Horses on the Hill Lisa Wolf keeps the Peninsula’s equestrian tradition alive at the Portuguese Bend Riding Club
As a child, Lisa Wolf was drawn to the Portuguese Bend Riding Club by its natural beauty. Photo by Philicia Endelman (PhiliciaEndelman.com) by Erin Waldner The Portuguese Bend Riding Club on Narcissa Drive was once stables for Villa Narcissa, the home of Narcissa, and Frank Vanderlip, the wealthy banker, and former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. The Vanderlips purchased the 16,000-acre ranch Rancho de los Palos Verdes in 1913. The East Coast couple built Villa Narcissa in the 1920s for their home away from home. “Everybody rode in the family,” said Vanderlip’s granddaughter, Katrina Vanderlip. The Vanderlips invited their friends to drag hunts, during which riders follow a scented trail. The riders dressed in formal attire. The Riding Club is approaching its 100th birthday, being one of the very first structures built on the hill originally by the Vanderlip’s. Palos Verdes Library District, Historical Archival Department Over the years, the stables were a place where Peninsula kids learned to ride. Lisa Wolf began taking riding lessons at the stables when she was a teenager in the 1960s. The Pacific Palisades youngster was bowled over by the property’s beauty. “Oh, I…
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