Frank Lloyd Wright Jr.'s Chapel in California Closed by Landslide

Landslide Forces Closure of Iconic Southern California Chapel Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's Son

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. — A fast-moving landslide has forced the removal of Wayfarers Chapel, a famous Southern California church designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's sons. It was built among tall redwoods with views of the Pacific Ocean.

The ground under the chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes is moving more than 2 feet each month. The chapel, meant to celebrate nature, is being destroyed by it.

“It’s dangerous to even walk on the grounds now because everything is breaking,” said Rev. Dan Burchett, the chapel’s executive director, on Thursday. “Nature is showing her power.”

The chapel was designed by Lloyd Wright, who also worked on the Hollywood Bowl in 1927. Known as “The Glass Church,” it opened to the public in 1951 and represents “organic architecture” that blends buildings with nature.

“The glass transparency brings you into nature, making the structure almost disappear,” said Burchett, who has also been a chapel officiant since 2000.

An attractive spot for movies and weddings, the cliffside location on the Palos Verdes Peninsula has also led to its downfall. The chapel became a National Historic Landmark in December 2023 but closed two months later due to the worsening effects of the 1956 Portuguese Bend landslide, part of an older landslide area.

The damage includes a long crack in the 1949 cornerstone, a buckling asphalt parking lot, broken 15-foot-tall glass panels, and twisted metal framing in the ceiling and walls.

Crews worked quickly to take the chapel apart this week to save the original materials, which can't be replicated. These materials might be used to rebuild at the current site if it can be stabilized or nearby.

Reconstruction is expected to take four years and cost at least $20 million. This does not include buying new land in a very expensive area. The church had started raising money for a $10 million restoration planned for 2025 but now must double its efforts.

“These are tough times; these are days to grieve,” Burchett said. “But we will celebrate again, we are sure of that.”

Part of the Swedenborgian denomination, the church’s followers share in 18th-century Swedish scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg’s “quest for a religion that connects all of life, and allows reasoned questioning of life’s deepest religious issues,” the chapel's website says.

The chapel also served as a national monument to Swedenborg and held regular worship services for travelers — “all who come, no matter their faith or status” — until the landslide forced them to move to a nearby Episcopal church earlier this year.

“We don't exclude anyone, even if someone says they're an atheist and don't believe in God but want to join with nature and have some spiritual experience, they are welcome,” Burchett said.

About 25 miles from Hollywood, the chapel has been featured in movies, TV shows, and music videos, such as “Beverly Hills 90210,” "The O.C.," “True Detective,” and the 1987 sci-fi comedy “Innerspace.”

It has also hosted many celebrity weddings. Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys founder who wrote “Good Vibrations,” married his wife, Melinda, there in 1995.

Nancy and Randy Erwin married there in 1987. Now living in Oregon, they visited Southern California family this week. They stopped Thursday for one last look on their way back north.