La Venta Inn, Palos Verdes Estates, California

Abstract/Description: Image shows view looking north across driveway of La Venta Inn, located at 796 Via del Monte on lots 4, 5, and 6, block 1536. Visible is the parking lot, with a gathering of several horses and riders among parked automobiles, the pergola-covered courtyard, several figures standing on the tower stairway, and the newly added dining room with chimney, designed by architect W.L. Risley, in northeast corner of the property. The Inn, originally built as a club house (named "Clubhouse 764") to entertain realtors and prospective land owners, opened in the summer of 1923 and was the first permanent building constructed by the Palos Verdes Project. The name was soon changed to La Venta (meaning "The Sale" in Spanish) and the inn served as a sales office and architectural prototype for the peninsula. During the 1930s it became a weekend retreat for notable celebrities such as Charles Lindbergh, Erroll Flynn, Betty Grable, Bob Hope, Tyrone Power, Cary Grant, and Gloria Swanson. Briefly in 1942 the Inn became the central observation post of the coastal artillery. From 1944 to 1954 the property was the residence of Commander and Mrs. Stanley Schnetzler, and was re-established as an inn in 1955. On November 11, 1978, La Venta Inn became the first structure designated as an historical landmark by the Rancho de los Palos Verdes Historical Society. In 1992 the New York Food Company took over management of the property.
Subject(s): La Venta Inn (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.)
Historic buildings--California--Palos Verdes Estates
Hotels--California, Southern
Horsemanship
Horses
Date Created: 1926-03-21