The Bembridge House, located at 953 Park Circle Dr., is a Queen Anne Victorian home that was built in 1906 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historic Places. Proceeds from the tour are dedicated to the support and restoration of the home, which Mary Lou Martin, chairperson for the event, calls “one of the most significant historic properties in the city.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-12-at-3.02.28-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Built as a model for an Ocean Boulevard high-rise that was never constructed, this Killingsworth, Brady & Smith design has been restored in tribute to its post-and-beam style. Floor-to-ceiling sliders frame views of the Pacific Ocean.” captionposition=”right”] Martin said numerous restoration projects have been accomplished in the last 16 years, including plumbing, upgrading the porch, restoring the interior, electrical improvements and refinishing the floors.
Converting the site of an unfortuate occurence into a place for the community to treasure, Long Beach Heritage purchased the Bembridge House in 2000, a year after Dorothy Bembridge, the last family member, was murdered on the property at the age of 89. (Media reports indicate that Daniel William Borunda, a 51-year-old man who had done odd jobs for her, strangled her out of revenge after he had served time for burglarizing the home in 1990.)
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-12-at-3.02.51-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”This 1940 bungalow in Bixby Knolls features a wood-shake roof, round-top door and extensive original cabinetry despite three expansions to 3,600 square feet. ” captionposition=”right”] “The house was unusually well preserved, including the family furniture, collections, photographs and letters that convey the history of the family’s life in Long Beach during the 20th Century,” said Mary Kay Nottage, executive director of Long Beach Heritage. “But decades of deferred maintenance made preservation and restoration a challenge. We received a planning grant from the Getty Grant Program for expert consultants to develop a comprehensive conservation master plan and historic structures report to guide future management of the site, but, in the beginning, there was much to be done. Fundraising was important and the Great Homes Tour began as part of that effort. It continues today to offer ongoing support and because we all enjoy it.”
The nonprofit hosted its first home tour just two years after the purchase, on June 9, 2002.
“Long Beach Heritage began the home tour in coordination with the City of Long Beach and their historic preservation officer at the time, Ruthann Lehrer,” Martin said. “Long Beach Heritage’s mission of promoting public knowledge and awareness of Long Beach’s rich architectural resources and highlighting the many historic neighborhoods fits in well with a home tour.”
Martin said the tour has featured about 75 homes, which are nominated by a committee made up of a cross section of Long Beach residents.
“The committee reviews each home and bases its decision on historic significance of the home and the home’s location,” she said. “We like to highlight three neighborhoods on each tour.”
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-12-at-3.02.38-PM.png” align=”right” lightbox=”on” caption=”Located on the Rivo Alto Canal in Naples, this home was built by the Firestone family as a summer home.” captionposition=”right”] Martin added that the Great Homes Tour Committee consists of members with a variety of backgrounds and work experience.
“We are lucky enough to have two of Long Beach’s finest historians associated with the committee,” she said. “In addition, Long Beach Heritage has an advisory board, which includes local architects, which the committee has access to.”
What that committee has chosen for next month’s event are “a mid-century modern home on Ocean Boulevard, two home on the canal in Naples, a prominent estate in Virginia Country Club and a bungalow in Bixby Knolls,” Martin said.
[aesop_image imgwidth=”300px” img=”http://www.signaltribunenewspaper.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Screen-Shot-2016-05-12-at-3.02.34-PM.png” align=”left” lightbox=”on” caption=”Located on the canal in Naples, this Mid-Century interpretation of a traditional-style home was built with a casual lifestyle in mind.” captionposition=”left”] 1958 Mid-Century Modern
Built as a model for an Ocean Boulevard high-rise that was never constructed, this Killingsworth, Brady & Smith design has been restored in tribute to its post-and-beam style. Floor-to-ceiling sliders frame views of the Pacific Ocean.
Naples Canal homes
These two homes on the Rivo Alto Canal in Naples include a Mid-Century interpretation of a traditional-style home built with a casual lifestyle in mind and one constructed by the Firestone family as a summer home— an unexpected New England-style beach cottage with an open floor plan that reveals innovative details.
1961 English Regency
Designed by Edward Kllingsworth, this home in a gated area near Virginia Country Club spans nearly 8,500 square feet. It overlooks a verdant fairway and features parquetry flooring from Europe and paneling from a home once owned by film actress Marion Davies.
1940 bungalow
This Bixby Knolls home retains the charm of a wood-shake roof, round-top door and extensive original cabinetry despite three expansions to 3,600 square feet. Kenneth Wing’s 1950 redesign added upstairs living quarters and distinctive dormer windows.
The tour allows a limited number of people, and Long Beach Heritage officers say they often sell out early.
The tickets are $35 for members and $40 for non-members through PayPal (via LBHeritage.org), or checks can be mailed to Long Beach Heritage, P.O. Box 92521, Long Beach, CA 90809 with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Maps and instructions will be mailed or emailed if the order is received by Wednesday, June 1. Thereafter, paid reservations will be held in “will call” (at the Bixby Knolls home, 3929 Myrtle Ave.) where wristbands and brochures may be picked up between 11:45am and 1:30pm on June 5.
