Preservation Awards Luncheon 05.31 @ 11amCome celebrate this year’s Preservation Award winners at a special luncheon held in their honor in the lovely Peppertree Court at the historic Bembridge House. A silent auction will be held prior to the luncheon.
Peppertree Court is ADA accessible. | |
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 Select Great Homes Tour - 06.04 @ 12pm (Sold Out)Get a sampling of some of Long Beach’s distinctive architecture with a special tour inside four classic homes designed by noted mid-century architects, Paul Tay and Richard Neutra, along with a historic Monterey-style house designed by Kirtland Cutter. The homes are located in the beautiful Park Estates and Los Cerritos neighborhoods.
Some of the homes have stairs and so may not be ADA accessible. | |
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 The Villa Rivera Premier Tour (VIP) 06.03 (various times)The Villa Riviera
“The Grande Dame of Long Beach”
With its soaring signature copper roof and gargoyles, the Villa Riviera has long been the most recognizable building in Long Beach. A National Landmark, the Villa Riviera, was built in 1928 in the Gothic French Chateau-esque Revival style. Perched on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, its location, history, and unique architecture made it an icon and civic symbol.
It has been many, many years since the last public tour. This is a chance to walk through our famed bronze doors. We will be touring the first floor public rooms, seven different apartments and floor plans including : four apartments on the “Penthouse Floor”, the architect’s personal apartment, the “Petite” Penthouse, the smallest studio, and the largest— the North “Grand” Penthouse—which has been recently restored to its 1928 glory and honored with a 2023 preservation award from Long Beach Heritage. It has never before been a part of a public tour.
Tours will be mostly standing & walking. The 16th Floor Grand Penthouse & Petite Penthouse’s Bedroom/Bath are accessible only by stairs.
Includes: T-shirt ($25 value), early tour access, and a Penthouse restoration chat by Jennifer Allyn, (co-owner/designer of the North Penthouse). | |
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 Art Deco and Streamline Moderne Double-Decker Bus Tour #1 - 06.02 @ 12pm (Sold Out)Join noted Art Deco Expert, Author and Art Deco Historic Preservation Consultant John Thomas on a double-decker bus tour of Downtown Long Beach. The city is rich with many buildings of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles from the 1920s and early 1930s, just as there are in many cities across the country. What makes Long Beach unique is that the city suffered a devastating earthquake in 1933, a tragedy in which many buildings were lost. Through extensive federal funding, some of which came through the Works Project Administration, the city undertook one of the most expansive building campaigns in its history. Art Deco and Streamline Moderne became the primary styles of architecture to rebuild the city. These styles are reflected in both private and public buildings, including the Main Post Office, schools and hospitals. This very special Art Deco Bus Tour will examine some of the finest examples of the two styles in the city. Downtown Long Beach will never look the same to you again! Included with the tour: Copy of "Long Beach Art Deco" book by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, John W. Thomas, and J. Christopher Launi
This tour is a 21 and over event. Space is Limited!
Refreshments: John Thomas’ famous Cosmopolitan cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages and tea sandwiches will be served.
Tour Location and parking information will be provided through email to ticket purchasers.
Accessibility: While participants in the tour are seated, access is limited. The vintage buses have tight and steep access to open seating on the top deck. Wheelchair access is not available on this tour.
Photo Credit: image courtesy of Christopher Launi. | |
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 Art Deco and Streamline Moderne Double-Decker Bus Tour #2 - 06.08 @ 12pm (Sold Out)Join noted Art Deco Expert, Author and Art Deco Historic Preservation Consultant John Thomas on a double-decker bus tour of Downtown Long Beach. The city is rich with many buildings of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles from the 1920s and early 1930s, just as there are in many cities across the country. What makes Long Beach unique is that the city suffered a devastating earthquake in 1933, a tragedy in which many buildings were lost. Through extensive federal funding, some of which came through the Works Project Administration, the city undertook one of the most expansive building campaigns in its history. Art Deco and Streamline Moderne became the primary styles of architecture to rebuild the city. These styles are reflected in both private and public buildings, including the Main Post Office, schools and hospitals. This very special Art Deco Bus Tour will examine some of the finest examples of the two styles in the city. Downtown Long Beach will never look the same to you again!Included with the tour: Copy of "Long Beach Art Deco" book by Suzanne Tarbell Cooper, John W. Thomas, and J. Christopher Launi
This tour is a 21 and over event. Space is Limited!
