February 1, 2025 • 27 mins
Dean chats about the Palos Verdes peninsula dealing with landslides. He discusses how a portion of the Palos Verdes peninsula is falling into the ocean but not all of it. Dean talks about the love of nature and architecture from the 1950s at the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes. Plus, restoring and seeking a new location for the Wayfarers Chapel, and his appreciation for it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio appf I
AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp the
(00:21):
House Whisper. I design custom homes, I build custom homes,
and today and this weekend, most importantly, I am your
guide to better understanding that place where you live. Today
on the show, I've been looking forward to this for
a while. Today on the show, number we have two
agendas to two objectives. Number one, we're going to take
(00:45):
calls as we do, and number two, I want to
share some Southern California. Well it's not all Southern California.
I'm going to share some design news with you, some
cool things that have been happening, some interesting things that
have been happening here in Southern California that I think
are of interest to would be of interest to anybody,
(01:06):
no matter where you live. Uh So, just sharing some
real interesting design news that I've been holding in my
pocket for a long time, and this morning we're just
going to take the time to share it with you
as well. And of course, like I said, your calls
by the way, phone lines open right now. Producer Richie's
(01:27):
standing by ready to take your calls. Eight three to
three two. Ask Dean. That's the number to reach me
at eight three to three the numeral two, Ask Dean,
eight three three two. Ask Dean. Just checking to see
if Tina was awake. Yes, she is, because she laughed
at that. I have no idea why, but because she does.
(01:48):
I keep saying it that way. All right, let me
introduce our awesome team. Sam is on the board wrangling.
Are not no live studio audience. How you doing? Sam?
Very good this morning? Dean? How you doing? I am well,
I am well, You're doing very good.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
No, I had a wonderful evening last night with my
son and now he's here with me at the station.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Anytime I can bring him here in this station is
a good day. See that's awesome. That's awesome, all right.
As I said, Producer Richie's standing by ready to take
your calls. Nowhere near a microphone. But he's signing to
me right now that all is well, and he's waiting
for your first call. And of course, Eileen Gonzalez at
the news desk, good morning, Eileen, good morning, Dean. How's
(02:35):
it going going pretty good? It's going pretty good. I
got a good night's sleep, and it's the kind of
morning that I love the best, waking up in the dark,
it's cold outside. It just it's all working for me today.
I just want to stand to the blankets on these
days though.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But see, that's the thing I was telling some friends
last week because they were noticing that I was coming
on that and like the fact that, see when is it?
Is it early July? Yeah, that's when the trail opened
In early July. We've got another backpacking trip in the
Sierra scheduled, and people are like, why would you go
(03:14):
up so hot? You know, we're going to be up
like an eleven thousand feet and why would you go
up so high? It's so cold up there, it's so
out there, And I'm like, yeah, that's my favorite thing.
I think one of my favorite things in life is
being out in inclement or you know, kind of like
(03:38):
not ideal temperature situations and yet being protected and warm
at the same time. I think the duality of that.
So yeah, I totally agree with you. It's in fact,
you know, this morning I was sitting by the fire
with a blanket over my leg and you know, just
getting ready for the show, knowing how cold it is out.
(04:00):
So I just love the I love both at the
same time, right, I'm a definitely a get up in
the mountains, get in a cabin, light the fire, know
that it's freezing cold outside, and know that you are
warm and snugly inside. Yeah, snugly, that's the key word, snugly.
(04:21):
Speaking of snugly sitting across the table from me, this
is not relevant to any of you, by the way,
so just back off. But but my better half, my
design partner there, she is my best friend in all
the world. Tina there, she is. Hi, welcome home. I
(04:46):
beat you too, it we did. And I was also
hesitating because I thought there might be an elephant. So
there was an elephant. Yeah, I didn't hear it. I
didn't hear it. I didn't have my friend. That elephant
just won't shut up. I have a hoodie on, and
I actually have the hood on.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You do you?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's why? Okay, your interesting profile there in the darkness.
You kind of look like the unibomber with them the
hoodie and those headphones on at the same time. So
how you doing I'm good, all right, all right, all
is well? Do this okay. So I'm going to wait
(05:27):
for calls to show up on the board, and in
the meantime while we're waiting, when we come back from
the news, I'm gonna start sharing some items of interest
to you that I've put together. In fact, let's start
by talking about Palace Verdes, the peninsula. Not great news
at all, the Portuguese Bend landslide that's been taking place there,
(05:52):
and specifically, and I know there are a lot of
homes that have been affected, but specifically one of the things,
one of one of my favorite pieces of architecture on
the planet is over there on the Palas Verdes peninsula
in the Portuguese Bend area and has been completely affected
(06:13):
by this. I want to talk about that when we return.
