Neighborhood guide · Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275

Portuguese Bend

Portuguese Bend is the inland community of lanes such as Sweetbay, Cinnamon, Limetree and Peppertree on the slopes above Palos Verdes Drive South, near the middle of Rancho Palos Verdes' coast. Its three main tracts were recorded in 1947 and 1948, in the area where Frank Vanderlip built his first Peninsula home, the Old Ranch Cottage, in 1916.

Updated October 26, 2026 · County records from the 2026 roll · Sources at the bottom of the page · Send a correction

152

homes

county assessor records

tract guides

1953

median year built

32,020 sq ft

median lot

single-family homes

Quick facts

Portuguese Bend at a glance

Also called	Upper Portuguese Bend
City	Rancho Palos Verdes · ZIP 90275
Built	Over several decades (median 1953; oldest 1920, newest 2021)
Homes	152 homes: 147 single-family houses; 3 apartment units; 2 mobile homes · 101 vacant residential lots
Living area	Median about 2,180 sq ft per home; 3 bedrooms typical for single-family houses
Lots	Median single-family lot about 32,020 sq ft (middle half 25,810 sq ft to 39,770 sq ft)
Recorded tracts	4 recorded tract maps (see the tract list)
School district	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified (schools by address)

Landslide area

All 152 homes in Portuguese Bend lie inside the City of Rancho Palos Verdes' mapped Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, where the City's landslide-area development rules (opens in a new tab) apply. For current conditions see City of Rancho Palos Verdes land-movement updates (opens in a new tab) and pvlandslide.com (opens in a new tab).

Tract with its own guide (tap for the link) Other recorded tracts Home outside a recorded tract

Outlines are recorded tract maps from Los Angeles County Public Works; they show how land was subdivided, not HOA or city boundaries. Dots mark homes on land outside the recorded tracts (county parcel centers).

The neighborhood

Living in Portuguese Bend

Real estate listings describe a gated community with riding trails and its own community association, and several Portuguese Bend groups appear on the city's beautification grant list. The ground here has a long history of movement. Cracks along Palos Verdes Drive South in 1956 marked the start of the Portuguese Bend landslide, which destroyed more than a hundred homes in the area and led to the demolition of the beach club's clubhouse by 1958. The western tracts lie in the Abalone Cove Landslide Abatement District, which the city and residents formed under 1980 state legislation as the state's first such district.

Movement sped up after the heavy rains of 2022–23 and 2023–24. In summer 2024 SoCalGas cut gas to 135 Portuguese Bend homes, power was later shut off to 140, and the governor proclaimed a state of emergency on September 3, 2024. All three tracts lie in the Greater Portuguese Bend Landslide Complex, where city rules since September 18, 2025 prohibit new residential construction. The city has been awarded FEMA grants to buy 27 homes across the landslide area through a voluntary buyout program.

Inside the neighborhood

Tracts & subdivisions of Portuguese Bend

Recorded tracts with a guide of their own: builder and year where known, streets, lots, schools by address and the recorded map.

Tract 14118 built 1949–1964 · 28 homes · recorded 1947Limetree Ln, Peppertree Rd, Cherry Hill Ln Tract 14195 built 1950–2018 · 43 homes · recorded 1948Cinnamon Ln, Fruit Tree Rd, Plumtree Rd Tract 14500 built 1950–1990 · 54 homes · recorded 1948Sweetbay Rd, Narcissa Dr, Figtree Rd

Other recorded maps and land

Map	Recorded	Homes	Built	Streets
Land on county Assessor's Map No. 51 (no recorded tract)		13	1926–1977	Narcissa Dr, Vanderlip Dr, E Pomegranate Rd, Peppertree Rd
Land without a recorded map		8	1920–2004	Narcissa Dr, Vanderlip Dr, Palos Verdes Dr S, E Pomegranate Rd
Tract 13836	September 12, 1951	5	1951–1956	Narcissa Dr
Parcel map, book 47, page 24		1	1931	Vanderlip Dr

Covered on this page: recorded tracts without a guide of their own, lot splits, rental buildings and land laid out by survey.

Missing a tract or a name residents use? Tell us.

Schools

Schools for Portuguese Bend

Schools guide →

Schools by address

ElementaryPoint Vicente · every home
IntermediateMiraleste · every home
High schoolYour choice: Palos Verdes High or Peninsula High

From PVPUSD's School Locator answers for every county address, checked October 3, 2026, counted by home. A locator answer is the district's home-school assignment, not a placement guarantee. Look up an address · PVPUSD School Locator (opens in a new tab)

Every address here was checked against PVPUSD's own School Locator. Elementary and intermediate schools follow your home address; there is no high-school boundary, so families choose between the district's two high schools.

Confirm an assignment with the PVPUSD Enrollment Center before relying on it.

Streets

Streets in Portuguese Bend

Cherry Hill Ln 3
Cinnamon Ln 26
Clovetree Pl 3
E Pomegranate Rd 6
Figtree Rd 7
Fruit Tree Rd 8
Ginger Root Ln 4
Kumquat Ln 3
Limetree Ln 8
Narcissa Dr 32
Palos Verdes Dr S 1
Peppertree Rd 7
Plumtree Rd 4
Roseapple Rd 2
Sweetbay Rd 20
Tangerine Rd 2
Thyme Pl 5
Vanderlip Dr 8

Homes per street from county assessor records. Counts include only the homes inside this neighborhood.

Homes

Homes for sale near Portuguese Bend

Peninsula market →

Current listings, with photos, prices and details, are on Properkey. Browse homes for sale in Rancho Palos Verdes (opens in a new tab).

Real estate information provided by Properkey (CA DRE #01979718), which is not the listing broker unless stated. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Sources

Where these facts come from

RubyHome: Palos Verdes Drive South, Rancho Palos Verdes — rubyhome.com (real-estate site; not linked)
City of Rancho Palos Verdes, Neighborhood Beautification Grant Program: Previous Grantees (2023) (opens in a new tab) — rpvca.gov
Chambers Group for City of RPV: Cultural Resources Survey Report, Portuguese Bend Landslide Remediation Project (2023) (opens in a new tab) — files.ceqanet.lci.ca.gov
RPV Newsletter, Summer 2002: The Portuguese Bend Club (opens in a new tab) — rpvca.gov
City of Rancho Palos Verdes: Portuguese Bend Landslide (opens in a new tab) — rpvca.gov
Abalone Cove Landslide Abatement District (opens in a new tab) — aclad.ca.gov
City of Rancho Palos Verdes: Klondike Canyon Landslide Abatement District (opens in a new tab) — rpvca.gov
Spectrum News 1: State of emergency in Rancho Palos Verdes (Sept 3, 2024) (opens in a new tab) — spectrumnews1.com
City of Rancho Palos Verdes: Landslide Area Development Regulations (opens in a new tab) — rpvca.gov
Los Angeles County Assessor: parcel data (2026 roll): homes, year built, living area and lot size (opens in a new tab) — public.gis.lacounty.gov
Los Angeles County Public Works: Land Records, recorded tract maps (opens in a new tab) — dpw.lacounty.gov
PVPUSD School Locator (opens in a new tab) — pvpusd.net

Something wrong or missing on this page? Residents know their streets best. Send a correction and we'll check it against the records.