In June 1923, 10 years after Frank A. Vanderlip, Sr. and a syndicate of buyers purchased 16,000 acres that make up the Palos Verdes Peninsula, a real estate rally was held in Malaga Cove to interest potential buyers in the area. Well, over 30,000 people and 6,000 automobiles visited the grounds of what is now Malaga Cove School. Many came to picnic on the hills and learn about grand plans for the Peninsula and enjoy airplane flyovers, yacht races, and athletic games for children. The plan’s first subdivision with 3,200 acres, now the City of Palos Verdes Estates, was planned for the northwest portion of the Peninsula. It also included Miraleste, now in the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, to the east. In 1923, the Palos Verdes Homes Association and Art Jury were established and responsible for parks, streets, bluffs, playgrounds, amenities, and monitoring buildings’ specifications. La Venta Inn was completed, and a plant nursery was established in Lunada Bay to provide trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants to the developing community. Plans for roads, utilities, and town centers were well underway. In just one year, over 3,000 homesites had been sold and by 1930 several recognizable buildings on the Peninsula were completed. These include the Palos Verdes Golf Club, the Malaga Cove School, the Palos Verdes Beach and Athletic Club, the Malaga Cove Library, the Neighborhood Church, Malaga Cove Plaza’s Gardner and Syndicate buildings, and Neptune Fountain. Further south, Point Vicente Lighthouse was also completed as were the Vanderlip homesite stables (now the Portuguese Bend Riding Club) in Portuguese Bend. While there were efforts to purchase and develop the remaining 13,000 acres according to the original plans, the early Palos Verdes Project didn’t have the necessary capital to make this happen. In fact, 15 years after development started and during the Great Depression, the Project stalled and found itself with fewer investors and a huge tax debt it couldn’t afford. The dire tax situation led to the incorporation of the City of Palos Verdes Estates in 1939, the Peninsula’s first city. Although Miraleste was part of the first subdivision, it was excluded from the new city since it wasn’t contiguous to the northwest development. The Peninsula population spiked dramatically after World War II, surging from just under 14,000 in 1950 to 54,000 in 1967. This ultimately led to the incorporation of the cities of Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, both in 1957, followed by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes in 1973.
