Cliff’s Notes: 50 Years of Valmonte History With Longtime Resident Jane
More Than 50 Years in Valmonte: Jane’s Story of Community, Change and Palos Verdes Life
A longtime Via La Selva resident reflects on arriving from Switzerland in 1972, raising a family in Valmonte, neighborhood traditions, local real estate, Malaga Cove history and a lifetime devoted to art.
Maps, housing data and market reports can explain part of a neighborhood. The people who have lived there for decades explain the rest. In this installment of Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood, Jane shares a deeply personal account of life in Valmonte and Palos Verdes Estates across more than half a century.
About Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood
Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood is an ongoing oral history project capturing the stories and firsthand experiences of the people who know a neighborhood best: its residents.
Through conversations with longtime homeowners, community leaders, business owners, educators and artists, the series preserves history, character and traditions beyond what maps, statistics or real estate data reveal. Interviews may be shared through the Valmonte Street Guide, website, video, podcast, social media and future publications.
Every conversation is another chapter in the living story of the neighborhood.
“You brought back some nice memories.”Jane
Quick Facts From Jane’s Story
From Geneva to Via La Selva
Jane’s Valmonte life began in summer 1972. Her husband returned to the United States first so their three daughters could finish the school year in Switzerland. Rather than fly, the family traveled from Geneva to Cannes and boarded the Italian ocean liner Michelangelo for a two-week voyage.
“We figured if we had to fly, instead of flying back, we would rather take a cruise ship back for the two weeks. We left Geneva for Cannes, and then from Cannes on the Michelangelo back to the States.”Jane
Her husband had already selected and purchased their Via La Selva home. Jane had never seen it.
“My husband had already picked out the house and called me. I never saw it until we got here. He said, ‘Jane, I bought a house today, and it has a pool.’ We didn’t want a pool, but it came with a pool.”Jane
“The lifestyle and the climate and my husband’s work.”Jane
When Everybody Knew Everybody
“This had been a very, very close neighborhood. Everybody knew everybody.”Jane
Valmonte in the 1970s was an active social network. Approximately 25 to 30 women gathered at a different home each month, bringing sandwiches, salads or desserts.
“The women always, every month, had a luncheon at one of the houses. Everybody brought either sandwiches or salad or desserts, and we’d sit around and have lunch together.”Jane
Jane traced the custom to early Valmonte, when children played on a vacant lot and parents brought lunches.
“There was a vacant lot in between, and that’s where the children played. They had sandwiches and lunch there, and that’s how our neighborhood luncheons began back in the twenties.”Jane
Fashion Shows, Halloween Parties and Fourth of July on the Street
Residents held annual summer fashion shows in neighborhood homes, selecting clothing from local dress shops and modeling it themselves.
“We used to have fashion shows. We’d have a fashion show at our luncheon at my house and also at Jim Bacon’s up the block.”Jane
Halloween brought rotating cocktail parties, while the Fourth of July gathering near Jane’s home dated back to the 1920s.
“I’ve been in here 53 years, and the Fourth of July had been happening in front of this house since the twenties.”Jane
Neighborhood Luncheons
Residents contributed sandwiches, salads and desserts.
Summer Fashion Shows
Neighbors modeled clothing from local dress shops.
Halloween Parties
Guests brought their own snacks and drinks.
July Fourth
Neighbors grilled, raised flags, played music and shared drinks.
Beach Picnics
Jane packed dinner, wine, dessert, lawn chairs and straw hats.
Library Lawn
Community picnics near Malaga Cove formed part of local life.
“When my husband would come home in the afternoon, I would have a picnic prepared. I would have our wine and dinner and dessert and everything, and the straw hats and the lawn chairs ready.”Jane
“He would body surf, and then we would have our cocktails and dinner, and we’d stay down there until nine o’clock at night. And it was safe.”Jane
How Valmonte and the South Bay Have Evolved
Trees once small enough for one person to hug now require several people. Jane treasures the mature canopy but worries about maintenance and removal.
“The trees were all pretty much the size you could hug them, but now it takes three people to hug a tree.”Jane
“These young people buy because of the trees. They love the grove and they want to live here. Then they move in, and within five to six months, they’re cutting them out because they don’t want to have to clean up all the leaves.”Jane
“You just don’t move into a neighborhood and start cutting down the trees.”Jane
| Then | Now | Jane’s Perspective |
|---|---|---|
| Young trees and a lighter canopy | Large mature trees | The canopy needs thoughtful stewardship. |
| Small bungalows | Larger homes, condos and apartments | Density has added traffic and pressure. |
| Many overhead wires | Fewer in prominent locations | The visual improvement is substantial. |
| Little sidewalk dining | Outdoor cafés are common | A welcome use of the climate. |
Telephone Poles and Outdoor Dining
“I remember telephone poles all over the place from the airport down to this area. There were telephone poles and wires on both sides of the street, all down Catalina.”Jane
“Here was this beautiful weather, restaurants all over here and there, and nobody outside eating at a table under an umbrella. Everybody was inside.”Jane
Today, outdoor dining is common in Redondo Beach and Riviera Village. Jane welcomes it, even with the parking tradeoff.
