Naples California Architecture

Pictured is La Bella Fountain overlooking Naples Bay.

Naples, Calif. is primarily a residential community of the City of Long Beach. It was invented from the ground up (including waterways) by developers who, at the time, were challenged to get people to come to the coast and beaches.  They needed gimmicks to entice the public to check it out. 

With the challenge of building housing on parcels that don't have direct beach access the idea was hatched to construct a "little Italy" village of Naples built on manmade canals.

That's pretty much how Naples came about. The developers were approx. 50 years ahead of their time--property did not sell quickly at first. The same story held true in Newport Beach, Seal Beach and other Southern California beaches where the weather was considered a bit chilly in the winter months, unlike the inland drier climates in Los Angeles, Riverside and elsewhere.

First constructed in Naples were the canals and  a grand hotel called Hotel Napoli, and dock where tourists could easily depart for gondola rides or boat cruises. The first step in convincing people to move to an area is giving them an opportunity to experience by sticking around.

In the 20th & 21st century the re-established gondola ride has flourished as a desirable experience by a company, Gondola Getaway.  However, no hotels exist in Naples these days. There are restaurants, merchants, personal services salons and housing. The houses range from beach cottages to multi-million dollar castles overlooking the Alamitos Bay which connects to the Pacific Ocean. (Even beach cottages can cost $1 million or more!) The waterfront homes typically have docks and spaces for mooring their watercraft ranging from luxury yachts to little kayaks and fun water toys.

Infrastructure: The City of Long Beach has embarked on the process of upgrading a deteriorating waterway of walls that are old and in need of reinforcement, walkways that have sunk in some areas and canals that sometimes require dredging. Long Beach is a major port city which operates under a balanced budget.

The city was rebuilt after a  6.3 or 6.4 magnitude earthquake offshore of Naples on March 10, 1933 at 5:54 p.m. killed 115 people and destroyed a large portion of Long Beach's buildings.  You'll see post-earthquake structures along portions of Naples and especially in connecting Long Beach community of Belmont Shore. Naples is the premier, most expensive waterfront community in the city experiencing much construction-- tear down and rebuild of its luxury properties. The architecture tends toward Mediterranean, with architectural designs optimizing small lot sizes. There are height limits on properties. Several condominium complexes exist within Naples, offering affordable options (compared to houses with detached lots.)