A Stroll Along ‘Italian’ Canals--in Long Beach

Instead of sleigh bells, caroling and snowy fields, the holidays in Southern California bring sunny skies, red poinsettias and green lawns. Perhaps the region’s unique contribution to the season comes together in waterside neighborhoods, where residents decorate not only their homes, yards and patios, but boats, docks and waterfront sidewalks.

One community in particular combines this colorful Christmas spirit with its Southland setting. Naples, a nearly hidden canal neighborhood nestled in the southeast corner of Long Beach, is already an insider secret among walkers from Long Beach, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos.

Holiday Decorations

It takes on even more charm as lavishly decorated trees--piled with teddy bears, dolls and other whimsies--appear in front of picture windows, animated scenes sprout in backyards and lights festoon the boats anchored at walkside.

What follows is a leisurely two-hour walk of Naples. It leads you onto its three islands, over bridges, along gentle canals, and--from mid-December until January--before cheerfully decorated houses.

The walk also introduces you to the geography, history and character of this picturesque canal community. You may want to begin the walk an hour or so before sunset and conclude the stroll with dinner at a nearby cafe. Try to avoid the area today, however. Tonight’s annual boat parade will jam the streets with cars and the sidewalks with onlookers; access streets will be blocked off and leisurely viewing may be a near impossibility.

To get to Naples, exit the San Diego Freeway south on Seal Beach Boulevard, turn west on Westminster Avenue (which becomes East 2nd Street) and park near Bayshore Drive.

Today, Naples consists of three small islands in Alamitos Bay. But scarcely a century ago, the bay was a desolute tidal estuary of marshland, sloughs and mud flats. The San Gabriel River emptied into the tidelands, protected from the Pacific by a narrow peninsula.

The bay remained nearly undisturbed until 1903, when the peninsula was purchased and subdivided into nearly 500 lots by a real estate company. Sales were brisk, due in part to an enterprising father-and-son sales team, A. M. and A. C. Parsons.

A. M. Parsons, an imaginative entrepreneur, eyed the forlorn marshland in the center of the bay. The company considered it undevelopable, but Parsons thought otherwise. One day while duck hunting, he climbed onto a shack roof overlooking the marsh. Grabbing an envelope from his pocket, he hastily sketched a rough picture of an island community with a Venetian flair.

When the Pacific Electric built a trolley line by the bay in 1904, Parsons knew the time was right. He organized the Naples Co., purchased the marshland, and began creating his dream community. Thousands of piles were placed, retaining walls were constructed. Landfill dredged from the bay formed three islands. The project was completed in 1906 and the first lots sold on July 6 of that year.

But sales slowed due to the economic depression that followed that year’s great San Francisco earthquake. Parsons sold the venture to Henry Huntington’s land company in 1907.

Desirable Neighborhood

In 1919 sales grew tremendously as Belmont Shore, then a mud flat to the west, was developed. Naples finally began to take its present shape. Today it is one of Long Beach’s most desirable residential neighborhoods.

Begin the walk at East 2nd Street and Bayshore Drive. The Bayshore Branch library marks the site of the original real estate sales office, later the Naples Sales Pavilion. Prospective buyers boarded trolleys, gondolas and motorboats to tour the islands and bay. The first lots sold for $900 to $4,000 in 1906.

Walk across the East 2nd Street bridge over Alamitos Bay. Turn right on the Toledo and follow this quiet street past the Naples Elementary School. Only the ship masts rising above the homes on the right remind you that you are on an island.

As you reach the short bridge ahead, another world awaits you. Pause atop the bridge to survey the graceful curve of Rivo Alto Canal, its gentle waters lapping the anchored boats. Rows of tidy residences, ranging in style from Cape Cod cottages, Mediterranean manors, post-World War II stucco boxes, and neo-Victorian houses, line the serene canal.

Cross the bridge and walk down the steps to the left. Now you can appreciate closely these canalside cottages, fronted by manicured hedges, potted plants, cozy sun decks, colorful flowers and shady trees. Studying the dated patio furniture at many houses is like perusing back issues of Sunset magazine. Open picture windows seem to be designed to see in as well as out. As you stroll along the canal, you pass several eclectic residences. An elaborate neo-Victorian house at 66 Rivo Alto Canal, squat in scale, features spindled woodwork and ornate corbels. Farther along at 82 Rivo Alto stands the boxy residence built in 1962 as Case Study House No. 27 by California Arts and Architecture magazine.

Before the next bridge, follow the walkway as it turns right. Stroll onto Ravenna Drive to La Bella Fontana di Napoli Park, with its central splashing fountain. Since Parsons designed this park in 1905, it has served as the heart of Naples. Children romp on its lawns, couples stroll its paths, and families sit around the fountain. The ornate iron lampposts surrounding the park were carried by barge to this site in 1905, before any roads reached the island.

Famous Hotel Site

The Villa di Napoli Apartments to the west mark the site of the Hotel Napoli, built in 1909 by Almira Parker Hershey, heiress to the chocolate fortune. Earlier, in 1903, she built the Hollywood Hotel, which so pleased her that she commissioned her architect to spare no expense in materials and embellishments for the Hotel Napoli. A four-story, Mission Revival Craftsman-inspired building with twin cupolas and rooftop pavilions for viewing the bay, the hotel was a miniature reproduction of the Hollywood Hotel. A streetcar spur carried prospective buyers around the park to the hotel where guests were greeted by band concerts on the front porch.

Curiously, while Hershey owned the hotel from 1909 to 1927, she never opened its doors, even refusing numerous, generous offers to buy the elegant structure. Finally in 1929 she sold the building, which then served briefly as a luxury hotel, a convalescent home, a boys’ home and an apartment complex. In 1959 it was razed.

