St. Matthew’s: Owner of Prime Real Estate

When six Pacific Palisades women wrote Bishop Bertrand Stevens in August 1941 asking for an Episcopalian mission for their town, they likely never envisioned the current 42-acre site that today encompasses St. Matthew’s Parish, complete with an architecturally acclaimed church building, a large school and a state-of-the-art library–all in an idyllic canyon setting that contrasts to the blue sky. Ironically, however, the first church services were not held here on Bienveneda Avenue, north of Sunset. In October 1941, local Episcopalians gathered at the Presbyterian Conference Grounds in Temescal Canyon. However, when the small congregation learned the space was unavailable that coming summer, it subsequently moved to a parishioner’s studio. While the group briefly considered meeting in a tent, it was able to secure a site at the southwest corner of La Cruz and Swarthmore, where a simple redwood church was constructed. According to a 40-year history of St. Matthew’s School compiled by Sallie Smith and Nancy Schroeder, the Parish decided that its ministry would be centered on youth, which meant they needed a building for Sunday School classes and a possible school. Money was raised and a two-story Parish House with classrooms was constructed for $55,000 next to the church. The first classes in the building were pre-school classes, which started May 2, 1949 with 24 children, whose parents paid $15-a-month tuition. Parish board members made the art easels and wood blocks, the women made curtains and another parishioner constructed the sand box. After a year, the school was deemed successful because after paying faculty salaries of $100 a month and spending $367.40 on other improvements there was still a balance of $167.92 in the bank. In 1950, kindergarten and the first four elementary grades were added to the school, bringing the total enrollment to 105. Father Kenneth Worthington Cary reported, ‘We look forward to the addition of grade 5 next fall. Of prime importance now is the development of permanent housing for the preschool, kindergarten and the added grades. We look forward to continued growth and service to children.’ More space was needed for playground and classrooms and an expansion committee was formed. The committee wanted at least five acres and at the time there were three properties for sale in the Palisades that met that requirement: Conway Ranch (where Palisades High School stands), Marquez Knolls acreage (now Marquez Elementary School) and the Garland Ranch, also known as the ‘Southdown.’ A 1949 listing brochure described the Garland Ranch as a ‘Gentleman’s Country Estate for Sale, 85 acres of undulating paradise that provide a thousand vistas to intrigue the eye and banish worldly burdens.’ The Garland property extended from the current St. Matthew’s property on Bienveneda to the beach. The asking price was $250,000 and included, according to the brochure, ‘nine miles of bridal paths, stables and a riding ring, 20 landscaped and planted acres (sprinkled automatically), a commodious and hospitable farm house (fully furnished), brilliantly flood-lighted grounds, a cozy and practical beach cottage, a gateman’s cottage, city water, gas, electricity, telephone and real California sub-tropic climate.’ The expansion committee instantly settled on Garland Ranch, but there was a ‘small’ problem: the combined balance in the school and parish bank account was $125. They needed $5,000 for a 30-day option to buy the estate. According to one report, members went door-to-door to the parishioners and the money was raised. On September 14, 1952 the Swarthmore property where the church stood was sold to the General Telephone Company and the Parish House/school was sold to Vilma B. Ebsen for a dance studio. (The school was later the site for Archer Girls School and now Seven Arrows Elementary.) The church building was cut in half and transported to the new site on St. Matthew’s property. The school was established in the Garland farmhouse, which was eventually renamed ‘Founders’ Hall’ after the original members of the parish. A large poultry building, sometimes referred to as the turkey coops, was turned into a five-room school building. Two other classrooms were crafted from a large garage. In 1953, an eighth grade was added, giving the school a 200-student enrollment. The parish sold off acreage below Sunset to help defray costs and pay for a multi-purpose building, which was the first of the long-range expansion program for St. Matthew’s School. A year later ninth grade was also added, but in 1956 the school went back to K-6. The multi-purpose building was dedicated in 1958 and the elementary school classrooms were built in 1964. During the ’60s and ’70s, additional buildings including the library, two clergy residences, and the Olympic-size swimming pool were built, keeping the integrity of the meadow and canyon intact. The massive brush fire of 1978, which started west of the 405 freeway and burned westward to Topanga, destroyed 161 hillside homes in Brentwood and the Palisades, including St. Matthew’s church. Describing the disaster in the parish newsletter, Reverend Peter Kreitier wrote: ‘As I sit on our lawn the day after, looking across the hills charred by the fire, I can only offer thanks to God that the school, the parish offices (Founders’ Hall), Briggs Hall, the rectory and our home were spared. As the fire rushed down the hill with the intensity of a burning hurricane, the final eight of us to leave were convinced that all was lost. Ashes and fire balls were dropping everywhere; the smoke was asphyxiating and the police were demanding we leave under threat of arrest.’ A striking new church building, designed by Charles Moore and Associates, with input from the congregation, was rebuilt in 1983 and was called ‘mystical, not modern’ by Newsweek magazine. Meanwhile, spared by the fire, the school continued to flourish. In 1979, seventh and eighth grade were brought back to campus, which brought the school enrollment to 325, which is the current total. The Marie Osborne Keck Building was dedicated, adding sorely needed classrooms. St. Matthew’s has continued building and refinishing classrooms, keeping with the founders’ intent that the permanent policy of the ministry would be centered on youth. ‘We’re not doing this to expand the number of students at St. Matthew’s,’ said Headmaster Les Frost, who came to St. Matthew’s in 1984 and lives in the community with his wife, Marilyn. ‘We like it the size it is.’ Rather, the emphasis is on giving students the best possible learning environment. In 1997, the science and technology building was opened as well as the Sprague Center (which is the gym and performing arts center). In 2000, the preschool was remodeled and from 2004 to last fall, a new building which houses grades 1-4 and a new library were built. The award-winning Lake-Flato architectural design for the new classrooms and library is remarkable in its simplicity. The choice of wood, cooper and smooth stucco blends perfectly into the canyon. The library, which is built against a hill, lies in the center of the campus buildings. ‘It should be in the heart of the campus,’ Frost said. The library includes a faculty lounge and lunchroom, a story-telling corner in a little amphitheater, bay windows, maple window seats and a technology room. There is a wood walkway about the balcony of the library that connects to the third and fourth grade classrooms upstairs. ‘For me the third grade classroom has the best views,’ said Frost. ‘For others it is the fourth grade because it feels like you’re in a tree house.’ The current St. Matthew’s School is an aesthetic, yet functional campus that blends into the canyon. It is not uncommon for deer to wander onto the meadow. ‘Schools are really about people who populate them,’ Frost said as he praised the caring teachers and the community who made the buildings possible. It seems that the founders would agree with his assessment that the original idea of centering on the youth has been brought to spectacular fruition.