Palos Verdes - Hip Hop Dance Class at Equinox

Palos Verdes has 2 gyms – Spectrum at the Peninsula Center and my gym, Equinox at Promenade on the Peninsula (formerly “the Avenue of the Peninsula”) which offers different classes to its members every day. Different styles of Yoga, NIA, jazz dance, Hip hop, Latin dance, Tai Chi, Pilates, etc. Hip hop dance on Monday and Wednesday nights is our favorite. It is taught by DHQ (Darrell Hollinquest), the founder and CEO of The Bridge MFCM Inc. He is also CEO of DHQ Entertainment and founder of Disc Head Quarters, a CD/DVD scratch repair and duplication service company. Check out his website here: http://www.thebridgemcminc.com/

Included in the pictures on this blog today are the two cutest Japanese ladies, Mariko and Hirumi, who dance with unbelievable energy like they are in their teens, Jodi, who dances the most professionally (and I refuse to believe she is not professional), Regina (Jodi’s sister in law), Lisa the coolest dancer in the group, Barbie, who always has the cutest outfit on and me.

Our friend who took the group picture for us is Phyllis Ferrara, an abstract artist, who usually comes to the class with her beautiful daughter. Please check out her art work at http://www.phyllisferrara.com/.

For more information about Equinox in Palos verdes, please visit http://www.equinoxfitness.com/clubs/ClubTour.aspx?clubID=134

For more information about Promenade on the Peninsula, please visit http://www.promenadeonthepeninsula.com/

For information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/

Palos Verdes - Farmers Market

There is a Farmers Market every Sunday morning in the parking lot next to Starbucks of Peninsula Center (Hawthorne and Silver Spur). It offers a wide variety of fresh produce, flowers, plants, bread, International food - Mediterranean food, Thai food (by Khun Tai, who some of her loyal customers told me makes the best Pad Thai), etc. It is fun to walk around and buy some fruits and take some food home. A lot of people go into Starbucks after the walk to get their drinks and rest. The Thai food stall makes pretty good money since the Palos Verdes’s famous “Dragonfly Thai” restaurant (who participates in giving some offers to my clients) is closed on Sunday. Click here to check out my Thai Cooking website: http://www.natashakitchen.com/.

Email me your address (natasha@NatashaStewart.com) if you live nearby or in Palos Verdes to get Natasha Stewart’s Gratitude Card and Natasha Stewart’s Gratitude Card #2. On each of the cards I gathered 10 or more businesses in Palos Verdes that give discounts/offers to the people who present to them the cards, for example the Peninsula Grill give 20% off, Chicken Dijon give 10% off, and some Japanese, Italian, Thai, Indian and American restaurants also give some discounts/offers.

For information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/.

Palos Verdes Homes- Island View

My VDO's today show Palos Verdes homes in Island View complex (Santa Barbara Dr, Santa Catalina Dr and San Clemente Dr) in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. The Palos Verdes homes in this area are very beautiful and virtually every home has a great curb appeal.

There are 98 Palos Verdes homes on the three streets. Since 1995, 18 homes on Santa Catalina, 21 on Santa Barbara and 11 on San Clemente have changed hands. No. 36 Santa Catalina has had the most owners (sold in 1996, 1999, 2006 and 2007). No. 24 San Clemente, No. 56 Santa Barbara and No. 22 Santa Catalina have all changed owners 3 times.

None of the Palos Verdes homes in this complex has been sold to date in 2008 , but No. 35 Santa Catalina came on the market last month (May 5th) and has been accepting offers a few times which fell through and is now on back up offer status. There are no other homes in Island View on the market as of today.

If you would like information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com.

Palos Verdes - Point Vicente

Point Vicente Interpretive Center on Palos Verdes Drive South in Rancho Palos Verdes is a museum opened in 1984. It exhibits the history and nature features of Palos Verdes Peninsula. Here the visitors also enjoy a 28 acre park and the spectacular views of the ocean from Catalina Island all the way to Malibu. In the winter we can enjoy whale watching at the point.

