National Historic Landmark · Rancho Palos Verdes, California

Wayfarers Chapel

Historic church in California, United States in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Built 1951 by Lloyd Wright. Added to the National Register in 2005, and a National Historic Landmark.

Open to visitNational Historic LandmarkBuilt 1951Listed 2005modern architectureLloyd Wright
Chapel of the Wayfarer, Palos Verdes CALordsPrayerPalosVerdesWayfarersChapel01PalosVerdesWayfarersChapel02
Photos via Wikimedia Commons · 6 in the Commons category

What it is

Wikipedia · Wayfarers Chapel

Wayfarers Chapel, or "The Glass Church", is a disassembled chapel designed by Lloyd Wright and originally located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The chapel had unique organic architecture sited on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. Affiliated with the Swedenborgian Church of North America, it served as a memorial to the 18th-century scientist and theosopher Emanuel Swedenborg. Built in 1949, the chapel was dismantled in 2024 and carefully stored after extreme earth movement had damaged the structure. In 2025, the chapel announced they were attempting to relocate to a new location in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The record

National Register of Historic Places
Property typeBuilding
Address5755 Palos Verdes Dr. S, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
CountyLos Angeles County
ListedJul 11, 2005
Reference number05000210
Built1951
ArchitectLloyd Wright
Type of placechurch building
Stylemodern architecture
DesignationsNational Historic Landmark
Contributing resources1 buildings, 2 structures

The nomination form, the document that argues why this place matters, is in the National Archives: Read the nomination ↗

Visiting

Open to the public
Address5755 Palos Verdes Dr. S, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Websitewayfarerschapel.org ↗
Coordinates33.74466, -118.37672 · Directions ↗
Nearest national park unitSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation Area · 33 mi · on Park Atlas
This one you can go inside. Hours and admission change with the season; the website above has the current schedule.

Explore

Why you would stay

Map

4 nearby listings

Reference

Exists because it is true

Sources

Location, dates, type and contributing counts come from the National Park Service's National Register spatial data. Construction date, architect, style, photograph and encyclopedia link come from Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons, matched on reference number 05000210. Nothing here is transcribed by hand. The description under "What it is" is the opening of the Wikipedia article, CC BY-SA.