It’s a historic journey back to the beginnings of Redondo Beach.

Opening the pages of a history book is one way to peer into the past. But this weekend in Redondo Beach you can actually open the doors of history and walk right on through.

Seven historic homes and buildings will be open Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the Redondo Beach Centennial Historical and Architectural Building Tour.

Tickets for the self-guided tour can be purchased at the tour’s first stop, Redondo Van and Storage, 321 Diamond St., at the northwest corner of Diamond and Broadway.

This is the 11th year of the tour, which is sponsored by the Redondo Beach Historical Society and the Dolphins Jr. Women’s Club. This year’s tour coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of Redondo Beach.

“The community has changed so much over the years,” said Toni Clark, chairwoman of the society’s tour committee. “We want to continue to make people aware of the history of Redondo Beach and include them in it.”

The highlight of this year’s tour is the 100-year-old Christ Episcopal Church at 410 S. Broadway. In 1892, Samuel P. Rees, the city’s first mayor, ordered a shipment of lumber from Oregon and the parishioners built the church themselves, said Gloria Snyder, an expert on the history of the church and the city.

When the church was dedicated on Jan. 4, 1893, a report in the Redondo Compass said: “The style of architecture is Gothic. Christ Church is a very pretty little building, one of which the Episcopalians may well be proud. The inside is finished in Oregon pine and redwood.”

That same wood remains and aside from some remodeling after a 1959 fire and the moving of the entrance from the front to the side, there have been few changes.

The original entrance opened on the west side and “the parishioners got all the ocean breezes blowing in,” Snyder said.

Redondo Van and Storage, built in 1913, features the white ceramic bricks similar to those used in almost all of the downtown buildings of that time, Snyder said. Built as a combination of apartments and commercial space, the building has been nominated as a national historic landmark.

The Sweetser House at 417 Beryl St. is as famous for its original occupants as its architecture. In 1921, Chase Sweetser built a colonial revival “dream house” of redwood for his 14-year-old bride from Arkansas, said Jim LaPoint, the owner who maintains it as an office for his mortgage company, Arca Financial.

Sweetser became a major stockholder of the Coca-Cola Co. and managed to secure sugar for the company even when it was rationed during World War II, LaPoint said.

The architectural style of the house, uncommon in California, has prompted some unusual inquiries. “People think it’s a mortuary or the mayor’s house or they ask if it’s Ozzie and Harriet’s house,” LaPoint said. There are also stories of ghosts and strange occurrences in the house.

Refreshments will be available at 218 S. Alberta St., the sixth house on the tour, which offers visitors some surprises of its own.

What: The Redondo Beach Centennial Historical and Architectural Building Tour.

Where: The tour begins at Redondo Van and Storage, 321 Diamond St., Redondo Beach.

When: Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Admission: Tickets and guidebook are $10, $9 for seniors.

Information: Call (310) 540-6143.