A threatening landslide forces Wayfarers Chapel to relocate

By Grace TooheyStaff Writer

April 4, 2024 4:10 PM PT

The iconic glass chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes overlooking the ocean has, for decades, been one of the most picturesque locations for Angelenos to marry.

Its scenic vistas and renowned architecture have drawn new fans in the age of posting images on social media, and, recently, was upgraded to a National Historic Landmark.

But this winter, an ancient landslide complex sitting below the chapel’s floors rapidly accelerated and expanded, forcing chapel leaders to indefinitely close the popular spiritual and tourist destination amid unprecedented damage and hazards on the property.

Now officials say it’s unlikely the chapel will ever reopen at its current location off Palos Verdes Drive South, which is also rapidly moving due to land movement.

“We will not be able to restore the chapel on our current property. That seems firm,” Dan Burchett, the Wayfarers Chapel executive director said in a statement this week.

The 100-seat glass and wood sanctuary was built in 1951, designed by architect Lloyd Wright — the son of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright — for the Swedenborgian Church.

Burchett said the chapel’s board of directors are still in preliminary discussions about relocating the chapel, with expectations that considerably more fundraising would be required for a move that he estimates could cost $15 million. The chapel had started fundraising after its closure, but the amount raised remain in the tens of thousands.

“It’s just at the beginning stages,” Burchett said in an interview with The Times. “This is going to take years to determine, very likely.”

He said there’s no set location in mind, but the team would like to remain in Rancho Palos Verdes, if possible, and are committed to retaining its national historic designation.

“It is quite unbelievable that things are devolving as quickly as they are,” Burchett said. “We basically have stopped doing repairs until there are some assurances that the land is going to be stopped. ... We don’t have any control.”

Due to the land movement under the church, Burchett said there are 12 panes of glass broken in the chapel, the foundation is significantly damaged and walkways across the property are cracked and jagged.

The chapel sits on part of an ancient landslide complex, known as the slow-moving Portuguese Bend complex, where four long-studied landslides collide. This has recently caused increased movement across a square mile where approximately 400 homes, many local parks and the chapel sit.

City officials have been working for months to try to halt the landslide complex’s movement — fighting an uphill battle against water infiltration, which causes the shifting ground. It became a bigger problem as the region recorded one of the wettest two-year periods since the 1800s.

“The city is aware that the Wayfarers Chapel Board of Directors is exploring the potential of relocating the chapel building,” Megan Barnes, a spokesperson for the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, said in a statement. “The city treasures Wayfarers Chapel’s cultural significance and place in our community, and we continue to support its leaders as they navigate this challenging time.”

A church bell tower overlooking the ocean.

Since the increased land movement, chapel officials have had geologists, structural engineers and historical architects visit the site to analyze the situation and the possibilities for repairs or restoration, Burchett said.

“The only way that the chapel can be moved is to take it apart and rebuild it someplace else,” he said, which has raised further questions about how to obtain city permitting and meet historical landmark requirements and building standards that have changed since the early 1950s.

There are still a lot of moving parts and unknowns about the process, Burchett said, but the now-skeleton staff at the church is working around the clock to find solutions. He said they are committed to remaining in Rancho Palos Verdes but have received offers to relocate the chapel off of the peninsula.

“We are enormously devoted to restoring the chapel,” Burchett said. “We’re doing all that we know to do to ensure that the chapel will be fully restored — whatever location that is.”

Since closing, he said the chapel’s staff had been reduced by more three-quarters — down to five full-time staff, including himself.

“It’s a heartbreaking situation,” he said. “Things are changing every week.”