Top Property: Villa Narcissa overlooking the Pacific Ocean

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. - Eleven-and-a-half hillside acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean, ten guest cottages, and one historic Tuscan home known as Villa Narcissa.

This week’s Top Property is a Rancho Palos Verdes estate created by the late Frank Vanderlip Sr. - one of the architects of the Federal Reserve who helped develop much of the South Bay Peninsula. 

As Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Realtor Jade Mills explains, Vanderlip Sr. originally purchased 16,000 acres in Rancho Palos Verdes in the early 1900s. In 1926, he built Villa Narcissa and named it after his wife.

The main residence covers almost 8,000 sq. ft. and includes seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, and ornately decorated European inspired living spaces. Intricate, original designs on the formal living room’s ceiling, several interior doors, and the foyer are hand-painted, says Tiffany Mills of Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Real Estate.

Lauren Forbes and John Corrales of Forbes Corrales Real Estate at Compass also share the listing. Forbes says the allure of the upstairs master suite is its view, overlooking the tennis court and the estate from there. That tennis court, by the way, was poured in 1929 and, as Corrales says, “is in fabulous condition.” The gated grounds also include a pool, citrus, cypress and olive trees, plus a 246-step walkway that ascends to a Doric colonnade. It’s there that the panoramic view of the Pacific comes into full focus.

Asking price for the Vanderlip’s Villa Narcissa: $12,995,000.