The Lantern Village Association was founded in 1991 as a 501 (c) 4 nonprofit organization with a mission to beautify the Lantern Village neighborhood.
Boundaries of the Lantern Village
In 1923, Anna Walters, a realtor and developer from Laguna Beach purchased 900 Dana Point acres and mapped out plans to turn the then existing lima bean fields into the Lantern Village, including the colorful lanterns, from the harbor bluffs to Stonehill/Selva and from Chula Vista to Copper Lantern. In 1927, when Walters’ syndicate ended up in foreclosure, Hollywood developer Sidney Woodruff purchased her property, and also purchased an additional 1400 acres to the Southeast, expanding the Lantern Village to the San Juan Creek area.
The LVA defines our boundaries as the area between Chula Vista and La Primivera and between the Harbor Bluffs and Stonehill (in the Blue Lantern area) and Selva for the remaining area.
The Woodruff syndicate built several homes on the bluff, on Blue Lantern and Chula Vista, Copper Lantern and several other Lantern Village streets. Also built in the ’20s were many commercial buildings along Roosevelt Avenue (now PCH) and Del Prado, including the Blue Fountain Fountain Lunch and Gas Station (now the Bella Bazaar), the Sales Auditorium (now the Renaissance), a French restaurant (now the Blue Dolphin), Woodruff’s Real Estate Office (now UP Sports), plus several other historical buildings, still standing.
The following tract maps show the original street layouts. The large vacant area on Silver Lantern, was originally planned to be the high school.
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