Refreshments: John Thomas’ famous Cosmopolitan cocktails, non-alcoholic beverages and tea sandwiches will be served.
Tour Location and parking information will be provided through email to ticket purchasers.
Accessibility: While participants in the tour are seated, access is limited. The vintage buses have tight and steep access to open seating on the top deck. Wheelchair access is not available on this tour.
Photo Credit: image courtesy of Christopher Launi. | |
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 Residential Living in the Roaring Twenties #1 - 06.10 @ 10am (Sold Out)Step back in time to experience the lives and lifestyles of those who would call Long Beach home in the 1920s. Oil field workers, shipyard workers, filmmakers, and wealthy seasonal visitors all lived and worked side by side in the East Village of 1920s Long Beach. Your Long Beach Heritage tour guide will point out may hidden features you may have missed in the past. Join us for a rarely offered tour of the Lafayette, Campbell Building, Metropolitan Hotel, Broadlind Hotel and their interiors. The Lafayette and Cooper Arms Buildings will offer “views from the top” as they open their Solarium Rooms for you to take in the amazing views of Downtown Long Beach and beyond. The Lafayette recently underwent an extensive terracotta restoration and painted the Campbell building back to its 1930’s color palette.
Accessibility: While the street level parts of the tour are ADA accessible, only the Lafayette and, Cooper Arms are ADA accessible. | |
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Residential Living in the Roaring Twenties #2 - 06.10 @ 3pm (Sold Out)Step back in time to experience the lives and lifestyles of those who would call Long Beach home in the 1920s. Oil field workers, shipyard workers, filmmakers, and wealthy seasonal visitors all lived and worked side by side in the East Village of 1920s Long Beach. Your Long Beach Heritage tour guide will point out may hidden features you may have missed in the past. Join us for a rarely offered tour of the Lafayette, Campbell Building, Metropolitan Hotel, Broadlind Hotel and their interiors. The Lafayette and Cooper Arms Buildings will offer “views from the top” as they open their Solarium Rooms for you to take in the amazing views of Downtown Long Beach and beyond. The Lafayette recently underwent an extensive terracotta restoration and painted the Campbell building back to its 1930’s color palette.
Accessibility: While the street level parts of the tour are ADA accessible, only the Lafayette and, Cooper Arms are ADA accessible. | |
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 Rancho Los CerritosRancho Los Cerritos (RLC) is a 5-acre National, State, and Local Historic Landmark in the Bixby Knolls neighborhood that is operated by the Rancho Los Cerritos Foundation (non-profit organization) in a public/private partnership with the City of Long Beach. RLC includes an adobe home, historic gardens, rotating exhibitions, a research library, and archival collections. Visitors can learn about the site’s history and the lives of people who have called this land home over time. In addition to guided and self-guided tours during public hours, RLC offers bird walks, lectures, children’s activities, field trips, holiday events, programming for all ages and volunteer opportunities. The site can also be rented for private events.
For more information : www.rancholoscerritos.org. | |
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 Rancho Los AlamitosRancho Los Alamitos sits atop the ancestral lands of the Tongva people and their village of Puvuun'nga. During the Spanish colonial period, it was part of California's largest and earliest land concession (grant). It was later ranched by Mexican and American settlers and their workers and tenants from all over the world. Today, the Rancho explores the interaction between people and place, culture and environment, past and present, to create a greater understanding of the evolution of Southern California and its place in today's world. The site's history and the lives of its owners and occupants make it a perfect metaphor for the Southern California experience. The 7.5-acre historic resource comprises
The historic ranch house with a circa 1800 adobe home completely encapsulated within later additions over the following 130 years;
Four acres of nationally significant gardens designed by prominent early 20th-century landscape architects and horticulturists, including Olmsted Brothers, Florence Yoch, William Hertrich, Paul Howard, and Allen Chickering;
A barnyard of early 20th-century barns and farm buildings stocked with farm animals, including a working blacksmith shop;
A visitor center, a museum shop, and a research archive.
Explore Rancho Los Alamitos and its architectural history with a knowledgeable guide.
