Crystal Cove Historic District

The bronze's closing phrase is borrowed, unattributed, from Bernard Rudofsky's 1964 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. The cottages began in the 1920s, hand-built by Irvine Ranch and telephone workers, and their leases forbade changing their dimensions. When the land became a state park in 1979, the tenants won a National Register listing and held off eviction until 2001. In 1999 a 60-year contract with a developer stood to make the cove a luxury resort. Laura Davick, raised in cottage number 2, organized against it, and the plan was dropped. The cottages now rent by the night.

What the plaque says

Crystal Cove Historic District The early to mid-twentieth century cottages in this last self-contained Southern California beachfront recreational community reflect a unique vernacular architectural design emblematic of "architecture without architects." State Registered Historical Landmark No. 1050 Registered November 8, 2013 Plaque placed by California State Parks in cooperation with the Crystal Cove Alliance Dedicated 2014, the 150th anniversary of California State Parks This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior Crystal Cove Historic District 1925

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Puvungna — 22 mi
  The Acjachemen and Tongva place of creation: twenty-two acres of open ground on a university campus, still not in the hands of its people.
• Terminal Island and Furusato — 27 mi
  Three thousand Japanese Americans built a village here they called Furusato, and in February 1942 were given forty-eight hours to leave it.
• Point Fermin Lighthouse — 28 mi
  The first light into San Pedro Bay, lit in 1874 by two sisters, dark since Pearl Harbor, on a bluff that is still sliding.
• The Port of Los Angeles — 28 mi
  The busiest container port in the country, sitting on ground that was dredged into existence: marsh, then landfill, then Pier 400.

More markers nearby

• Site of First Water-to-Water Flight — 3.8 mi
• Balboa Pavilion — 3.9 mi
• Old Landing — 4.7 mi
• McFadden Wharf — 5.5 mi