Palos Verdes Estates is a city in Los Angeles County on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Palos Verdes Estates is the 81st richest place in the United States with at least 1,000 households (based upon per capita income). The 90274 ZIP code was listed as the 47th most expensive U.S. ZIP code in 2007 by Forbes.com. Palos Verdes Esates is one of the most affluent communities in Los Angeles County and indeed, the nation. The city faces the Pacific Ocean, and there are several accessible beaches although most of the shoreline is marked by high cliffs. The city is mainly residential, with no traffic lights and relatively limited commercial areas around Malaga Cove and Lunada Bay.
One of Southern California's most expensive neighborhoods, Palos Verdes Estates' aesthetics and architecture are protected by an Art Jury, a non-governmental organization which must approve any exterior alteration to any building, fence, sidewalk, or other structure. The city was incorporated in 1939, and the area around Malaga Cove has most of the Peninsula's earlier buildings. The Malaga Cove Plaza building, located behind this picture of a beautiful peacock, of the Palos Verdes Public Library, designed by Pasadena architect Myron Hunt, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. Palos Verdes Estates was one of the earliest masterplanned communitites in the United States.