Near the Interpretive Center is Point Vicente Lighthouse built in 1926 by the US Lighthouse Service. It is 67 feet high and visible from 20 miles away.

For information about Palos Verdes home, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/

Palos Verdes Homes - Condos on the market

There are 29 condos in Palos Verdes on the market as of today. Four of them are 1 bed, twenty-two are 2 beds and three are 3 beds. The highest priced one bed condo is on La Rotonda Dr in Rancho Palos Verdes which also is the one that has stayed on the market the longest (199 days) among the one-bedroom condos. It was priced at 675K when it first came on the market and now the asking price is 610K. The cheapest on is on Hidden Lane, Rolling Hills Estates asking for 269K down from 354K set in February 2006.

Among two-bed condos on the market in Palos Verdes, the one on La Rotonda Dr has the highest asking price of 899K, down from 980K when it came on the market in April. The cheapest one is a short sale on Western for 299K, which of course we don’t know yet if the price will be approved by the lender.

The three-bed condo on PV Dr W is asking for 769,000 and the lowest asking price goes to the one on Huntsman Ct, 449,000.

For more information on Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com

Palos Verdes Homes – Birchfield Avenue

Today I want to talk about Palos Verdes homes on Birchfield Avenue in the city of Rancho Palos Verdes. This street is very beautiful in the spring with all the purple-blue Jacarandas in full bloom. For information about Jacarandas, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacaranda.

There are 41 Palos Verdes homes on Birchfiled. In the last 10 years, 19 homes have changed hands, six of which have been sold 2-3 times. 26404 was sold in 1997, 2002 and 2007 and 26411 (almost right across the street from 26404) got new owners in 1998, 2002 and 2003. One home is pending for sale and there is none on the market as of today.

If you would like information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/.

Palos Verdes Hike - Paintbrush Trail

Today I went for the hike on the Paintbrush Trail in Rancho Palos Verdes. The hike leader of our group was Russ. He is very knowledgeable. He showed us a Cochineal, a kind of white scale insect, which he crushed on his hand and it turned red. (See the VDO at the bottom.) It is used as dye in many things including yogurt. So beware vegetarians, you may be eating yogurt with insect dye! To learn more about this wonderful insect, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal.

We saw many kinds of wild flowers and native plants such as purple sage and yellow poppy. We also saw a rattle snake, lizards and some ravens. The views from the trails are spectacular.

On the second Saturday of each month in 2008, Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy organizes guided hikes at different locations for different months. Land Conservancy Nature Walks are broadcast on local RPVTV channel 35 on Friday evenings at 6 PM. Click here for 2 page flyer of 2008 Nature Walks and directions for parking: http://www.pvplc.org/2008%20Walk%20Flyer.pdf

For information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/

Nature Walks in Palos Verdes Peninsula

Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy offers free monthly nature walks guided by volunteer naturalists, historians and geologists. The hikes of different months are done on various nature preserves and trails all over the peninsula. All walks are fun and suitable for both adults and children. A lot of hikes are in Portuguese Bend, where you will enjoy the breathtaking views of the peninsula's rugged coastal cliffs, the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. For more information, click this link: http://www.pvplc.org/naturewalks.shtml

George F Canyon Nature Center in the city of Rolling Hill Estates offers fun hikes to see the canyon throughout the year; First Saturday Walks ($3 per person), Night Hikes ($7 per person, held on the full moon nights) and Birdwalks (free). For details, please call 310-547-0862.

If you would like some information about Palos Verdes homes. please visit: http://www.natashastewart.com/

Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Graduation Ceremony

Today the parents and the friends of the graduating students of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School went to the school for the graduation ceremony. The school’s concert band played the graduation song while the graduating students were walking in and the people were shouting their loved ones’ names. The principal, Mr. Kelly Johnson, and a few seniors gave speeches some of which were so moving that some people in the audience cried. Two girls went on stage and sang “Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson and received a great round of applause. After that, 594 names of the graduating seniors were called in seating order to receive their high school diploma. Once they were done, the parents and the friends hurried down to the field to take photos with their graduating children/friends. There were smiles, laughers, and tears everywhere. I am confident that this would be one of the best memories of high school years of many of those students as they ended a chapter of their life, and moved on to start a new one.

