name and contact information. Letters may be published and we reserve the right to edit. ADVERTISING For inquiries, please contact Publisher Warren Dow at 310.373.0142. EDITORIAL For editorial inquiries, please email Editorial@SouthBayDIGS.com On The Cover 722 1st Street, Unit D, Hermosa Beach, California, 90254 Office: 310.373.0142 South Bay DIGS Magazine is published every other Friday by m3 Media, LLC. Reproduction in any form or by any means is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent from m3 Media LLC. The Publisher and advertisers are not responsible or liable for misinformation, misprints, or typographical errors. All advertised properties are subject to prior sale or withdrawal without notice. Real estate advertised in this publication is subject to the Federal Fair Housing Act. M3 Media will not knowingly accept any advertising for real estate which is in violation of the law. All persons are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised are available on an equal opportunity basis. Any and all submissions to this publication become the property of m3 Media, LLC and may be used in any media. CREATIVE SERVICES & AD DESIGN/ORIGINAL ARTWORK PROVIDED EXCLUSIVELY BY SOUTH BAY DIGS. © 2024 Micro Market Media, LLC. All rights reserved. C O N N E C T W I T H U S Listen & subscribe on iTunes, digs.net or your favorite podcast provider. The Titans of Real Estate INFLUENCERS PODCAST .net Founder & CEO / Publisher President & COO Digital Media Director Video Editor Senior Graphic Designer Contributing Writers Senior Staff Photographer Warren J. Dow William Bud Moore Kieron McKay Matt Polizzi Rufus Agbede Jenn Thornton Constance Dunn Karine Monié Abigail Stone Paul Jonason BLUFFTOP BLISS A Palos Verdes Estates home on a private blufftop equals sweeping panoramas of the Pacific Ocean and its scene-packed coastline. Feature story on Page 50. PRESENTED BY PRESENTED BY SUSAN HARVEY AND CLAIRE HARVEY OF DESERT PACIFIC PROPERTIES COVER STORY WRITTEN BY CONSTANCE DUNN COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL JONASON DRE#: 01368971 Maureen Megowan 310.541.6416 mdmegowan@gmail.com THE WAYFARERS CHAPEL S O U T H B A Y History Tidbits One of the most notable landmarks in Rancho Palos Verdes is the Wayfarers' Chapel located near Portuguese Bend off of Palos Verdes Drive South. This "Glass Church" was built by the Churches of the New Jerusalem in 1951 as a national monument to Emanuel Swedenborg, an eighteenth-century mystic. The construction was made possible by Mrs. Narcissa Vanderlip, who donated the site, and was designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyed Wright. Peninsula resident and Swedenborgian Church member Elizabeth Sewall Schellenberg first envisioned building such a chapel in the 1920s as a tribute to the church's founder, eighteenth- century theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Mrs. Schellenberg dreamed of a little chapel on a hillside above the Pacific Ocean where wayfarers could stop to rest, meditate and give thanks to God for the wonder and beauty of creation. Narcissa Cox Vanderlip, also a member of the Swedenborgian Church, responded to the dream and agreed to contribute land for the chapel site. She invited young architect Ralph Jester to draw up plans for the chapel. The depression of the 1930s and World War II forced a delay in developing the plans. Following the war Mr. Jester urged his friend Lloyd Wright, son of the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, to apply his genius to the project. Lloyd Wright found himself in complete accord with the positive outlook of the Swedenborgian Church and its emphasis on harmony between God's natural world and the inner world of mind and spirit. Architect Lloyd Wright brought the various ideas for the chapel into reality. As with many of Wright's buildings, the chapel features geometric designs and incorporates the natural landscape into the design. This unique structure was specifically designed to serve as a chapel for meditation and prayer for wayfarers, or travelers. Made of redwood, glass, and Palos Verdes stone, the building also features numerous triangles which are intended to symbolize spiritual values. The huge, circular glass panes are also used to convey spiritual concepts. The 3.5 acre site and the cornerstone were dedicated on July 16, 1949 by the Rev. Dr. Leonard I. Tafel of Philadelphia, then president of the national Swedenborgian denomination, and the church was completed and rededicated on May 13, 1951. Today, what you are looking at is not just a glass church but a "tree chapel." Lloyd Wright, had been inspired by the cathedral-like majesty of the redwood trees in northern California. The redwood trees that surround the Chapel are forming living walls and roof. Since its dedication, millions of visitors have toured the Wayfarers Chapel and its surrounding gardens. Notables married at the Wayfarers Chapel over the years include actress Jayne Mansfield, who married bodybuilder Nicky Hargitay there in January 1958, Beach Boy Brian Wilson, actor Dennis Hopper, astronaut Anna Fisher and Governor and Mrs. Earl Warren. Other stars spotted there over the years as guests included Debbie Reynolds, Patricia Nixon, Carroll O'Connor and Bob Hope. The above is an excerpt from my book "Historic Tales of Palos Verdes and the South Bay". For more info see http://www.southbayhistory.com. 20 DIGS.NET | 4.19.24