Redondo Beach Original Townsite Historic District

This residential district in Redondo Beach, California, covers several blocks around North Gertruda Avenue, Carnelian Street, North Guadalupe Avenue and Diamond Street. It holds one- and two-story houses, mostly sided in redwood clapboard, along with apartment buildings and many original garages and sheds. Craftsman bungalows and Colonial Revival houses predominate, with some neo-classical row houses and Mission-style buildings, all typical of Southern California in the early twentieth century. Most buildings date from about 1906 to the 1920s, when residents could see the Pacific Ocean five blocks to the west. Early occupants included Pacific Electric workers, shopkeepers, carpenters and Louis Molnar, mayor from 1916 to 1918. One rear house at 325 North Gertruda Avenue is described as one of the few original single-wall beach houses left in the city. Forty-nine buildings contribute to the district's character, and nineteen newer or altered ones do not. Integrity is rated moderately high, and most houses remain in good repair.