To visit the school’s website, please click here: http://www.pvphs.com

For information about the schools in Palos Verdes Peninsula, go to: http://www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us/

For information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com

First Palos Verdes Homes – the Peninsula History

Here is a brief version of the history of Palos Verdes Peninsula:

In 1822, the Peninsula which was known back then as Rancho de los Palos Verdes was granted by the Governor of Mexican California to Don Delores Sepulveda as a reward for his support of the Mexican Revolution. In 1882, the land was deeded to Jotham Bixby, who brought farming to the peninsula by leasing the land to Japanese farmers. In 1913 the Bixby family sold most of the land to a group of New York investors, one of whom was Frank A. Vanderlip, who later became known as the founding father of the Peninsula. In 1921, Vanderlip and E.G. Lewis, a real estate promoter, found the Palos Verdes Estates project and the first homes appeared in 1924. Over the years, four cities were incorporated; Palos Verdes Estates, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes.

For historical pictures of Palos Verdes Peninsula, please click here: http://content.cdlib.org/search?style=oac-img;sort=title;relation=ark:/13030/kt1f59q1nh

For information on Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/

Palos Verdes Schools

Palos Verdes schools is one of the most important reasons families choose to live here. The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District has 10 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 2 high schools which are among the top 100 best high schools in the country; Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (or “Peninsula Hi”) and Palos Verdes High School (or “PV Hi”).

Students are generally assigned to specific schools for kindergarten through eighth grade by the home residence address. However, sometimes, an elementary school may reach its enrollment capacity and the student(s) may have to attend another elementary school within the school district. There are no attendance boundaries for the high school level. To locate the school of attendance, go to http://www.pvpusd.k12.ca.us/intranet/street05.htm.

Both Peninsula and Palos Verdes high schools were ranked in U.S. News & World Report magazine’s list of the top 100 America’s best high schools posted November 29, 2007. Peninsula Hi came in at No. 89, while PV Hi was No. 93. See the full list here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/high-schools/2007/11/29/gold-medal-schools.html.

For more information of Palos Verdes homes and the area, please check out http://www.natashastewart.com/.

Palos Verdes Homes

There are 254 Palos Verdes Homes for sale on the market as of today not including townhomes and condos. Palos Verdes Estates has 59 homes on the market with a home on Via Pavion having the lowest asking price of $1,188,000. The highest listed price is 12.99 M on Via Cerritos. It has been listed since July 2006 (that is 441 days now) and the price has never been reduced.

There are 135 Rancho Palos Verdes homes on the market with the lowest price ($599,000) on Jaybrook Dr and the highest (6.9 M) on Emerald View Dr. The two homes that have been on the market the longest (about a thousand days now, wow!!) are on Lunada Vista with the prices started off at 3.99 M and now after almost 3 years on the market the builders have been cutting their profits down a lot and now they are asking for 2.7 - 2.8 M.

In the city of Rolling Hills which is also in Palos Verdes homes usually come with a huge lot. The one with 9.2 acre lot on Upper Water Canyon Road has stayed on the market the longest (more than 700 days now) and demands a price (for the value of the land) of 9.9 M (down from 10.5 M). The highest price available on the market is 23 M for a home on Pine Tree Ln. The lowest asking price in Rolling Hills as of today is 1,975,000 on Eastfield Dr.

There are 37 Palos Verdes homes in the city of Rolling Hills Estates with two on Silver Spring and Elkmont asking for the lowest price of $949,000. A home on Santa Cruz is asking for 3,175,000, the highest listed price on the market in this city. The highest numbers of days on the market goes to a home on Hitching Post (444 days), first listed in March 2006 for 1.6 M and now asking for 1.48 M.

For more information about Palos Verdes homes, please visit http://www.natashastewart.com/.

For information of the cities in Palos Verdes, please visit http://www.palosverdes.com/.