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Palos Verdes – Wayfarers Chapel

By
Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Estate Properties BRE#00922882

wayfarers chapel

Palos Verdes homes owners have the wonderful natural sanctuary of Wayfarers Chapel located here in Rancho Palos Verdes.

The Wayfarer Chapel dream started in the mind of Elizabeth Schellenberg, who was a member of the Swedenborgian Church and lived on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the late 1920′s. With this area being mostly farmland and a two lane gravel road between San Pedro to Palos Verdes, she dreamed of a little chapel where wayfarers could stop to rest and give thanks for the wonder and beauty of creation.  Another member of the church Narcissa Cox Vanderlip also shared this dream and agreed to contribute land for the chapel site.

Following World War II, architect Lloyd Wright, son of renowned American architectural pioneer Frank Loyd Wright, found himself in agreement with the outlook of the church with its emphasis on harmony of God’s natural world and the inner world of mind and spirit. The 3.5 acre site and Wayfarers Chapel’s cornerstone was dedicated on July 16, 1949, and later in 1951.

When completed in 1951, it was totaly a “tree chapel” which became a precious jewel to the peninsula. Inspired by the redwood trees that surround Wayfarers Chapel and form the the living walks and roof, this became a natural sanctuary encased in glass with surrounding views of the forest it sits in.

Lloyd Wright’s design of Wayfarers Chapel is the perfect combination of nature and architectural genius which is known as organic architecture. Wayfarers Chapel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Wayfarers Chapel is located at 5755 Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca 90275. It is open 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Photo courtesy of the Wayfarers Chapel.

This entry was posted in Community InformationT

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