Ralph Jester Legacy Lives On in Portuguese Bend

The other day when I held a Portuguese Bend neighbors only special open house for my new listing of the Vanderlip Cottage in Portguese Bend, my husband and I had the pleasure of spending some time speaking to Lee Jester, son of Academy Award nominee Ralph Jester. He was nominated for an Academy Award for best costume design for two Cecil B. DeMille films: The Ten Commandments (1956), and again for The Buccaneer (1958), losing out to Gigi and The King and I He worked for many years with Edith Head.

As described in a recent article on the on-line Ranch Palos Verdes Patch, Mr. Jester constructed a beautiful home in the Portuguese Bend area designed by Lloyd Wright, who also designed the Wayfarer’s Chapel: “But it is the house itself-a 1949 Lloyd Wright design, with built-in cabinets, walls of windows and sweeping angles-that most expresses the reverence Jester had for his family, as well as for the wondrous landscape first introduced to him by Frank A. Vanderlip Sr. in the 1930s.

Above, Twilight at the Vanderlip Cottage ( photo by Emily Cristiano ).

Jester had gotten to know the Vanderlips in the 1920s through their daughter, Narcissa, who was at Vassar when Ralph was at Yale. . . He was also a frequent guest at Beechwood, Vanderlip’s vast estate on the Hudson River in New York.. . .The Vanderlips are friends of mine,” Jester said, gaining entry past the ( Portuguese Bend )gate house . Thus, they headed up Narcissa Drive under a canopy of Brazilian pepper trees, until they reached the Old Ranch Cottage, Frank Vanderlip’s main residence.From then on Jester lived in one of the cottages on the Vanderlip estate, driving to Hollywood in the days before freeways.”

Click on the following links for information on my new listing of the historic Vanderlip Cottage”

Click Here for a Virtual Tour

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THI8 PROPERTY