Hermosa Maps Historical Summer Homes of the Stars

For those who thought the only landmark on The Strand was that vacant lot where the Biltmore used to be, the Hermosa Beach Historical Society presents . . .

Ozzie and Harriet’s old beach house?

OK, so it isn’t exactly a map to the movie stars’ homes, but the latest publication of the historical society will guide you to some of the beach’s more notable summer cottages.

Beginning today, the society will be offering a free map of historical sites along Hermosa Beach’s stretch of The Strand, the beachfront promenade where more than a few luminaries once kept summer homes.

Besides the two-story, shingled Nelson cottage at 3133 The Strand where, according to the literature, Ozzie, Harriet, Ricky and David Nelson “spent many summers . . . and could be seen . . . cleaning the beach,” the map features a house where Charlie Chaplin’s family slept, another where lawyer William Jennings Bryan stayed and a hotel where Errol Flynn was a regular guest.

“We had done a walking tour last year, and this year we wanted to try something different, something people could do at their convenience,” said Rick Learned, a member of the historical society.

“We’re having an open house (today) in Room 7 at the Community Center at 3 p.m., and we’ll make the maps available then, plus show some slides and old film clips.”

Highlights of the seaside tour include:

* 32 10th St., where the family of the silent film star summered while Chaplin was in Europe;

* 1820 The Strand, where vaudeville comedian Slim Summerville kept his vacation home;

* 2008 The Strand, where Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate, famed orator and lawyer, spent a year with his family during the 1920s;

* Pier Avenue and Ocean Drive, at the site of the Old Hermosa Hotel, where Flynn was a regular guest;

* 740 The Strand, the former home of the late California Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucien Shaw, who founded the Los Angeles Bar Assn;

* 2020 The Strand, the extensively renovated former home of Meredith Pinxton (Pinky) Snyder, Los Angeles’ mayor from 1897-1921;

* 2340 The Strand, the former home of the late silent screen star Mae Marsh, who starred in D. W. Griffith’s classic “Birth of a Nation.”

Learned said the map was researched by society members Edie Webber and Regina Taylor, who compiled it through interviews with longtime residents, from old newspaper clips and from other sources, such as the 1977 architectural history of Hermosa Beach, “Castles in the Sand,” by Pat Gazin.

Despite their thorough efforts, however, word that the map is coming has prompted a flurry from Learned’s neighbors of new “landmark” addresses that the society had not yet heard about.

“I think,” Learned said, “that this is going to lead to an even larger project next year.”