{"nrhp_refnum":"96000393","name":"Palos Verdes Public Library and Art Gallery-Farnham Martin's Park (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["Malaga Cove Plaza Library","See Also:Palos Verdes Public Libr"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"2400 Via Campesina","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palos Verdes","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.79955267500003,"lon":-118.38775321999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Social History","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district in Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County, California, made up of the Palos Verdes Public Library and Art Gallery (designed 1929 by Myron Hunt, completed 1930) and the adjoining Farnham Martin's Park (planted 1928, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.).","why_significant":"The library was the social center of a small, developing community from 1930 to 1945 (Criterion A) and is a prime example of Myron Hunt's Mediterranean Revival design (Criterion C). The park is significant for landscape architecture and community planning as the city's only formal park and a component of the Olmsted plan for Palos Verdes Estates.","narrative":"On a steep, sloping site in Palos Verdes Estates, a Mediterranean Revival library and an adjoining Olmsted-designed park form a single civic complex. Myron Hunt designed the library in 1929 with hollow-cast reinforced concrete walls covered in white stucco, a red tile roof, a corbeled balcony and a square tower with open loggia. Five levels house a gallery and meeting room, library collection, local history room and tower. Farnham Martin's Park, planted in 1928 to designs by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., has a stone fountain, twin stone staircases, an elliptical lawn and original plantings such as an American elm and Canary Island pines. The library served as the social center of the young community between 1930 and 1945, hosting the Woman's Club, art exhibits, lectures and recitals. The combined property was listed for its local importance in architecture, social history, landscape architecture, and community planning, and a later boundary increase added the park.","period_of_significance":"1928-1945","architect_builder":"Hunt, Myron; Chambers, Harold C.; Olmsted, F. L. Jr.","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Mediterranean Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Building and grounds remain virtually unchanged since opening; the library is now a branch of a larger library district, with some deferred maintenance noted, and both library and park still serve their original purposes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:26.873574-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/96000393.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000393/a559b7b08b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000393/a559b7b08b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Palos Verdes Library District","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Cove_Library_.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Palos Verdes Library District</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Cove_Library_.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859388","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palos_Verdes_Public_Library_and_Art_Gallery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65043795"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/palos-verdes-public-library-and-art-gallery-farnham-martins-park-boundary-increa-96000393/"}