QUOTE="65pacecar, post: 14804267, member: 125097"] View attachment 5678363 View attachment 5678364 View attachment 5678365 View attachment 5678366 [/QUOTE] Hello, For those that have never visited Long Beach, CA in the early days, this is the absolute nicest street in the downtown shoreline. To the left are the downtown businesses and tall buildings. To the right, at this time, the shoreline cliff top was not too tall as far as buildings were concerned. except for the tall hotel in the far reaches of the photo. The Villa Riviera Hotel was a exclusive place and it was one of the hotels with a curved driveway leading to the drop off/main entrance to the lobby. It was popular over time and as the years went by while we grew up in Long Beach, the city shoreline changed with taller buildings being built all along the cliff edge leading to the sand and harbor oceanfront. But, as always, the Villa Riviera was “THE” hotel when describing the shoreline amenities. We used to cruise down Ocean Blvd from our Westside of Long Beach house on the way to the Belmont Shore Peninsula surf spot. Then farther south to Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. The Ocean Blvd. cruise was a lot nicer and easier to drive than down PCH to the Traffic Circle, past our high school area. But, at night, the shoreline views, the lights, open space was a wonderful setting for hot rods, cruising sedans and the ending spot being Belmont Shore community/city center. Jnaki Our dad used to take us to the white sand beach directly below the Villa Riviera as it was limited to parking spaces. But, he found a small alley/street that had plenty of spaces to park and walk to the pristine sandy beach. Directly in front of the Villa Riviera, there were people working there that used to hand sweep the white sand. The general public that frequented the beach had to go down farther on the beach for their day in the sun. The calm, blue ocean did not have any waves lapping the shore at this location. The only time it had some waves was before the long breakwater was built to save the “long white sand beach” from destruction. It used to be a surf spot for those brave folks our dad’s age. After the breakwater was put in place, it turned into a calm water bay, unless a sneaker South Swell came from the Southern Hemisphere and came blasting up the opening in Belmont Shore. (We rode the waves a couple of times in June and July 1961-63, near the circular pier and auditorium) An aerial shot from 1953 with the round spire circled. No marina, no Sports Arena no Shoreline Drive filled in beachfront. Our family was probably in front of those dark spots on the beachfront area of the Villa Riviera. closer to the water's edge. 2009 The tall building on lower right with the green roof. At the corner of the sandy beach and the curving Shoreline Drive roadway stood out in the early years. But, now, there are other tall buildings overshadowing the once exclusive Villa Riviera Hotel. The circular rainbow pier is gone and the white beach sand has grown quite a bit in front of the now condominium complex. It still has great ocean and surrounding views from the building. The good old Sports Arena, (had a ton of car shows and rock concerts) was finished several months after we graduated in 1962. It was there on our marching day, but was still months away to a complete finish. 2023 The Villa Riviera has turned into a building with individual condo units from 500 sq ft to larger, combined two units, all with outstanding views of the surrounding city and ocean. Many renovations and earthquake supports have been incorporated and now still stands as a memory for all of us folks that used to cruise by almost daily on Ocean Boulevard heading South. YRMV
I believe one of these sold on Mecum Auction Houston yesterday for 150K. not sure of the exact price and it was beautiful red.
The Jalopy Journal
