MOORE HOUSE

The Threat
How You Can Help
A Gem of Modern Residential Design
About Architect Lloyd Wright, Son of Frank Lloyd Wright

We were thrilled to receive this video exploring the Moore House, with commentary from Eric Lloyd Wright (the architect's son) and an interview with the original owner. Many thanks to Louis Moore, Jr. for providing the video, producer Teri Wolf for permission to use it, and Jon Dunham for his crucial editing assistance!

Other segments of the video:
Moore House Interior (Living Areas) - 2 of 5
Moore House Exterior (Deck) - 3 of 5
Moore House Interior (Living Quarters) - 4 of 5
Interview with the late Dr. Louis T. Moore - 5 of 5

Thank you to everyone who submitted letters advocating for the preservation of the Moore House. The comment period for the draft environmental impact report (EIR) ended in December 2010, and the Daily Breeze has reported that the City of Palos Verdes Estates received more than 500 comment letters.

Photo by Jennifer Clark

As with the Notice of Preparation (NOP), an outpouring of letters flooded the city from area residents, design professionals, architectural historians, local historic preservation organizations, and individuals across the country and abroad.

The next step in the process will be the release of the final EIR. The Palos Verdes Estates Planning Commission will vote on the certification of the final EIR at a public hearing, to be followed by a final public meeting before the City Council.

We will keep you updated on this issue. To stay informed of the latest developments and make sure your voice is heard, please subscribe to our Preservation Action Alert e-mails.

The Threat

Moore House roof detail; photo by Jennifer Clark

Designed by noted architect Lloyd Wright -- the son of Frank Lloyd Wright -- and completed in 1959, the highly intact Moore House in Palos Verdes Estates is threatened with demolition. The owners plan to construct a new house on this prime site overlooking the ocean. Since the house has absolutely no local protection, public outcry is essential in preventing its demolition. 

Despite such an outcry in June 2010 from concerned citizens like you, the City of Palos Verdes Estates does not seem to be taking this issue seriously. Your continued—and increased—participation might be the only way to save this irreplaceable historic home.

The City of Palos Verdes Estates has no historic preservation ordinance, and local landmark designation is not available as a preservation tool to help protect the house. Palos Verdes Estates received an F on the Conservancy’s 2003 and 2008 countywide Preservation Report Cards.

Original presentation drawing of Moore House, Lloyd Wright.  Courtesy Lloyd Wright Papers, UCLA Library Department of Special Collections.

EIR Ignored Pleas for Preservation Alternatives

The draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the demolition and new residential project (formally called the 504 Paseo del Mar Project) was released in late October. Although the EIR considers the Moore House eligible for listing as a historic resource, it concludes that the house can’t be feasibly renovated to meet the owners’ needs for updated living space.

The EIR doesn’t evaluate a single reuse alternative that would maintain the Moore House’s eligibility for listing as a historic resource, despite an outpouring of requests to do so—and the fact that evaluating preservation alternatives is required by law under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Over the summer of 2010, the City received nearly 300 comment letters on the project’s previous Notice of Preparation (NOP) from the Conservancy and other historic preservation organizations, area residents, design professionals, architectural historians, and individuals across the country and abroad. Yet our pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

How You Can Help – Write to the Palos Verdes Estates City Council

Photo by Anne O'Brien

Although the public comment period for the draft EIR closed on December 10, you can still submit a letter to the Palos Verdes Estates City Council, which will make the ultimate decision on the fate of the Moore House. Let them know that this architectural treasure needs to be preserved for future generations.

Although it should be in your own words and reflect your own experience, to be most effective, your letter should address the following points:

• The Moore House is a rare and significant historic resource, designed by the nationally recognized architect Lloyd Wright (son of Frank Lloyd Wright), and is one of only two structures designed by him in the city of Palos Verdes Estates.
• The draft EIR fails to identify and evaluate a single reuse alternative that would maintain the Moore House’s eligibility as a historic resource. This is a clear problem, as the final EIR must include at least one true preservation alternative.
• The Moore House can be modified and expanded in a sensitive way that would address preservation concerns as well as several of the owners’ stated project goals. Yet no such alternatives have been seriously considered.

If you live in the City of Palos Verdes Estates, please emphasize that you are a local resident and that preserving the historically significant Moore House is important to the character of your city.

Send your letter to citycouncil@pvestates.org, and please copy mvavala@laconservancy.org on emails so we can monitor the response.

Thank you for your support!

A Gem of Modern Residential Design

Original building permit for Moore House; courtesy City of Palos Verdes Estates Department of Building and Safety. Click on the image to download a PDF of the document.

Located at 504 Paseo del Mar, the Moore House is a striking example of modernism in a neighborhood dominated by Spanish Colonial Revival and Mediterranean Revival inspired homes.

Wright’s design was nearly rejected by Palos Verdes Estates, whose architectural design guidelines strongly favor a traditional aesthetic.

The unique house features dramatically angled roof overhangs, walls clad in locally quarried Palos Verdes stone, and expansive windows to take advantage of ocean views. Wright’s innovative arrangement of interior rooms placed the common areas, including the living room, dining room and kitchen, along with the master bedroom on the upper floor for maximum views of the ocean and coastline. It is profiled in the monograph Lloyd Wright: The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright Jr. with photography by Alan Weintraub and text by Dana Hutt.

About Lloyd Wright, Son of Frank Lloyd Wright

Photo by Anne O'Brien

Lloyd Wright (1890-1978), son of internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, had a successful career focused in Southern California that spanned over six decades.

Born Franklin Lloyd Wright, Jr., but always known as Lloyd to distinguish him from his father, his career produced such well known works as the Sowden House (1926) in Los Feliz and both the Wayfarer’s Chapel (1951 with later additions) and Bird of Paradise House (1965) in nearby Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Moore House, completed in 1959, was designed during a period in which Lloyd Wright’s work was known for flared, flamboyant forms. Architectural historian David Gebhard has described Lloyd Wright’s postwar residential designs as “agitated, flamboyant and anything but quiet” and “domestic single family equivalents to the sparkling and tinselly world of Wilshire Boulevard.”