Palos Verdes Estates is an affluent coastal city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated on the Palos Verdes Peninsula and neighboring Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates. The city was master-planned by the noted American landscape architect and planner Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The city is located along the Southern California coastline of the Pacific Ocean.
The population was 13,347 at the 2020 census, a slight decrease from its 2010 population of 13,438. Palos Verdes Estates is one of the wealthiest cities in the United States, and was ranked as "California's richest suburb" in 2025. The 90274 ZIP code (covering the cities of Palos Verdes Estates and Rolling Hills) is considered some of the most exclusive and expensive neighborhoods in the United States. The city is also known for its high-performing school district, hiking trails, and oceanfront properties. The city is also notable for the century-old Palos Verdes Homeowners Association (PVHA), which controls architectural quality within the city via the PVHA Art Jury.
History
thumb|left|upright|[[Manuel Dominguez|Manuel Domínguez, a signer of the Californian Constitution and owner of Rancho San Pedro, which included all of Palos Verdes.]]
thumb|left|upright|In 1846, [[Rancho de los Palos Verdes was separated from Rancho San Pedro and granted to José Loreto Sepúlveda (shown) and Juan Capistrano Sepúlveda.]]
The Tongva originally lived in the area.
Palos Verdes Estates was established as a planned community in 1923, with carved out of the former Rancho de los Palos Verdes property of over . Frank A. Vanderlip established both a land syndicate holding the Palos Verdes Peninsula, and a real estate development trust for the Palos Verdes Estates subdivision. The Commonwealth Trust Company filed the Palos Verdes Protective Restrictions in Los Angeles County in 1923. These restrictions established rules for the developer and all land owners. The developer was required to set aside half of the land for common use, including roads and parks, but also to build bridle paths, a golf course, and retain several miles of coastline free of development. No less than ninety percent of the remaining land was required to be used for single-family homes. The deed restrictions prohibited nuisance businesses, such as polluting industries, but also bars and cemeteries. The deed restrictions also included an exclusionary racial covenant which forbade an owner from selling or renting a house to anyone who wasn't white. They were also not permitted to have African-Americans on their property with the exception of chauffeurs, gardeners, and domestic servants. The "sundown rule" was strictly in effect, and it was not until 1948 that such restrictions were declared unconstitutional. It took 20 more years until the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 for the reality of the civil rights protections to take hold. Under the covenants, an art jury reviewed all building plans, regulating any structure in regard to style, material, and even small details like color and the pitch of the roof. The construction of fences and hedges were subject to evaluation by the art jury.
The city's oldest building is La Venta Inn built in 1923 as a sales office for Vanderlip and his business associates. Other buildings were erected mostly around the shopping area in Malaga Cove. Palos Verdes Estates was finally incorporated in 1939. The Malaga Cove Plaza building and the Palos Verdes Public Library, were designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Neptune fountain situated in the center of Malaga Cove Plaza is faithful replica of the original bronze Fontana del Nettuno designed by Italian artist Tommaso Laureti and erected in Bologna, Italy in 1563.
Geography
thumb|Lower Malaga Cove and Rat Beach in Palos Verdes Estates.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , over 99% of it land. The city is bordered by Torrance to the north and east, Rancho Palos Verdes to the south, and Rolling Hills Estates to the southeast.