Victoria Beach

Pirate’s Tower

Cement Pool

 If you are into history you will enjoy Victoria Beach in Laguna Beach, CA. It has a 60 foot “Pirate’s Tower” that was built in 1926 at the beach’s north end. Each time I visit I geek out imagining all the stories and memories that must have been made there. 

  Before it became this vintage architectural hidden gem, it served as an eccentric stairway to the beach for California State Senator William Edward Brown and his family. They built the place for a vacation spot when they weren’t in Beverly Hills. Design inspiration came from the chateaus and castles of post WWI France, where Brown spent time helping with relief efforts. In the 1940s the house was sold and the stairway tower transformed by Harold Kendrick, a retired Naval officer from Los Angelos. Obsessed with pirates he would dress up as one and hide coins in the tower for the neighborhood kids to find. Whatever they found they could keep. This is how it got it’s name, the “Pirate’s Tower.”

Little Known Facts

·     The tower is known as the “La Tour” (French for tower)

·     The house is known as the “Norman House” (Norman style architecture from France)

·     There is a partially buried cement pool south of the tower. You can still walk around in it before high tide.

·     Tower is currently privately owned and closed to the public

·     Bette Midler used to own the home

·     The house and tower are regarded as a Laguna Beach landmark

Directions to 2713 Victoria Drive.

·     South on PCH

·     Park when you see Sunset Terrace on the right

·     Walk down Sunset Terrace, at the end of the street will be an easy to miss set of stairs between two homes, slightly to the left (Sunset Terrace & Victoria Drive)

·     At the end of the stairs, veer right, go around and beyond the bluff. You will see the cement pool and the tower is a few feet north of it.

Helpful Tips

·     There are no lifeguards at this beach

·     Do not park on residential streets

·     Park along PCH

·     No bathrooms at this beach

·     Avoid busy weekends

·     Go during low tide, typically before 5 pm

Sources:

Californiathroughmylens.com

atlasobscura.com

ocexplore.org

Californiabeaches.com