Palos Verdes Estates was originally designed to be a gated city and a gatehousewas built to guard its northern entrance. It is located on Via Valmonte at the Torrance border. It was called the Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower.
A stone plaque on the site states, “The ‘Stone Tower’ was built by the Palos Verdes Homes Association in 1926 from the plans of the architect Clarence E. Howard submitted in Nov. 1925″. The structure is a two story 15 foot diameter round building with 18 inch thick walls. It has two floors; a bedroom & bath area upstairs and a living room with a stone fireplace and kitchen downstairs. Intended for a gated entrance located on parkland, it was deeded to Palos Verdes Estates in 1939 and has been occupied by various tenants to maintain and preserve the tower.
Yes, that’s right. It is “tenant occupied” . It does not come up for rent very often. According to the City, the current tenant has been there for twenty years. It is very small, and so very quaint.
