In Part VIII of an ongoing series featuring some of the most historic houses in Hermosa Beach, The Beach Reporter takes a closer look at three houses west of Pacific Coast Highway including one on Circle Drive that is in jeopardy of being demolished.

Nick Delfino moved into 2104 Circle Drive temporarily while looking for a house to buy in Hermosa Beach. Delfino, originally from Ohio and a self-employed director, producer and writer, migrated to Los Angeles about four years ago to be near the film industry.

“This was just a temporary scenario and I would love to stay here in Hermosa Beach. I’d like to live on a walk street,” said Delfino. “I really like the character of this house and its history since I’m used to living in 1970s vintage houses. I bet it had a great view a long time ago because it sits on a ridge and there weren’t as many houses here many years ago.”

The previous owners were an elderly couple who died and the house was then left to the family’s estate. It and an adjacent lot recently went up for sale and was sold to a development company based in England for $2.3 million. The firm now has plans to demolish both this house and the one behind it. The owner is willing to donate the house for free to anyone who’s willing to move it from its current location to avoid demolition. The new owner also discussed the idea of appropriating its demolition costs toward the house’s relocation costs.

The house still has most of its original amenities including crystal glass doorknobs and the tile in both the bathroom and kitchen.

“Prior to this move, I was living in Manhattan Beach which is so sterilized with contemporary architecture,” added Delfino. “Hermosa Beach still has that flavor and I hope it is able to keep it. I would be interested in purchasing a period home in the future if the opportunity presented itself to me.”

According to Patricia Gazin’s “Castles on the Sand,” the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house was built in 1914. The architect and contractor was Thomas Preston and the original owner was F.W. Cressell. It cost about $1,500. For many years, the house belonged to Pansy Bessey, who was the widow of G.R. Bessey.

San Diego native Alysa Vanderzanden bought the house at 1929 Manhattan Ave. two years ago after returning to Hermosa Beach after several years of living outside the area.

“I wanted it the minute I saw it. I has a yard which was key for me because I knew I wanted dogs,” she said. “It’s very homey, country, but yet it also has a lot of flare. I love that I’m able to walk into my front door, look out of an original window and see the ocean.”

The upper level contains the general living quarters like the kitchen and dining area, along with a bedroom and bathroom. The bottom floor encompasses the second bedroom and bathroom, an office and laundry.

Vanderzanden works in theater where she has acted in several Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities productions. She is currently directing a play at El Camino College.

According to Gazin, the house was built in 1903 based on information provided by its previous owner Lucile Van Wormer who was the widow of Swain Van Wormer, an early civic leader who was president of the Chamber of Commerce in 1936. Its original owners were Dr. and Mrs. Porter.

“In the beginning the house featured two stories and faced the ocean,” wrote Gazin. “Today the front entrance is on Manhattan Avenue, but the building retains its marvelous view of the sea.”

Mary Ann Yaskowitz, her husband and three young boys live at 37 Ninth St., which is a walk street in town. Before the Yaskowitzes, the five-bedroom house was home to the Mathews family over three generations.

The two-story home has living and dining areas, a kitchen, bathroom and a maid’s living quarters which has since been converted into a den.

“Some of our favorite characteristics of the house are the front door with its glass details, the living room with its exposed beams and its many bay windows. We love how simple the house is.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, the Yaskowitzes migrated to town about three years ago. The house has been completely restored to its original condition with modern amenities built into the kitchen and bathrooms.

“We’ve been here three years, and we just love the style and the location,” she said. “We fell in love with it right away. We love the patio out in front that serves as a gathering place for all of our neighbors. Living on a walk street is like having one big family. Our next door neighbor, Kristine, is like a sister to our kids.”

The original owner, William Burgess Mathews, was born in 1865 in Ohio and attended Columbia University Law School. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1889 and became the city attorney in 1900. He spent the next 31 years serving in city government.

Mathews traveled to Washington, D.C., urging the U.S. government to build a dam on the Colorado River. He then helped to secure passage of the 1927 Metropolitan Water District Act, which supplied residents of Southern California with drinking water from the river. In 1929, he helped pass a bond in the amount of $220 million for the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct.

Mathews rode the big red car to Hermosa Beach to buy property and build a summer home for his family. The Mathewses initially settled on The Strand but later moved after Mathews’ wife complained about the ocean making too much noise. He sold the property and bought land a little more inland in the spring of 1907 at Ninth Street for $1,750.

The city elected Mathews to the City Council in the 1940s and he received $25 each month for his service. He was known around town for being at odds with business developers who wanted to build on Camino Real, now known as Pacific Coast Highway.

The small room off the kitchen served as Lottie Robinson’s living quarters, an African-American woman who was hired as the family’s maid and helped raise the Mathews’ five children (three boys and two girls).

Of the three boys, Sam graduated from Stanford and then attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. John attended law school at Harvard University and William graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Mathews died in 1948 at the age of 52 and prior to that, left the house to his son William who watched over his mother until her death in 1982. William met his wife at Berkeley and married her in 1924. They had twin boys in 1927 and moved permanently to the beach in 1930.

William Mathews III recalled the town population no more than 1,000 in the winter up until World War II. He recalled walking across sand dunes to get to school.

Following William III’s mother’s death, the house was rented out for several years being that William lived in Egypt and his twin brother in Hawaii. They eventually sold the house, which was restored in the late 1990s.