Dana Graham

History & Current Events Category

A Meaningful Gift to History

A Meaningful Gift to History: A Donation from the Driver’s Seat. Dana Graham's Palos Verdes Historical Society Contribution$ In a gesture that perfectly blends history, heritage, and generosity, Dana Graham—lifelong Palos Verdes resident, local realtor, and President of the Palos Verdes Historical Society—was recently offered $5,000 to bring his 1929 Dual Cowl Phaeton Packard to the prestigious Bel Air Country Club. The invitation came from Jay Borzi, a former Rolling Hills resident and current Bel Air Country Club member, who wanted to...Continue Reading!

The Battle of New Orleans

OK, I know this has nothing to do with real estate (except possibly to those in New Orleans or the Louisiana Purchase generally) but, as you may know, I am a military historian by training and am fascinated by battles where the underdog won.  The Battle of New Orleans, where a relatively rag-tag army of backwoodsmen, pirates, and whoever else Andrew Jackson could scrape up, in addition to about 1500 US Regular troops, defeated 8500 British Regulars who had just...Continue Reading!

November 2024 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: Real estate prices have flattened out in the past 6 months.  There is never any shortage of explanations for whatever the market does, so I won’t indulge in that here.  There is, however, a shortage of homes for sale, which is supporting the prices.  Interest rates have eased a bit, into the 5’s if you know where to go (I do), but there are a lot of folks who don’t want to give up their current sub-3% mortgage by...Continue Reading!

July 2024 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: I was bombarded with phone calls after my May newsletter, on the subject of Proposition 19 and property re-assessment upon death of a parent.  As the bill was originally passed and implemented, it required that, upon death of the parent, ALL heirs move into the inherited house to avoid a reassessment at market value which, as you can imagine, would trigger a massive increase in property taxes.  Well, it appears that Sacramento was also bombarded with complaints about that...Continue Reading!

High Density Housing

As most PV residents are now aware, in its infinite wisdom, the State has dictated that every city must have "affordable" housing.  "Affordable" varies by city, but the fact that the State is using our tax money and something called the "Builder's Remedy" to bludgeon cities into compliance is disturbing.  The spirit of the California State constitution is that zoning is left to the cities and counties, but Sacramento has found a cynical way around it.  The artist renderings below...Continue Reading!

May 2024 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: Lest you think all I do is to write you an occasional letter, I was honored to be named the #1 Berkshire Hathaway agent in the South Bay for the first quarter of 2024, and in the Chairman’s Circle (the highest level) for all of 2023.  Thanks to all of you whose family homes I have had the honor to sell over the past 40 years. OK, done bragging.  I’m going to get into the weeds a bit here, but...Continue Reading!

March 2024 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: I don’t usually cover this sort of thing, but as I’m sure most of you know Wayfarer’s Chapel has been in the news lately, and in my capacity as President of the Palos Verdes Historical Society, I figured I’d include a brief mention.  Next to La Venta Inn, which recently had its share of excitement, Wayfarer’s is probably the most iconic building on the Peninsula.  Higher than normal rainfall has caused the landslide not only to accelerate, but also...Continue Reading!

The Latest on Water-Related Events in Palos Verdes

I suppose this will all someday be history, so on those tenuous grounds, here we go: I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the heart-rending ground movement at Wayfarer’s Chapel.  Completed in 1951, designed by famed architect Lloyd Wright, Jr (son of Frank) on land donated by Narcissa Vanderlip, this stunning chapel has become an iconic landmark on the Peninsula, rivalled only by La Venta Inn. Due primarily to the heavy rains of the last 18 or so months, the Abalone Cove...Continue Reading!

July Newsletter

And on it goes.  Demand for homes continues to outstrip supply.  Reasonably-priced houses in Palos Verdes are selling within a week, often with multiple offers.  You pretty much can’t buy a house on the Hill for less than $1.3 million, which generally gets you a 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1400 square foot original 1956-1963 house in RPV without any kind of a view and probably needing work.  I remember when the original Grandview houses were built by Zuckerman in 1956...Continue Reading!

The History of Palos Verdes

I recently gave a lecture ambitiously titled "The History of Palos Verdes" at Hesse Park.  There have been many requests for recordings/videos of it.  Until I can edit it, etc, here is the raw footage, compliments of videographer Jeff Koven who, if you need professional video services, is the guy to call: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jIFwDAIBdJMiJZhNSjIwXd2esyN6RV97/viewContinue Reading!