Local History - CDM’s oldest building

By: William Lobdell

Photos courtesy of the Newport Beach Historical Society

The Story Behind CdM’s Oldest—and Perhaps Most Beloved—Building

One of the oldest structures in Newport Beach is the iconic Kerckhoff Marine Laboratory (over 100 years old) on the edge of China Cove near the harbor entrance. Here are six things you might not know about the history of the granddaddy of Corona del Mar buildings.

1. And this may seem unrelated, but we’ll tie it all together in a sec.) In 1907, Corona del Mar’s original developer, George Hart, constructed the two-story, 18-room Hotel Del Mar on the bluffs
with views of the harbor and ocean to attract would-be home-lot buyers and serve as a real-estate sales office.

2. Eight years later, with few hotel guests and fewer parcel sales, the hotel was rebranded the Palisades Tavern. That failed as well.

3. In 1925, developers came up with a new idea: turn the hotel and surrounding property into a private club. The ambitious plans for the Balboa Palisades Club consisted of a three-story Spanish-style clubhouse with 50 guest rooms, bungalows, a bowling alley, billiard tables and dining and living rooms. And below the bluff, a boathouse/bathhouse would feature boats on the bottom level, a second-floor bathhouse stocked with wool bathing suits, plus lockers and showers, and a rooftop terrace for social events. 

4. The private club initially attracted over 600 members, but construction funds never materialized for the main clubhouse, which doomed the project. However, before the club went belly up, the developer did manage to get the boathouse/bathhouse finished.

5. In 1929, four years after the completion of the building, the club sold it to CalTech, which renamed it the Kerckhoff Marina Laboratory (and still owns it  today). 

6. In 1931, the hotel property was foreclosed upon and turned into apartments, which were demolished six decades later. Only a historical marker remains near the corner of Carnation and Seaview Avenues. 

William Lobdell is the historian laureate for the City of Newport Beach. He is also the founder of Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror, which produces a local history podcast and 90-second videos (with over
5.4 million views) that appear on Instagram and Facebook.

Follow on IG @newport.in.the.rearview.mirror