Docent-guided tours of the Ranch House are available throughout the afternoon between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Please make an advance reservation for a house tour. Gardens and barnyard are self-guided, unless a docent is requested. | |
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Miner Smith Bungalow Self-Guided Tour - 05.31 - 06.11This tour shows visitors about a dozen houses built by Miner R. Smith. Smith was a self-taught builder and contractor who worked in Long Beach in the 1920s and was responsible for about 30 residences that he called ‘bungalow mansions.’ Concentrated in Belmont Heights, these buildings are arguably the most distinctive California Bungalows in Long Beach: Smith’s architectural style melded the Victorian style of the nineteenth century with the Arts and Crafts design of the early twentieth. The most notable exterior feature of Smith’s ‘bungalow mansions’ are his distinctive cast-concrete porches, planters, and other ornate exterior details in the form of logs and branches. The descriptions and narration on this tour come from CSULB professor and Miner Smith expert Norbert Schürer. | |
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Historic Downtown Self-Guided Tour - 05.31 - 06.11This self-guided walking tour highlights the iconic historic buildings that shape the downtown Long Beach cityscape. Outside of downtown Los Angeles, Long Beach is one of the few city centers in the region that can boast of historic high rises. What downtown Long Beach provides is the combination of beach and buildings that create a distinctive coastal cityscape. Take the self-guided Historic Downtown Tour to experience the fascinating history of iconic buildings and registered historic landmarks, such as the Lafayette, a former hotel and residential apartment building that spans Art Deco to Streamline Modern. This self-guided tour will take you to different locations in Downtown at your own pace. Ride your bike or walk, stop for lunch or a cocktail. Learn about our city on your own terms. There are a multitude of food and drink options in the neighborhood as well, so you can enjoy your tour, then take in the city as you enjoy a glass at District Wine or another great location. Note: this tour does not provide inside access to the buildings, many of which are privately owned. | |
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Extra Donation | |
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 The Villa Riviera Premier Tour 06.03 (various times) (Sold Out)The Villa Riviera
“The Grande Dame of Long Beach”
With its soaring signature copper roof and gargoyles, the Villa Riviera has long been the most recognizable building in Long Beach. A National Landmark, the Villa Riviera, was built in 1928 in the Gothic French Chateau-esque Revival style. Perched on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, its location, history, and unique architecture made it an icon and civic symbol.
It has been many, many years since the last public tour. This is a chance to walk through our famed bronze doors. We will be touring the first floor public rooms, seven different apartments and floor plans including : four apartments on the “Penthouse Floor”, the architect’s personal apartment, the “Petite” Penthouse, the smallest studio, and the largest— the North “Grand” Penthouse—which has been recently restored to its 1928 glory and honored with a 2023 preservation award from Long Beach Heritage. It has never before been a part of a public tour.
Tours will be mostly standing & walking. The 16th Floor Grand Penthouse & Petite Penthouse’s Bedroom/Bath are accessible only by stairs. | |
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 Premier T.H.U.M.S. Islands Boat Tour #1 - 06.07 @ 8:00am (Sold Out)Join CSULB Assistant Professor of Art Brian Trimble, Local Influencer and Content Creator Cassidy Liston and the staff from the City of Long Beach Energy Resources Department for a tour of White Island, one of the T.H.U.M.S. Islands. The tour will begin at the architecture firm Studio 111 and will include an extensive discussion on the history and development of the islands designed by noted landscape architect Joseph Linesch, famed horticulturalist Morgan (Bill) Evans, famous for his work at Disneyland, and important modernist sculptor Herbert Goldman.
An extraordinary partnership of industry, art and design, T.H.U.M.S. Islands have been iconic fixtures of Long Beach since their construction. In 1965, T.H.U.M.S. hired Linesch & Reynolds Landscape Architects to design four oil drilling platforms along the Long Beach coast. Joseph Linesch served at the primary designer. The four islands (originally named Alfa, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta) were realized between 1965 and 1967. The islands were renamed Chaffee, Freeman, Grissom, and White to honor the astronauts lost in the Apollo space program.
Linesch and Evans, utilized an extraordinary range of plantings and water features in combination with structures designed by Goldman to mask both the visual and sound impact of the industrial sites. What they realized through this partnership was a playful reflection of Long Beach’s mid-century urban landscape located just across the bay.
Space is Limited!
IMPORTANT: Everyone attending must be able to walk on their own in a very stable manner, for safety reasons. Everyone MUST wear pants, and have closed toe shoes. (no flip flops, no crocs, no heels) | |
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