Plus your calls eight three to three two. Ask Dean
A three three the numeral two. Ask Dean. You are
home with Dean Sharp. The house whisper. Can't by Dean
Sharp the house whisper. Hey, it does not matter whether
your home is a condo or a cottage or a castle.
(06:36):
I am here to help you take it to the
next level. One of the ways we do that is
by taking calls. There are zero calls on the callboard,
and usually all I have to do is mention that
before people are like, oh ho oh, now that's my chance.
So there you go. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean. Anything you want to talk
(06:58):
about regarding your home today. I've got some news of
interest to discuss on the side here, But anything that
you want to talk about regarding your home, construction, design
DIY issues, whatever the case may be, give me a call.
If you want to design a cathedral together, we'll talk
(07:18):
about that. If you want to uh, if you need
somebody to help you fix your leaky toilet, we'll talk
about that. And how about everything in between? Eight three
three two Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two
Ask Dean. Traffic is light on the callboard right now.
If you've tried calling before, now maybe is your chance
(07:40):
give me a call? All right? Onward in two my
first topic of the day here, I want to share
some news and info about what's going on on palas
Verdi's peninsula. Palasverti's peninsula, by the way, is not sliding
into the ocean, okay, but a portion of it is unfortunately.
(08:04):
So first of all, again the way sometimes news get reported,
you get the impression, like you know, with the local
fires here like all of southing all of California is
on fire. No, California is a very big place, So
that's not the case. Tragic fires, absolutely devastating, but a
(08:25):
fraction of the reality of what life here in southern
California is for most of us. So the same is
true of the Palace Verdes Peninsula, Palasverdia Peninsula, very very large,
beautiful peninsula, and for a long long time there are
some very fortunate people who've been able to have their
(08:47):
homes on that peninsula. Part of the peninsula obviously faces
the east, looks over sam Pedro and the Harbor and
Long Beach, and then a good part of the peninsula
faces out seaward, and on that western edge of the
peninsula there is a you know, it's full of kind
(09:08):
of canyons and ups and downs, but on that western
edge there's a section known as the Portuguese Bend. The
Portuguese Bend is, unfortunately, an area where hundreds of people
have built their homes starting in the early nineteen fifties.
(09:29):
You know, gravel Road was replaced with paved road part
of you know, kind of circumnavigating the peninsula, and that
paved road plus all of the home development in the area,
hundreds of homes, actually put pressure unknowingly on a what
(09:49):
we call a deep slip zone. And what that means
is that when we talk about landslides and earth movement,
a slip zone is basically where a whole lot of softer,
looser fill and by loose, I don't mean you know, sand, okay,
(10:12):
but technically looser phil is resting on top of you know,
a large area of bedrock okay. And so you can
imagine if given the right conditions, if enough weight is
applied to it, or if enough moisture penetrates into that area,
then the area between the looser soil and the bedrock
(10:37):
becomes a slip zone. And if it is an uneven
zone like where if gravity has the opportunity to take hold,
then you can get an entire area of land sliding,
you know, ergo land slide. So Portuguese Bend is a
huge area and the slip zone is very very deep,
(11:00):
very deep. Nevertheless, it has been a landslide issue since
Now this is really important that We point this out
because I don't think you've heard this in a lot
of news stories about Palace thirty. But Portuguese Bend has
been moving ever since those initial homes were built and
(11:25):
the road was built the extra weight and pressure, So
in other words, Portuguese Bend has been moving since the
early nineteen fifties. The first recorded movements I think of
significance were noticed in like nineteen fifty five. Okay, But
when we'd say movement and recorded movement of interest, we're
(11:46):
talking about like in the course of a year, like
a third of an inch, and like, okay, well, all right,
that has increased significantly, though in an amazing way. And
with the ongoing slipping throughout the decades, and the ongoing
pressure of the weight of structures being built and traffic
(12:09):
on the road, and then after a long extended period
of drought, the crazy winters that we've had these last
couple three years, and the amount of moisture that came
down hard and fast, the slip zone finally decided to
give way. So we'll talk more about this on the
(12:29):
other side of the news. But that area of Palace
Verdes is as far as most geology is concerned irrecoverable
in terms of permanent structures. It's going to have to
end up as a usable, accessible, open space. It would
appear because I can't imagine how we're going to hold
(12:50):
back that much soil. I'll talk to you about how
much it is actually moving now. And then the point
of my story. Here a structure on the Portuguese Bend
that has been near and dear to my hearts for
as long as I have been in the architecture business.
