Move Lloyd Wright House To Abalone Cove? Some Think It Would Solve Two Problems At Once

The folks at city hall are kicking around an idea that at least some of them think might kill two birds with one stone, combining "public usefulness with historic significance" in the words of RPV Senior Administrative Analyst Sara Singer.

Basically, the idea is to move the Lloyd Wright house at 504 Paseo Del Mar, (at left), which the present owner wants to tear down but some local preservationists want to keep, to Abalone Cove, where the city has applied for a $5,500,000 state grant to build a Nature Education Center in the parking lot.

"Age, construction material and split-level design would present some challenges for moving," according to Singer. Additionally, she said in an email, "The transition from private home to public space brings significant accessibility, seismic and other building code issues."

She noted that this concept had not been included in the original grant application. But, she said, if the city is awarded this grant, the staff will present this concept to the City Council. If the city does not get the grant, "there is no other funding currently budgeted for these improvements," Singer said, adding that,   "If the City Council directs staff to continue exploring this option and allocates funding for it, then we would continue looking into the viability of this project. "

Asked about the timing of the entire project, Singer said, "The grant awards will be announced in December, and if the grant were awarded we would go through the entitlement process and the public would be invited to participate.  Please note that in the grant application the architectural design of the proposed building was to be influenced by the architectural style of Wayfarer’s Chapel."

The Chapel, a local landmark designed by Lloyd Wright, is across Palos Verdes Drive South from the proposed Abalone Cove project.

"I think it’s good for public and non-profit groups to be aware of these significant buildings that are threatened for destruction in case the right opportunity arises to preserve them in a community where authentic architectural significance is rare" Singer said.

For much more background on the proposed Nature Education Center at Abalone Cove,  please check this earlier post on my blog.

If you have any thoughts about this concept that you want to share with our City Council, their email addresses and telephone numbers are here.