More Homes and Traffic
“The houses are all bigger. They’ve torn down all the little houses that were the bungalows. Catalina had bungalows on it, and now they’re all condominiums and apartments.”Jane
Why People Have Long Wanted to Live on “The Hill”
Jane’s view is informed by decades as a homeowner and her experience in real estate. She recalls buyers starting in Manhattan Beach and later aspiring to Palos Verdes.
“When I was in real estate, people got their first homes in Manhattan Beach. Then their next purchase, they wanted to be looking at the hill.”Jane
“I think the people. The people that move here think pretty much alike. They love the looks and the quality of life in this particular neighborhood.”Jane
“This is the most unique neighborhood on this hill, without a doubt. Every single house is different, and each person, each family is different.”Jane
Proposition 13
Jane credits Proposition 13 with helping longtime owners and families stay as values rose.
“Thank God for Proposition 13. I hope it never goes away. That saved the community, really.”Jane
Valmonte’s Sunny Microclimate and the Airline Connection
Jane recalls pilots and flight attendants recognizing from the air that lower-elevation Valmonte was often sunnier than other parts of the hill, making it favorable for gardens and orchards.
“Valmonte has the best sunny area for growing fruit trees and vegetables. The pilots used to fly over the peninsula, and Valmonte was the one outstanding sunny place on the hill.”Jane
“That is where most of the pilots and airline stewardesses would look for homes because they could grow fruit trees and have gardens.”Jane
Jane’s Artistic Career and Local Legacy
At 16, Jane won one of ten summer scholarships to the Art Academy in Cincinnati. She later studied art at Wesleyan College and the Beaux-Arts in Geneva.
“Our high school didn’t have an art teacher. The principal wrote and asked if I could submit my art, and I did. I won one of ten scholarships for the summer in Cincinnati when I was sixteen.”Jane
In Palos Verdes, she produced pen-and-ink drawings and hand-painted offset lithographs of local scenes.
“The originals of those offset lithographs that I hand painted are in City Hall. They have a lot of my artwork hanging on their walls.”Jane
For roughly two decades, her custom art cards were carried first at Corner of the World and later at the Yellow Vase, encouraged by her friend Maureen Motley.
“Maureen said, ‘Jane, go over there and buy that stand and put your cards in it.’ So I followed her directions and did it.”Jane
Malaga Cove Plaza, Maureen Motley and the Brick Walkway
Jane remembers Maureen as a devoted steward of Malaga Cove Plaza who invested substantially in improving and protecting it.
“She loved that plaza like nobody else.”Jane
Jane joined fundraising for the brick walkway and landscaping through hoedowns, dances, formal dinners and even pig races.
“We threw fantastic parties in the plaza to raise money for that brick walk. We had a hoedown, we had pig races and all kinds of things there, and dancing.”Jane
What Jane Wants People to Understand About Valmonte
The Trees Are Part of the Neighborhood
The canopy contributes to Valmonte’s identity, shade and sense of place.
Community Requires Participation
Residents created closeness by gathering, welcoming neighbors and making time for one another.
Every Home Is Different
Evaluate streets, lots, orientation, sunlight, traffic and condition individually.
Long-Term Ownership Shapes Culture
Traditions, landscapes and personal connections persist because residents remain for decades.
“We like each other.”Jane
Questions About Jane, Valmonte and the Oral History Project
When did Jane move to Valmonte?
Jane moved to Valmonte in July 1972 after living in Geneva, Switzerland. She arrived with her husband and three daughters.
What was Valmonte like in the 1970s?
It was close-knit, with monthly luncheons, fashion shows, Halloween parties and longstanding Fourth of July celebrations.
How has Valmonte changed?
Trees have matured, traffic and density have increased, and community participation and landscaping choices have evolved.
Why is Valmonte known for a favorable microclimate?
Its lower elevation and inland position can provide more sunshine than cooler, more exposed peninsula areas. Read the microclimates guide.
What kind of artwork did Jane create?
Pen-and-ink drawings, paintings, etchings, offset lithographs and hand-painted cards depicting Palos Verdes and South Bay scenes.
What was Jane’s connection to Malaga Cove Plaza?
She participated in fundraising and preservation efforts supporting its brick walkway and landscaping.
What is Cliff’s Notes: Voices of the Neighborhood?
A Scherb Homes Group oral-history project preserving community knowledge through conversations with longtime residents and local voices.
Where can I learn more about living in Valmonte?
Start with the Valmonte neighborhood guide and Valmonte Streets A–Z.
The Story Is Not Finished
Jane has more photographs, artwork, published profiles and stories about the people who shaped Valmonte, Malaga Cove and Palos Verdes Estates.
“There are so many other things that are so important, and I could go on for hours.”Jane
“I’ve had a wonderful life.”Jane
Do You Have a Palos Verdes Neighborhood Story to Share?
Scherb Homes Group is documenting the people, places and traditions that shape Valmonte, Palos Verdes Estates and the greater South Bay.
