House Sale Puts Redondo Beach History on Block : Elegant Sweetser Landmark Is Tantalizing but Frightening to Buyers Who Are Wary of Restrictions

Chase Sweetser III fondly recalls the teen-age years he spent in a landmark house on a quiet corner in Redondo Beach where his adoptive grandmother frequently threw parties in the lavish gardens.

Eventually, traffic increased and, with it, noise. His grandmother grew ill. The parties became less frequent, the gardens less lavish. The curtains were closed tighter each day.

Three months ago, the “for sale” sign went up.

But the house, built in 1921, is more than a part of Sweetser’s past. It represents a piece of the city’s history and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Most people who regularly drive Pacific Coast Highway in south Redondo Beach are familiar with the house--a white American Colonial with green shutters and manicured lawns, perched on a hill just off the highway at 417 Beryl St.

The 2-story, 2,569-square-foot home has 18,000 square feet of land--an unusually large lot in this seaside community, where houses can be as close together as towels on the beach.

“It’s kind of one of those Christmas-card houses on a hill,” said Sweetser, 58, who now lives in Santa Barbara.

“That’s such a unique house,” agreed Paul Connolly, a senior planner for the city. “It’s by far the most elegant house in the neighborhood.”

At a recent Sunday afternoon open house, 350 people showed up in four hours, but few were seriously interested in buying the house, which has a $1.275-million price tag, real estate agent Tom Waters said. Most visitors said they had always admired the house and just wanted to see the interior, he said.

As far as Waters knows, no one is even considering buying the house as a residence. Its beauty is offset by its hefty price and its closeness to the heavily traveled highway, some observers say. And, perhaps more daunting to a potential buyer, many people in the community want it preserved.

The threat of community pressure against developing or renovating the property may make potential buyers wary, even though the “historic” designation does not place any restrictions on the property.

“Because it’s a historic house, people are frightened of it as well as attracted to it,” Sweetser said.

The house was listed on the National Register in 1985 because of its architecture--American Colonial Revival--and because it represents a period when the city was trying to attract families to live there year-round, according to Rose Gardner, a historian in Washington, D.C., working for the National Register.

In the early 1900s, when Redondo Beach established itself as a popular beach resort, many families built cottages for summer use only.

Chase Sweetser Sr., who died in 1947, had the estate built for himself and his wife, Lillian, who died in 1981. Sweetser operated a general store in Redondo Beach, provisioning ships that docked at the pier in early part of the century, his grandson said.

Sweetser also made much of his money by investing in Coca-Cola. His son became president of the local Coca-Cola bottling company.

Chase Sweetser III, who was born Jack Dominguez, moved in with the Sweetsers in the late 1940s after the death of his parents, who were friends of the family. Chase Sweetser Jr., who never married, adopted him when he was 18. He inherited the house last September when his adoptive father died.

Despite being on the National Register, the property is zoned medium-density residential, and a developer could tear down the house and build nine apartment units in its place, Connolly said.

“We’d probably be hard-pressed not give them (a demolition permit),” he said. “No one has suggested doing that. And, yes, I think people would be very upset about that.”

Waters, the real estate agent, was more direct: “If somebody tried to do it, you’d have the wrath of the Redondo Beach populace.” He said he makes sure that all potential buyers are aware of the community sentiment toward the house.

He said: “We’re hoping that somebody’s going to come buy and develop the property to their own use and maintain the character of the Sweetser House. It’s really a tribute to the city of Redondo Beach. There’s nothing else like it.”

The few who have expressed serious interest in buying the house have said they want to preserve it as much as possible, Waters said. They don’t plan to live in the house, he said, but they want to operate businesses there, such as an upscale French restaurant, a day-care center, law offices or a bed-and-breakfast inn. Waters declined to identify the potential buyers.

The City Council would have to amend the General Plan and change the zoning for any of those businesses to operate there, but Connolly said the city would encourage such uses. Adjacent properties on Pacific Coast Highway are zoned and developed for commercial or office uses, he pointed out.

Sandra Dyan, a member of the Redondo Beach Historical Society, is trying to ensure that the house will be preserved. She has talked to potential buyers about its historic value, “telling them how to get around some of the different rules and regulations” by using the state Historic Building Code and informing them about a 20% federal reinvestment tax credit for renovating the house for an income-producing use, such as a business.

“In all practicality, you’re not going to get a family to buy that house. . . . The restaurant, I think, would be great,” she said, because many people could enjoy the house.

But Dyan is discouraged by what she sees as the city’s irreverence toward its history by allowing older buildings to be torn down to make room for condominiums.

“Redondo isn’t too gung-ho on preserving their history yet,” she said. “ . . . It’s a countdown to our Centennial, and it’s ridiculous to have nothing left. What we’re going to do to celebrate is rename the town Recondo Beach, and people don’t think that’s funny anymore.”

Redondo Beach, founded in 1892, has two other buildings on the National Register of Historic Places: the public library in Veterans Park near the pier and the Woman’s Club at 400 S. Broadway.

Three weeks ago, the National Register listed the Redondo Beach Original Townsite Historic District, which is the first district in the South Bay to be so listed, Gardner said.

The district includes 68 properties--only 49 of which contribute to its historic significance--in the 300 block of North Gertruda Avenue, the west side of the 500 block of Guadalupe Avenue and a few adjacent properties on Diamond and Carnelian streets.

Dyan, who lives in the district and worked to get it listed, said it consists of houses that “normal, everyday people lived in--not the magnificent houses.” She said the city should preserve houses that exemplify all periods of its history.

“If you don’t have any reverence for your past--none whatsoever--what kind of future are we going to have?” she said. “In another 50 or 100 years, it would be nice to have the kids say, ‘God, look at what they built in the ‘80s!’ and maybe laugh at it.”

Sweetser said that if someone wants to buy the property but not the house, he would be willing to give the house to the city to move to another site.

Sweetser said he hopes that the house will be turned into a restaurant. Tables could be set up in the gardens as well as inside, he said, bringing back the days of garden parties when ladies sat around tables playing cards.

“It would bring life back to a place that needs it,” he said.