And what's going on with Wayfarer's chapel. All of that
(13:11):
and more.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
KFI AM six forty live streaming and HD everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp the house whisper with you
this morning? Is this the first day of February? Holy cow?
Where'd January go? Where's my life gone? What is the
(13:45):
meaning of what's it all about? Tina? All right? Now,
we're not gonna answer those questions today, but I am
gonna help you with your home and we're talking about
some interesting things. And hey, look at that a couple
of calls on the There you go, you guys, hang tight.
I'm going to get to you. But you know, I
(14:05):
was already kind of in the flow talking about the
Palace Verdes Peninsula. So I want to finish up those
thoughts as I'm relaying some news and info to you.
So where was I at? Oh? I think I adequately
explained what's going on as far as land movement at
Portuguese Bend in the Palace Vertes, A massive, massive amount
(14:31):
of movement now taking place. Again a misnomer that it
just started happening or just the last few years. I
mean it's been happening since the nineteen fifties. But annual
ground movement, Tina, if you can imagine this. They thought
it was bad when things were sliding an inch a year,
(14:51):
and you think about that if it's your home an
inch a year, Okay, right now it's over nine inches
a year, okay, over nine inches per year. That this
is shifting, and that makes everything uninhabitable. There hundreds of
homes still standing. It's not that they've fallen into the sea.
But these homes have had their gas service, their electric
(15:15):
cutoff because they are dangerous environments for those things breaking
open anyway, it's a mess. So in the middle of
this mess is a very very famous, very historic now.
(15:35):
In fact, it was made a National Historic Architectural Landmark
just a couple of years ago. Finally, Wayfarer's Chapel, Wayfarer's Chapel,
or what some people known as the Glass Church, was
built in nineteen fifty one. It was designed by Lloyd Wright,
(15:57):
not Frank Lloyd right, Lloyd Wright, his son, who, by
the way, and this is a whole other show. In
this designer's opinion, better human being and potentially a better
architect than even his dad. I know that's sacrilegious to say,
because everybody in the world has said that Frank Lloyd
(16:20):
Wright is the greatest American architect of all time. And
there are reasons for that, for sure. But I'm just
telling you, and it's hard to grow up, I suppose,
in the shadow of somebody like that as your father.
But I'm telling you, Lloyd Wright is responsible for some
tremendously cutting edge, beautifully well thought out architecture, especially here
(16:47):
in southern California, and Wayfar's Chapel is one of those things.
It is near and dear to my heart because ever
since I can remember being a designer Wayfair's chapel has
been an example dating all the way back to the
nineteen fifties, an example of what we would call biophilic design,
(17:11):
a love of nature and doing things architecturally in the
nineteen fifties that most people still don't toy with today,
at a time when it was difficult, incredibly difficult to
do Wayfar's chapel. If you've never seen it, you should
look at a picture of it. It's hard to actually
grasp the feel of that space just by looking at pictures,
(17:36):
but at least you could understand it was a structure
made out of glue, lambs, a lambinate wood, old growth redwood.
I know it was the nineteen fifties, old growth redwood.
These beautiful kind of geometric slash gothic arch structures, frames,
(17:56):
and a lot of glass. That's essentially what it comes
down to. Some steel holding the glass panels in place,
and these beautiful redwood glue laminate arches and then glass,
just glass, so that when you were inside this building
it's still absolutely very much felt like you were outside.
(18:19):
And then just outside of all these glass panels in
this chapel, and it's not large, by the way, it's
a chapel. It seats one hundred people max. Period. That's it.
It feels expansive though, why because there's a high, voluminous
ceiling and because of all the glass. So when you're outside,
when you're inside Wayfar's Chapel, you have this sense that
(18:44):
you're still outside, right, kind of like what I Leen
and I were talking about earlier, the idea that you're inside,
but you're outside and you've got this connection to the
nature around you. And it is I mean, it has
been the favorite place for weddings and special occasions and events,
and it had it was just open, you would just
(19:05):
drive by every time. Tina and I are out on
the peninsula a lot doing design stuff for clients, and
you know, every time we were anywhere near it, I'm like, oh,
let's just drive by the chapel and let's just park
and just walk inside. Again. I love being in this
space because of what it communicates, this reverence, this love
(19:29):
of nature. Outside. By the way, on the perimeter of
the chapel, redwood trees that were planted intentionally, like these
columns of redwood trees, and they really felt like columns
in a cathedral. Because the space itself was made of glass.
It is just a beautiful moving space to be in.
(19:51):
And it has been this example in my heart and mind.
