Portuguese Bend’s original Cottage

New York banker Frank Vanderlip was so captivated by the Palos Verdes Peninsula that he formed a syndicate of millionaires to buy up 16,000 acres of one of the original California ranchos in 1913 -- sight unseen. The idea was to develop exclusive residences at Portuguese Bend with a country club, golf course, tennis courts, polo grounds and other luxurious touches on a coastline he knew was ripe for development.

Vanderlip had another, more personal vision too. He felt that a hilltop at Portuguese Bend, which reminded him of the Italian coast, would be the perfect spot to build an estate for his family, one that would be copied from an ancient Roman villa.

By 1916, Vanderlip had completed just one home that “stood as the only visible fruition of the Palos Verdes Project,” Augusta Fink writes in “Palos Verdes Peninsula: Time and the Terraced Land.” The Cottage, as it came to be nicknamed, served as an occasional summer house for Vanderlip and his wife, Narcissa, and their six children. Positioned for views of Catalina Island and the coastline below, it’s easy to see why Vanderlip chose this spot to build.

The deep front yard with neatly trimmed hedges and walled gardens is fitted with a semicircle of columns that hark back to his Roman dream. But the ancient style ends there. The black-and-white facade of the sturdy, two-story Cottage with a wide covered porch suggests East Coast rather than Amalfi Coast. (Vanderlip’s more famous summer estate, Beechwood, sits on New York’s Hudson River.)

Inside, the Cottage still has a period feel. Fireplaces in just about every room of the house serve as a reminder of a time when a wood-burning fire was the sole source of heating. The long living room has dark wood built-in bookcases that flank a brick fireplace on one wall. On the opposite side, windows and doors lead to the porch and wide ocean views. Valances, a built-in cabinet and portable screen, also original, reflect an Asian motif in deep reddish lacquered wood.

Off the living room is the dining area, a light-filled room with a ceiling of recessed white beams and doors that open out to the porch. The rest of the first floor includes a kitchen, pantry, a small maid’s quarters and a family room that was added later.

Upstairs, the master bedroom suite has a large sitting area, a double bathroom, a fireplace and a large outdoor balcony that faces the ocean. Two smaller bedrooms joined by a bathroom are the only other rooms on the second floor.

Vanderlip’s ambitious plans -- both for the surrounding communities and his own villa -- didn’t play out exactly as planned during his lifetime. He died in 1937, but his heirs and business partners remained active in the development and history of the peninsula in the last century.

And the Cottage stands as his first venture into life on the hill.

Suzanne Vanderlip, widow of the youngest son, Frank Vanderlip Jr., lived in the Cottage from the 1970s until her death in November. She, too, adored the home that had been the passion of the man nicknamed “the father of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.”

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

Palos Verdes Peninsula villa

Location: 99 Vanderlip Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes 90275

Asking price: $2.5 million

House size: The house has four bedrooms and 3 3/4 bathrooms in 3,866 square feet.

Lot size: 1.37 acres

Additional features: One-bedroom guesthouse, swimming pool, spa, terraced gardens

Around the neighborhood: In the first quarter, 73 single-family homes sold in the 90275 ZIP Code at a median price of $828,000, according to DataQuick. That was a 5.7% decrease from the median during the first quarter of 2010.

Agent: Maureen Megowan, Re/Max Palos Verdes/Execs, (310) 541-6416