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Photograph of Lovell Beach House
Photograph by ikkoskinen, CC BY 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Lovell Beach House

Built in 1926 (modern architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1896.

From the record

“The Lovell Beach House is located on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. The building was completed in 1926 and is now recognized as one of the most important works by architect Rudolf Schindler, second only to the Schindler House, built four years earlier for his family as a show house and studio.”

Wikipedia article Lovell Beach House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 136 National Register listings published here for Orange County · listed in 1974 · category: Building · built in 1926, modern architecture, by Rudolph Schindler.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 1242 W. Ocean Front, Newport Beach, 92661
  • When was it listed? February 1974
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Central Coast
  • When was it built? 1926
  • Architectural style. modern architecture
  • Architect. Rudolph Schindler
  • National Register reference number. 74000545 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Then and now

1896 to 1983

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 87 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Lovell Beach House, surveyed 1983
Topographic sheet covering Lovell Beach House, surveyed 1896

Fires near this property

169 since 2005

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 169 fires within 5 miles of Lovell Beach House between 2005 and 2020, burning about 84 acres in total. None started naturally. 34 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined112
Arson/incendiarism34
Smoking7
Misuse of fire by a minor6
Debris and open burning5
Equipment and vehicle use4
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
8 September 2011Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
3 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
24 September 2005Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
2 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
19 September 2005Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
17 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named
15 September 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
8 August 2014Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOrange County Fire Authoritynot named

Every fire recorded in Orange County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Lovell Beach House: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Salt. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Newport Bay, Shellmaker, Inc.SaltPast Producer
Salt PondsSaltPast Producer

Every working recorded in Orange County

Storms near this property

18 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Newport Beach, the town this property stands in, in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2017: 6 rip current, 3 waterspout, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. The reports record 4 deaths and 8 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 1999Rip CurrentNewport Beach1 killedA 28 year old Massachuetts man swimming with some friends near the jetty at 28th Street, drowned after getting caught in a rip current.
May 2000Rip CurrentNewport Beach1 killedno account filed
June 2000Rip CurrentNewport Beach1 killedno account filed
August 2000Rip CurrentNewport Beach1 killedno account filed
September 1997High SurfNewport Beach4 hurtHeavy Surf stirred up by Hurricane Linda, sent waves up to 18 feet high thundering into The Wedge at Newport Beach. Five people were swept off a jetty, and 300 yards out to sea, before being rescued by a passing boater. Four were injured, one critically, after nearly drowning.
July 2001Rip CurrentNewport Beach4 hurtno account filed
February 1998Flash FloodNewport Beach$880,000no account filed
February 1994Tornado (F0)Newport Beach$500,000A tornado touched down at Newport Beach/Balboa Island vicinity and traveled nine miles to the Tustin Marine Corpse Base. During its course, it traveled parallel to Highway 55. Reports of many trees blown down, windows blown out, and roofs damaged.
March 2000LightningNewport Beach$50,000no account filed
January 2017Thunderstorm WindNewport Beach$25,000A severe squall moved from Newport Beach to Santa Ana, downing multiple trees, knocking out power to 63 homes and causing minor roof damage.
February 2005Thunderstorm WindNewport Beach$15,000no account filed
December 1998Storm Surge/TideNewport Beach$2,500no account filed
September 2007Tornado (EF0)Newport Beach-The public posted YouTube footage of a waterspout coming ashore in Newport Beach. The waterspout dissipated about one minute after leavig the ocean. The time of the event is estimated.
November 1997WaterspoutNewport Beach-Convective showers ahead of a cold front spawned a waterspout off of Newport Beach. The funnel was observed by lifeguards as it moved slowly to the northwest, well out to sea.
November 1997WaterspoutNewport Beach-Unstable conditions in the wake of a cool front helped to spawn a waterspout off of Newport Beach. The waterspout came ashore at the Newport Pier and quickly dissipated over western Costa Mesa, causing minor power outages. Little damage, and no injuries were reported, although one fisherman was blown from one end of the pier to another. Winds were estimated at 60 to 70 mph.
September 2002Rip CurrentNewport Beach-no account filed
January 2001Funnel CloudNewport Beach-no account filed
April 1999WaterspoutNewport Beach-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Orange County

Maps showing this location

18 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Bank of Balboa-Bank of America0.9 miles1986
Balboa Inn1.0 miles1986
WILD GOOSE (yacht)1.0 miles2011
Balboa Pavilion1.0 miles1984
Crystal Cove Historic District4.8 miles1979
Huntington Beach Municipal Pier6.1 miles1989

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 74000545 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Orange CountyAll 136 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.