Point Vicente Light
Why it's listed
Point Vicente Light is a Coast Guard lighthouse station on a flat cliff-top site of 17.79 acres on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, overlooking the Pacific. The centerpiece is a plain white, five-story, 68-foot reinforced concrete tower holding a third-order Fresnel lens made in Paris in 1914, sent first to Alaska and moved to Point Vicente in 1925. Around it stand a radio room, fog signal house, paint and oil house, three keeper residences arranged in a semicircle, and two garages, nearly all built in 1924 with stucco walls and Spanish red tile roofs. The light, dated 1926, sits about 185 feet above the sea and projects a beam of 1.1 million candlepower. It was described as a landfall light and harbor guide ten miles south of Los Angeles, helping ships reach the Los Angeles Channel light at the port entrance. A local historical society recognized its early-1920s architectural quality, and a ghost legend tied to the lens reflection became part of its lore.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1900- |
|---|---|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Acreage | 17.8 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Point Vicente Light (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.