Rancho Palos Verdes highlight
Coastal bluff community with ocean views
A peninsula community with scenic coastal bluffs and ocean views, home to Point Vicente Lighthouse, built in 1926 and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Rancho Palos Verdes rises on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, with much of the city built on coastal bluffs that drop to the Pacific Ocean. At the peninsula's point stands Point Vicente Lighthouse, a 67-foot white tower built in 1926 on a cliff 130 feet above the water. The U.S. Coast Guard operates the lighthouse and maintains its light 185 feet above sea level—the height needed for ships passing through one of the country's busiest shipping lanes.
The lighthouse grounds are open to the public on the second Saturday of each month, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., where visitors can tour the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, which houses the original Fresnel lens and displays the history of the light. The site commands a view of the Catalina Channel and, on clear days, the coastline stretching toward San Diego. The surrounding cliffs are home to migrating gray whales and seabirds.
For families with children, or anyone building a household in a beautiful place, the view comes with responsibility. A homeowner on the bluffs, or anyone who loves living here, builds a family and a mortgage while knowing that the geographic setting that makes the area special is also part of what would be lost if that income were gone. Life insurance protects the choice to stay, and to keep the family steady if that income stops.