Welcome to DOP 2023, the official site for Doors Open Peninsula 2023:
Celebrating 100 Years of History on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Spearheaded by the Palos Verdes Library District (PVLD) and the Peninsula Friends of the Library (PFL) in conjunction with our Peninsula cities and organizations, DOP 2023 commemorates the 100th birthday of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. On June 17th, 1923 a real estate rally was held on the grounds of the Malaga Cove School (now the PVPUSD Administration Building) to entice people to purchase property here. The rally drew over 32,000 people from all over the southland and is basically what launched the modern development of the Peninsula!
To celebrate this 100th anniversary, we invite you to explore the Peninsula and get to know its treasures. On June 17, 2023 - exactly 100 years to the day - DOP 2023 partners and organizations are planning a Peninsula-wide open house giving you the opportunity to visit and learn about sites you pass by everyday and some you probably didn't even know were here.
Bookmark this page and check back often as more information becomes available!
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Doors Open Peninsula 2023 Newsletter - 03/21/2023
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Partners and Organizations
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Participating Sites
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The Los Angeles Maritime Museum is located in San Pedro, in the historic 1941 Municipal Ferry Terminal building. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places, and has been operating as a museum since 1980. Learn about the history of Los Angeles harbor through interactive exhibits, and enjoy views of the busy main channel from the back patio! |
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| When the Chapel was completed in 1951 it stood alone like a precious jewel on a deserted dusty knoll overlooking the blue Pacific. Today, what you are looking at is a “tree chapel.” Chapel architect Lloyd Wright had been inspired by the cathedral-like majesty of the redwood trees in northern California. The redwood trees that surround Wayfarers Chapel are forming living walls and roof to a natural sanctuary encased in glass with views of the surrounding forest and nearby Pacific Ocean. These are typical traits of Organic Architecture, which aims at using nature as the framework and regards the space inside as sacred. Lloyd Wright’s design of Wayfarers Chapel is the perfect combination of nature and architectural genius and is one of the foremost examples of organic architecture. Not available June 17th |
| Founded in Torrance in 1961, Peninsula Heritage School purchased its current location in 1976 and has continued to provide a high-quality education to Kindergarten through 8th Graders with small class sizes infused with our character qualities program. The ranch-style buildings of our school are constructed with exteriors of white “board and batten” design. One of our buildings was the original “Boy Scout House,” which is a historical structure, and our site originally served as a school for the children in the City of Rolling Hills, as a PVPUSD elementary school (until 1958), and as the City Hall for Rolling Hills Estates (until 1974). Tours of camps and historical image display and program brochures available. |
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Designed by architect Corwin Eberting, construction on the post & beam building, featuring walls of glass and Palos Verdes stone started in 1973. The building was dedicated in June the following year. The building features panel carved doors designed by mid-century folk artist Evelyn Ackerman. The City of Rolling Hills Estates used the “Scout House” (now Peninsula Heritage School) for its business from incorporation in 1957 until the municipal buildings were completed. The white picket fencing is distinctive to the City. Visitors will be able to tour the building and learn about its history. |
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Opening in 1938, the Rolling Hills General Store (known also as the Rolling Hills Market), the wood board and red-roof building has been home to a post office, clothing store, feed store and sandwich shop over the years. In 1939, alterations were made to the building to allow it to be used as a clubhouse for community activities, and over the years it became a meeting place and de facto community center for area residents and the equestrian community. The Rolling Hills Nursery School opened on the site in a separate building in the early 1950s and is now New Horizons Child Development Center. Jim Kelly opened Kelly’s Korner in the General Store in 1984 and the family has operated the popular deli/sandwich shop since. Visitors can grab a bite to eat and walk around the exterior of the historically designated site. |
| The Center overlooks the lovely 51-acre George F Canyon with a 1.6 mile trail that winds through shaded riparian woodland and coastal sage scrub habitat and is the site of a rare mainland exposure of the Peninsula’s Catalina schist bedrock. Inside the Center, which opened in the 1990s, visitors can interact with exhibits to learn about the plants, animals, insects, geology and Peninsula natural history. The Center, owned by the City of Rolling Hills Estates and operated by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, will be upgraded with a beautiful new structure over the next few years. |
| From the outside it may look like there is no door, but behind the Talking Flower Clock there is a whole vault room housing the clock’s mechanism. Visitors will learn about the first Flower Talking Clock in the U.S. which was created and donated in 1987 by resident Michel Medawar. The heart of the clock is a Patek Philippe time base designed specifically for the talking clock invention and borne out of a collaboration between Medawar and the electronic division of Patek Philippe in the early 1960s. The clock announces the time on the hour. And at noon, the clock plays “The Star Spangled Banner.” |