In fact, you know, I'm doing some writing now on
my design theories and design process, and Wayfares has been
one of those jumping off points of inspiration for me
for what it means to bring the outside in, to
(20:14):
have enough glass, enough window, enough vista to create and
own the exterior of your land, your property inside the
house where you spend most of your time. Wayfares is
just such a brilliant, brilliant example of that because it's
(20:34):
almost a transparent chapel and there's just enough structure there
to remind you that you're inside, and all this glass
to embrace the outside. It was cutting edge, it was brilliant.
There was nothing like it on the planet when it
was created by Lloyd Wright in nineteen fifty one. And
(20:57):
now I need to share with you it's fate which
we will talk about. Kaf I, Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
It looks like it's going to be a lovely cool
dare I say cold? I don't know. Day here in
southern California. I hope wherever you are, you are warm
(21:20):
and comfortable and taking advantage of this first weekend in February.
We are about to go to the phones, but I
want to finish up this story. I wanted to bring
this news. I've been wanting to talk about the landslide
at Portuguese Bend in Palace Verdes for a while now,
and specifically this one structure. I know there's hundreds of
(21:43):
homes devastated, but I wanted to talk about this one
historic structure there, Wayfarer's Chapel that has been there since
well completed in nineteen fifty one when it first opened.
And so yeah, it gave you a little bit of
a history of what was going on there and with
the landslides. I got to tell you that the you know,
(22:07):
I was just trying to go off of memory here
and I wagh under reported the landslide movement. Let me,
I've got some accuracy now, so listen to this. In
the last five years, right the from October twenty first
(22:31):
to October twenty second, I'm sorry, from October of twenty
twenty one to October twenty twenty two. From twenty twenty
one to twenty twenty two, the land was moving there
at point zero eight inches per week or three inches
a year, tina three inches a year, okay. Then from
(22:54):
twenty two to twenty three it started moving ahead half
an inch a week a week, that's yeah, exactly, okay.
From twenty three to twenty four, two and a third
inches per week, all right, And in from March just
(23:17):
to April of twenty twenty four seven inches a week
per week. Okay. That's three hundred and sixty four inches
a year of movement. Okay. So yeah, the slide is moving, Okay,
it's moving. And Wayfarer's Chapel got caught in it, like
(23:39):
so many structures there, and so first glass panels started shattering. Second,
some of the glue lambs started tweaking some of the
and so the decision was made. And by the way,
by the way, you know, the Swedenborgian Church which is
a part of is there in palasfurd Is. You know,
(23:59):
they're not of gold Mine, and so it's a very kind,
very open organization. You know, they make money from donations
and from weddings and events and whatever. But the entire
grounds there, the buildings have been essentially abandoned and condemned
because they can't be. But the decision was made, Okay,
(24:20):
we've got to get some high level architectural help here.
And then the decision was made to preserve this historic
structure by disassembling it. So full restorative disassemblage has taken
place of Wayfarer's chapel. And now what's happening is very
(24:44):
very carefully removing all of those things. It will be
a process of restoring obviously the glass, restoring any of
the the damaged steel that holds the glass, and then
I'm not exactly sure what all the pl I'm not
sure if they've lost any of the redwood glue lambs
or whether they've I know they were starting to be torqued.
(25:06):
Even the foundation stone that was laid in nineteen forties
has a long linear crack through at the cornerstone. So
the point is this, They are now looking for a
new site to Yeah, it's like put it in our backyard. Yeah,
I'm not sure that's going to work for them. They're
(25:26):
looking for a new location that will adequately you know,
they're looking for the right place for it, and the
goal is that Wayfarers will be rebuilt, and it will
be restored and it will be standing once again for
people to come enjoy and see the magnificence of But
(25:47):
the reality is right now, full restorative disassembly, and that's
where it's at. That's where it's at, that's the status
of things there. It is going to be moved to
a new location. I'm sure they're going to find something
just as stunning for it to look out over, hopefully
on the peninsula, but where there is no land movement
(26:11):
on the peninsula. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway.
Such a meaningful thing to me as a designer, because
the very first time I walked into it, I was
so overwhelmed with how a structure can make you feel
in regards to nature. Just this reverence and this beauty,
(26:35):
and how a small and here's the thing, how it
applies to your home. How a relatively small structure. It's
not a big structure at all. How a relatively small
structure feels so large. Why because of its glass vistas
to everything that's around it. Therefore it owns I realized
that very first day, Oh my gosh, if there's enough
(26:57):
view out of enough window, even a small, small area
can own all of the land around it, because everything
you see from inside a building belongs to you in
that room, no matter how small that room is. Lesson learned. Okay,
(27:19):
when we come back, we got calls on the board.