The Colonnade, the wide block-long street to the south, was originally a short canal. In 1903, when Parsons first sketched his dream of Naples, he pictured an Italian Renaissance bridge modeled after the Ponte Vecchio in Florence spanning the waterway’s southern end, beneath which gondoliers carried guests to the island’s heart. But the canal, with no outlet, collected debris and was filled in 1919.

A short block to the west on the Toledo stands Naples’ oldest retailer, Zietan’s Market, established in 1934. Inside you’ll not only find a small-town grocer and refreshing beverages, but also an aerial photo of Naples taken in the late 1930s, which shows the original Hotel Napoli.

Walk east on the Toledo and turn left on Corinthian Walk. This narrow lane, with its quaint red-tile, whitewashed Spanish bungalows and young palms, adds to the community’s village scale.

Turn right on Ravenna Drive and right again on Rivo Alto Canal. Mature royal palms tower above. At 116 a Moorish palace bordered by papyrus and topped with a tiled dome overlooks the waterway. Two doors down, CPA-turned-carpenter Cheryl Lindheimer and her general contractor Clarence Paskiewicz are building an elegant, hand-fashioned Victorian fantasy.

Italian and Spanish Styles

At the next bridge, walk up the steps to the Toledo and turn left. At Savona Walk turn right, noting the ornate wrought-iron balconies, arched leaded windows and tile roofs of its Spanish-inspired houses. At 17 Savona Walk stands a Craftsman-inspired, Italian-styled villa with a semi-circular pergola of Tuscan columns and arbors.

Turn left on Giralda Walk, noting the large Craftsman house at 7 Giralda with its shingled sides, low-pitched roof, overhanging eaves and exposed beams. Further on, the Spanish duplex at 38 meets the sidewalk with a delightful sweeping stairway inset with colorful tiles.

At the Toledo, turn right and cross Naples Plaza. The palm-studded park at the south end provides panoramic views of Alamitos Bay. Parsons originally intended Naples Place to be another waterway called Gabriella Canal, but it was never built.

Continue on the Toledo, crossing Appian Way, and walk to the rail overlooking the Long Beach Marina with its hundreds of pleasure craft. On clear days you can see the San Gabriel and Santa Ana mountains on the horizon.

Follow the harborfront walk to the right as it edges the marina and the channel. As you walk around the Long Beach Yacht Club, survey the variety of water traffic, including yachts, catamarans, kayaks, sailboats, and windsurfers. At low tide, anglers and clam diggers venture below along the channel basin.

As the waterfront walk passes Appian Way, it enters Naples’ newest neighborhood, Costa del Oro. These newer residences are palatial in scale, rising three stories with huge picture windows, balconies, and sun decks. In contrast to the older canal cottages, these homes reflect a greater concern for privacy, security and grandiosity. Several are architecturally prominent, including 6070 Lido Lane, designed by Randy Morris.

More Idiosyncratic

As you pass the park, continue on the bayfront walk. The next group of houses are much more informal and idiosyncratic in character. A flock of ceramic birds roosts around the Kaiser House, a shingled chalet at 85 Lido Lane. Farther on, the Clearman House at 23 offers its own style of kitsch; its bricks oozing with cement icing, the house hosts wood-carved weather vanes, nautical lanterns, rooftop balustrades and even a carrousel horse leaping over its garden. The Bauhaus-inspired Grossberg House at 5909 Corso di Napoli by architect Renato Corzo offers a more sedate style. But further on the mishmash continues, with a pink Mission Revival manor at 5809 and a Roman villa at 5745.

Continue on the waterfront as it rounds sharply and becomes Rivo Alto Canal. Continue past the bridge to the Hershey House at 213 Rivo Alto Canal. Set spaciously on 2 1/2 lots purchased by Almira Hershey in 1906, this retreat was built in 1916. It reflects an eclectic mix of styles, most notably Mission Revival with its central scalloped parapet and arched openings, and late Victorian with its twin cupolas, latticed windows and carved eaves.

Undoubtedly, the architect patterned the design after the Hotel Napoli.

Return to the bridge, cross the canal and turn left down the stairs. At 218 Rivo Alto stands the Crowell House, designed in 1976 by Raymond Kappe. Its terraced decks create a pedestal for the boxy redwood residence, distinguished by glass-box extensions designed as insulators for the tall picture windows.

Walk past Colonnade Park, where summer concerts attract picnickers to the lawn and where residents watch moonlight performances from their anchored boats.

Treasure Island

At Neopolitan Lane West, turn left, cross the bridge and turn left again down the stairs. You are now on Treasure Island. The Law House at 5668 Naples Canal, a Norman manor built in 1924, features a conical tower, leaded windows, half-timbered bays and slate-like shingles.

Follow Naples Canal as it turns west and becomes Corso di Napoli. At Geneva Walk turn right and right again on Naples Canal. Return across the bridge, descend the stairs on the left and follow the Rivo Alto Canal as it reaches the Toledo bridge.

From here you may want to return to Belmont Shore or walk to the fountain and north on Ravenna to East 2nd Street for dinner. A variety of local cafes and eateries cluster on 2nd Street, including the Naples Fish and Rib Joints at 5856 Naples Plaza and 5800 East 2nd St., respectively; Broginos Italian restaurant at 5760 East 2nd St.; Kelley’s, a local landmark specializing in prime rib, New York steak and seafood at 5716 East 2nd St., and Justina’s, offering French-style cafe food at 5620 East 2nd St.