Palos Verdes Estates Map
Palos Verdes Estates is a city, incorporated in 1939, in Los Angeles County, California, USA on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The city was masterplanned by the noted American landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. The population was 13,438 at the 2010 census, up from 13,340 in the 2000 census. According to the 2000 US Census, Palos Verdes Estates is the 81st richest place in the United States with at least 1,000 households (based upon per capita income). The 90274 ZIP code (covering all communities within the Palos Verdes Peninsula) was ranked the 47th most expensive housing area among high property value U.S. ZIP codes in a 2007 study by Forbes.com.
The city is located along the Southern California coastline of the Pacific Ocean. There are several accessible beaches although most of the predominantly rocky shoreline is marked by high cliffs. Three noteworthy Palos Verdes Estates surfriding beaches exist among the estate homes along the coastline, and include: Haggerty's (the rock beach below the Neighborhood Church of Palos Verdes, site of the former Haggerty Manor estate), the Palos Verdes Bluff Cove Beach (around the point, south of Haggerty's, which includes "indicator", "little reef", "middle", and "boneyard" surf breaks), and Lunada Bay (occasional large winter waves). Other significant features of the city are the scenic Palos Verdes Golf Club, a challenging 18-hole golf course and country club designed by George C. Thomas Jr and William "Billy" Bell in 1923, and the Palos Verdes Tennis Club. Both premier facilities are restricted for recreational use by city resident-members and guests, and are centrally located within the city. Another popular city landmark atop Palos Verdes Estates is the La Venta Inn. Built in 1923, La Venta Inn was the first known building structure on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Architects Walter and Pierpont Davis designed the building and the famous landscape architects, the Olmstead brothers, designed its gardens. The La Venta Inn has views of the Southern California coastline.
The city is primarily a high-end residential location, with no traffic lights, and relatively limited commercial shop areas found in Malaga Cove Plaza and Lunada Bay. One of Southern California's most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods, Palos Verdes Estates' aesthetics and architecture are protected by an Art Jury, a non-governmental organization which must approve any exterior alteration to any building, fence, sidewalk, or other structure. For example, most residences and business buildings within the city limits have uniform Mediterranean red ceramic tile roofs and often feature architecture with column and arch motifs, resembling European coastal communities.
Nearby cities include Inglewood, Long Beach, Compton, Signal Hill, Lynwood.