We're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper on KFI.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio appf I
AM six forty live streaming in HD everywhere on the
iHeart Radio app. Hey, welcome home. I'm Dean Sharp the
(00:21):
House Whisper. I design custom homes, I build custom homes,
and today and this weekend, most importantly, I am your
guide to better understanding that place where you live. Today
on the show, I've been looking forward to this for
a while. Today on the show, number we have two
agendas to two objectives. Number one, we're going to take
(00:45):
calls as we do, and number two, I want to
share some Southern California. Well it's not all Southern California.
I'm going to share some design news with you, some
cool things that have been happening, some interesting things that
have been happening here in Southern California that I think
are of interest to would be of interest to anybody,
(01:06):
no matter where you live. Uh So, just sharing some
real interesting design news that I've been holding in my
pocket for a long time, and this morning we're just
going to take the time to share it with you
as well. And of course, like I said, your calls
by the way, phone lines open right now. Producer Richie's
(01:27):
standing by ready to take your calls. Eight three to
three two. Ask Dean. That's the number to reach me
at eight three to three the numeral two, Ask Dean,
eight three three two. Ask Dean. Just checking to see
if Tina was awake. Yes, she is, because she laughed
at that. I have no idea why, but because she does.
(01:48):
I keep saying it that way. All right, let me
introduce our awesome team. Sam is on the board wrangling.
Are not no live studio audience. How you doing? Sam?
Very good this morning? Dean? How you doing? I am well,
I am well, You're doing very good.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
No, I had a wonderful evening last night with my
son and now he's here with me at the station.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Anytime I can bring him here in this station is
a good day. See that's awesome. That's awesome, all right.
As I said, Producer Richie's standing by ready to take
your calls. Nowhere near a microphone. But he's signing to
me right now that all is well, and he's waiting
for your first call. And of course, Eileen Gonzalez at
the news desk, good morning, Eileen, good morning, Dean. How's
(02:35):
it going going pretty good? It's going pretty good. I
got a good night's sleep, and it's the kind of
morning that I love the best, waking up in the dark,
it's cold outside. It just it's all working for me today.
I just want to stand to the blankets on these
days though.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
But see, that's the thing I was telling some friends
last week because they were noticing that I was coming
on that and like the fact that, see when is it?
Is it early July? Yeah, that's when the trail opened
In early July. We've got another backpacking trip in the
Sierra scheduled, and people are like, why would you go
(03:14):
up so hot? You know, we're going to be up
like an eleven thousand feet and why would you go
up so high? It's so cold up there, it's so
out there, And I'm like, yeah, that's my favorite thing.
I think one of my favorite things in life is
being out in inclement or you know, kind of like
(03:38):
not ideal temperature situations and yet being protected and warm
at the same time. I think the duality of that.
So yeah, I totally agree with you. It's in fact,
you know, this morning I was sitting by the fire
with a blanket over my leg and you know, just
getting ready for the show, knowing how cold it is out.
(04:00):
So I just love the I love both at the
same time, right, I'm a definitely a get up in
the mountains, get in a cabin, light the fire, know
that it's freezing cold outside, and know that you are
warm and snugly inside. Yeah, snugly, that's the key word, snugly.
(04:21):
Speaking of snugly sitting across the table from me, this
is not relevant to any of you, by the way,
so just back off. But but my better half, my
design partner there, she is my best friend in all
the world. Tina there, she is. Hi, welcome home. I
(04:46):
beat you too, it we did. And I was also
hesitating because I thought there might be an elephant. So
there was an elephant. Yeah, I didn't hear it. I
didn't hear it. I didn't have my friend. That elephant
just won't shut up. I have a hoodie on, and
I actually have the hood on.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You do you?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
That's why? Okay, your interesting profile there in the darkness.
You kind of look like the unibomber with them the
hoodie and those headphones on at the same time. So
how you doing I'm good, all right, all right, all
is well? Do this okay. So I'm going to wait
(05:27):
for calls to show up on the board, and in
the meantime while we're waiting, when we come back from
the news, I'm gonna start sharing some items of interest
to you that I've put together. In fact, let's start
by talking about Palace Verdes, the peninsula. Not great news
at all, the Portuguese Bend landslide that's been taking place there,
(05:52):
and specifically, and I know there are a lot of
homes that have been affected, but specifically one of the things,
one of one of my favorite pieces of architecture on
the planet is over there on the Palas Verdes peninsula
in the Portuguese Bend area and has been completely affected
(06:13):
by this. I want to talk about that when we return.
Plus your calls eight three to three two. Ask Dean
A three three the numeral two. Ask Dean. You are
home with Dean Sharp. The house whisper. Can't by Dean
Sharp the house whisper. Hey, it does not matter whether
your home is a condo or a cottage or a castle.
