A worsening landslide has forced a historic California church to relocate — after being dismantled.
Built by the legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s son, Frank Lloyd Wright Jr., in 1951, Wayfarers Chapel has become a beloved destination in its 73 years perched on a hillside in Rancho Palos Verdes, a coastal city located just south of Los Angeles.
Now, though, the 100-seat National Historic Landmark has been forced to close and be dismantled as the result of the ongoing Portuguese Bend landslide. The phenomenon has been affecting the area for more than half a century but recently became significantly worse, “dramatically impacting the Wayfarers Chapel campus and surrounding area,” the church recently announced on its website.
“It has been determined that the immediate deconstruction of the chapel is the safest and most viable preservation action to take at this time and will prevent further irreparable damage to the chapel’s structure and materials,” the site explains of the closure. “The team will begin the careful disassembly of the chapel, which includes cataloging and documenting each piece, preserving as much of the chapel’s original materials as practicable, and relocating all component parts to a temporary safe location until they can be reassembled. Simultaneously, the team will evaluate options for reconstruction on this site or one nearby.”
The landslide — which over the past seven decades has caused local infrastructure, including homes, to buckle and drift — is currently causing the earth beneath the transparent, Instagram-famous house of prayer to move 2 or more feet a month, according to GPS surveys by the city. Before management was able to dismantle the midcentury sanctuary, the shifting land damaged the metal framing in both of its walls and caused the ceiling to torque and bend.
Many of its doors are no longer operable and most of its glass panels have been fractured. Its electricity, water, sewer and gas utilities have been rendered unusable — and its concrete floor, including the cornerstone laid in 1949, has been heavily cracked.
Still, in a press release about the closure, those tasked with disassembling it remain hopeful it will eventually be rebuilt.
