[4] When Don Miguel Dominguez died in 1882, he owned a massive parcel of land, Rancho San Pedro, which was passed on to his six daughters.

In 1889, this 433 acre Ocean Tract was sold for $12,000 to two Oregon steamship operators and entrepreneurs, Robert Thompson and Captain John Ainsworth.

Located on the southern shores of the Santa Monica Bay, it had a large submarine canyon that allowed wooden cargo ships, with their deep hulls, to get close enough to the coast to offload their goods onto train cars waiting on one of the several wharfs along the beach.

Rail lines connected Redondo Beach to downtown businesses[7] and the return trains brought thousands of people to this coastal paradise.

Thompson and Ainsworth decided a grandiose hotel was needed to accommodate the growing numbers of passenger ships and to further support their efforts of enticing tourists and commerce to visit Redondo Beach.

In January 1888, notices were advertised in the Los Angeles Herald for contractors to submit proposals for excavating 30,000 cubic yards of earth to make way for the basement of the soon to be constructed Hotel Redondo.

[10] Sources conflict, but the price tag for this massive undertaking has been quoted at approximately $250,000[11] or built at a cost of $1,200,000 with an additional $55,000 in fine Victorian furnishings.

[14] The first shipload of lumber, delivered by Captain Fardelius,[15] arrived at the wharf on June 1 of that same year, just down the bluff from the bustling construction site.

The exterior of the hotel was punctuated with numerous Cambridge finial topped turrets, dormers, gables of varying sizes and red brick chimneys capped with classic Victorian cowls.

A veranda, supported by numerous Tuscan Style columns and paved with wooden planks meandered along the front elevation of the hotel.

Offering shade for the front of the hotel, the Veranda was large enough to accommodate the Seventh Regiment Band who frequently played concerts in the afternoons of the warm summer days.

The veranda also afforded guests a comfortable and commanding view of the Pacific Ocean dotted with triple masted ships waiting to dock along the busy wharfs to offload kegs of goods directly onto rail cars destined for the markets in nearby downtown Los Angeles.

The main entrance to the Hotel Lobby was through a rather simple and comparatively small gabled Portico that was adorned with a large sunburst pattern on the front.

This staircase stands today as one of the last remnants of the Hotel Redondo, although the majority of it remains covered over by ice plant and newer layers of concrete.

[19] The hotel was surrounded by acres of lushly landscaped plants and colorful flowers blanketing the gently sloping grounds.

The account was well documented in the Los Angeles Herald from August 31, 1893: “The hall presented its usual brilliancy, the appointments being perfect.

A cluster of Egyptian lotus of various colors surmounted the flowery pool.”[22] The arrival of summer brought with it an increase in handicap Billiard tournaments often boasting up to twenty competitors.

Many of the events were symbolic of the idyllic culture at the turn of the century and included a noted harpist, Miss Avice Boxall, who in 1901, entertained a “good-sized audience”.

[29] There is also a tale from 1898 of a Hotel Redondo guest, Mr. John F. Francis, who spent a week fishing on the wharves from sun up to sundown.

Hotel guests would frequently stroll down the Esplanade dressed in their finest Victorian outfits and took in intermittent ocean views peeking through these cottages scattered along the broad avenue.

One employee of Mr. Huntington's, Olin McWain, purchased several oceanfront properties, including one of the hotel cottages, which still stands today on the Esplanade.

[41] Most visitors arrived in Redondo Beach either by horse and buggy from greater Los Angeles or by steamships, which stopped at one of the three piers four times a week.

[11] Notable guests to the hotel were frequently announced in the Los Angeles Herald newspaper and celebrated with much fanfare upon their arrival.