(06:36):
I am here to help you take it to the
next level. One of the ways we do that is
by taking calls. There are zero calls on the callboard,
and usually all I have to do is mention that
before people are like, oh ho oh, now that's my chance.
So there you go. The number to reach me eight
three three two. Ask Dean. Anything you want to talk
(06:58):
about regarding your home today. I've got some news of
interest to discuss on the side here, But anything that
you want to talk about regarding your home, construction, design
DIY issues, whatever the case may be, give me a call.
If you want to design a cathedral together, we'll talk
(07:18):
about that. If you want to uh, if you need
somebody to help you fix your leaky toilet, we'll talk
about that. And how about everything in between? Eight three
three two Ask Dean eight three three the numeral two
Ask Dean. Traffic is light on the callboard right now.
If you've tried calling before, now maybe is your chance
(07:40):
give me a call? All right? Onward in two my
first topic of the day here, I want to share
some news and info about what's going on on palas
Verdi's peninsula. Palasverti's peninsula, by the way, is not sliding
into the ocean, okay, but a portion of it is unfortunately.
(08:04):
So first of all, again the way sometimes news get reported,
you get the impression, like you know, with the local
fires here like all of southing all of California is
on fire. No, California is a very big place, So
that's not the case. Tragic fires, absolutely devastating, but a
(08:25):
fraction of the reality of what life here in southern
California is for most of us. So the same is
true of the Palace Verdes Peninsula, Palasverdia Peninsula, very very large,
beautiful peninsula, and for a long long time there are
some very fortunate people who've been able to have their
(08:47):
homes on that peninsula. Part of the peninsula obviously faces
the east, looks over sam Pedro and the Harbor and
Long Beach, and then a good part of the peninsula
faces out seaward, and on that western edge of the
peninsula there is a you know, it's full of kind
(09:08):
of canyons and ups and downs, but on that western
edge there's a section known as the Portuguese Bend. The
Portuguese Bend is, unfortunately, an area where hundreds of people
have built their homes starting in the early nineteen fifties.
(09:29):
You know, gravel Road was replaced with paved road part
of you know, kind of circumnavigating the peninsula, and that
paved road plus all of the home development in the area,
hundreds of homes, actually put pressure unknowingly on a what
(09:49):
we call a deep slip zone. And what that means
is that when we talk about landslides and earth movement,
a slip zone is basically where a whole lot of softer,
looser fill and by loose, I don't mean you know, sand, okay,
(10:12):
but technically looser phil is resting on top of you know,
a large area of bedrock okay. And so you can
imagine if given the right conditions, if enough weight is
applied to it, or if enough moisture penetrates into that area,
then the area between the looser soil and the bedrock
(10:37):
becomes a slip zone. And if it is an uneven
zone like where if gravity has the opportunity to take hold,
then you can get an entire area of land sliding,
you know, ergo land slide. So Portuguese Bend is a
huge area and the slip zone is very very deep,
(11:00):
very deep. Nevertheless, it has been a landslide issue since
Now this is really important that We point this out
because I don't think you've heard this in a lot
of news stories about Palace thirty. But Portuguese Bend has
been moving ever since those initial homes were built and
(11:25):
the road was built the extra weight and pressure, So
in other words, Portuguese Bend has been moving since the
early nineteen fifties. The first recorded movements I think of
significance were noticed in like nineteen fifty five. Okay, But
when we'd say movement and recorded movement of interest, we're
(11:46):
talking about like in the course of a year, like
a third of an inch, and like, okay, well, all right,
that has increased significantly, though in an amazing way. And
with the ongoing slipping throughout the decades, and the ongoing
pressure of the weight of structures being built and traffic
(12:09):
on the road, and then after a long extended period
of drought, the crazy winters that we've had these last
couple three years, and the amount of moisture that came
down hard and fast, the slip zone finally decided to
give way. So we'll talk more about this on the
(12:29):
other side of the news. But that area of Palace
Verdes is as far as most geology is concerned irrecoverable
in terms of permanent structures. It's going to have to
end up as a usable, accessible, open space. It would
appear because I can't imagine how we're going to hold
(12:50):
back that much soil. I'll talk to you about how
much it is actually moving now. And then the point
of my story. Here a structure on the Portuguese Bend
that has been near and dear to my hearts for
as long as I have been in the architecture business.
And what's going on with Wayfarer's chapel. All of that
(13:11):
and more.
Speaker 2 (13:13):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
KFI AM six forty live streaming and HD everywhere on
the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp the house whisper with you
this morning? Is this the first day of February? Holy cow?
Where'd January go? Where's my life gone? What is the
(13:45):
meaning of what's it all about? Tina? All right? Now,
we're not gonna answer those questions today, but I am
gonna help you with your home and we're talking about
some interesting things. And hey, look at that a couple
of calls on the There you go, you guys, hang tight.
I'm going to get to you. But you know, I
(14:05):
was already kind of in the flow talking about the
Palace Verdes Peninsula. So I want to finish up those
thoughts as I'm relaying some news and info to you.
So where was I at? Oh? I think I adequately
explained what's going on as far as land movement at
Portuguese Bend in the Palace Vertes, A massive, massive amount
(14:31):
of movement now taking place. Again a misnomer that it
just started happening or just the last few years. I
mean it's been happening since the nineteen fifties. But annual
ground movement, Tina, if you can imagine this. They thought
it was bad when things were sliding an inch a year,
(14:51):
and you think about that if it's your home an
inch a year, Okay, right now it's over nine inches
a year, okay, over nine inches per year. That this
is shifting, and that makes everything uninhabitable. There hundreds of
homes still standing. It's not that they've fallen into the sea.
But these homes have had their gas service, their electric
(15:15):
cutoff because they are dangerous environments for those things breaking
open anyway, it's a mess. So in the middle of
this mess is a very very famous, very historic now.
(15:35):
In fact, it was made a National Historic Architectural Landmark
just a couple of years ago. Finally, Wayfarer's Chapel, Wayfarer's Chapel,
or what some people known as the Glass Church, was
built in nineteen fifty one. It was designed by Lloyd Wright,
(15:57):
not Frank Lloyd right, Lloyd Wright, his son, who, by
the way, and this is a whole other show. In
this designer's opinion, better human being and potentially a better
architect than even his dad. I know that's sacrilegious to say,
because everybody in the world has said that Frank Lloyd
(16:20):
Wright is the greatest American architect of all time. And
there are reasons for that, for sure. But I'm just
telling you, and it's hard to grow up, I suppose,
in the shadow of somebody like that as your father.
But I'm telling you, Lloyd Wright is responsible for some
tremendously cutting edge, beautifully well thought out architecture, especially here
(16:47):
in southern California, and Wayfar's Chapel is one of those things.
It is near and dear to my heart because ever
since I can remember being a designer Wayfair's chapel has
been an example dating all the way back to the
nineteen fifties, an example of what we would call biophilic design,
(17:11):
a love of nature and doing things architecturally in the
nineteen fifties that most people still don't toy with today,
at a time when it was difficult, incredibly difficult to
do Wayfar's chapel. If you've never seen it, you should
look at a picture of it. It's hard to actually
grasp the feel of that space just by looking at pictures,
(17:36):
but at least you could understand it was a structure
made out of glue, lambs, a lambinate wood, old growth redwood.
I know it was the nineteen fifties, old growth redwood.
These beautiful kind of geometric slash gothic arch structures, frames,
(17:56):
and a lot of glass. That's essentially what it comes
down to. Some steel holding the glass panels in place,
and these beautiful redwood glue laminate arches and then glass,
just glass, so that when you were inside this building
it's still absolutely very much felt like you were outside.
(18:19):
And then just outside of all these glass panels in
this chapel, and it's not large, by the way, it's
a chapel. It seats one hundred people max. Period. That's it.
It feels expansive though, why because there's a high, voluminous
ceiling and because of all the glass. So when you're outside,
when you're inside Wayfar's Chapel, you have this sense that
(18:44):
you're still outside, right, kind of like what I Leen
and I were talking about earlier, the idea that you're inside,
but you're outside and you've got this connection to the
nature around you. And it is I mean, it has
been the favorite place for weddings and special occasions and events,
and it had it was just open, you would just
(19:05):
drive by every time. Tina and I are out on
the peninsula a lot doing design stuff for clients, and
you know, every time we were anywhere near it, I'm like, oh,
let's just drive by the chapel and let's just park
and just walk inside. Again. I love being in this
space because of what it communicates, this reverence, this love
(19:29):
of nature. Outside. By the way, on the perimeter of
the chapel, redwood trees that were planted intentionally, like these
columns of redwood trees, and they really felt like columns
in a cathedral. Because the space itself was made of glass.
It is just a beautiful moving space to be in.
(19:51):
And it has been this example in my heart and mind.
In fact, you know, I'm doing some writing now on
my design theories and design process, and Wayfares has been
one of those jumping off points of inspiration for me
for what it means to bring the outside in, to
(20:14):
have enough glass, enough window, enough vista to create and
own the exterior of your land, your property inside the
house where you spend most of your time. Wayfares is
just such a brilliant, brilliant example of that because it's
(20:34):
almost a transparent chapel and there's just enough structure there
to remind you that you're inside, and all this glass
to embrace the outside. It was cutting edge, it was brilliant.
There was nothing like it on the planet when it
was created by Lloyd Wright in nineteen fifty one. And
(20:57):
now I need to share with you it's fate which
we will talk about. Kaf I, Dean Sharp, the House Whisper,
Welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
It looks like it's going to be a lovely cool
dare I say cold? I don't know. Day here in
southern California. I hope wherever you are, you are warm
(21:20):
and comfortable and taking advantage of this first weekend in February.
We are about to go to the phones, but I
want to finish up this story. I wanted to bring
this news. I've been wanting to talk about the landslide
at Portuguese Bend in Palace Verdes for a while now,
and specifically this one structure. I know there's hundreds of
(21:43):
homes devastated, but I wanted to talk about this one
historic structure there, Wayfarer's Chapel that has been there since
well completed in nineteen fifty one when it first opened.
And so yeah, it gave you a little bit of
a history of what was going on there and with
the landslides. I got to tell you that the you know,
(22:07):
I was just trying to go off of memory here
and I wagh under reported the landslide movement. Let me,
I've got some accuracy now, so listen to this. In
the last five years, right the from October twenty first
(22:31):
to October twenty second, I'm sorry, from October of twenty
twenty one to October twenty twenty two. From twenty twenty
one to twenty twenty two, the land was moving there
at point zero eight inches per week or three inches
a year, tina three inches a year, okay. Then from
(22:54):
twenty two to twenty three it started moving ahead half
an inch a week a week, that's yeah, exactly, okay.
From twenty three to twenty four, two and a third
inches per week, all right, And in from March just
(23:17):
to April of twenty twenty four seven inches a week
per week. Okay. That's three hundred and sixty four inches
a year of movement. Okay. So yeah, the slide is moving, Okay,
it's moving. And Wayfarer's Chapel got caught in it, like
(23:39):
so many structures there, and so first glass panels started shattering. Second,
some of the glue lambs started tweaking some of the
and so the decision was made. And by the way,
by the way, you know, the Swedenborgian Church which is
a part of is there in palasfurd Is. You know,
(23:59):
they're not of gold Mine, and so it's a very kind,
very open organization. You know, they make money from donations
and from weddings and events and whatever. But the entire
grounds there, the buildings have been essentially abandoned and condemned
because they can't be. But the decision was made, Okay,
(24:20):
we've got to get some high level architectural help here.
And then the decision was made to preserve this historic
structure by disassembling it. So full restorative disassemblage has taken
place of Wayfarer's chapel. And now what's happening is very
(24:44):
very carefully removing all of those things. It will be
a process of restoring obviously the glass, restoring any of
the the damaged steel that holds the glass, and then
I'm not exactly sure what all the pl I'm not
sure if they've lost any of the redwood glue lambs
or whether they've I know they were starting to be torqued.
(25:06):
Even the foundation stone that was laid in nineteen forties
has a long linear crack through at the cornerstone. So
the point is this, They are now looking for a
new site to Yeah, it's like put it in our backyard. Yeah,
I'm not sure that's going to work for them. They're
(25:26):
looking for a new location that will adequately you know,
they're looking for the right place for it, and the
goal is that Wayfarers will be rebuilt, and it will
be restored and it will be standing once again for
people to come enjoy and see the magnificence of But
(25:47):
the reality is right now, full restorative disassembly, and that's
where it's at. That's where it's at, that's the status
of things there. It is going to be moved to
a new location. I'm sure they're going to find something
just as stunning for it to look out over, hopefully
on the peninsula, but where there is no land movement
(26:11):
on the peninsula. We'll just have to wait and see. Anyway.
Such a meaningful thing to me as a designer, because
the very first time I walked into it, I was
so overwhelmed with how a structure can make you feel
in regards to nature. Just this reverence and this beauty,
(26:35):
and how a small and here's the thing, how it
applies to your home. How a relatively small structure. It's
not a big structure at all. How a relatively small
structure feels so large. Why because of its glass vistas
to everything that's around it. Therefore it owns I realized
that very first day, Oh my gosh, if there's enough
(26:57):
view out of enough window, even a small, small area
can own all of the land around it, because everything
you see from inside a building belongs to you in
that room, no matter how small that room is. Lesson learned. Okay,
(27:19):
when we come back, we got calls on the board.
We're going to the phones. Your Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisper on KFI.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty
Home with Dean Sharp News
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