Green-Rankin-Bembridge House

The historic home north of the end of Park Circle Drive in Long Beach is the Green-Rankin-Bembridge House. The Queen Anne Victorian house with the corner turret and wraparound porch was built in 1906 for a wealthy banker, Stephen Green. The three-story house was the long-time home of musician and teacher Dorothy Bembridge from 1919, when her father, Thomas Rankin purchased the house, for most of her adult life; she was murdered here in 1999. Long Beach Heritage has owned the house since 2000; they restored the house and opened it to tours. The house was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 2005 and has been called the best-preserved Queen Anne style home in Long Beach. Docent-led tours are scheduled for Tuesdays and the 4th Saturdays of the month at 1:30 and 2:30, for a $5 fee.

The Queen Anne Victorian mansion at 953 Park Circle Dr. was constructed in 1906 for a banker, Stephen Green, and his wife, Josephine. Mr. Green died in 1912 and his widow had the house on the market for years before the house was bought in 1918 or 1919 by the Rankin family. On the 1914 Sanborn map of Long Beach, the mansion was north of "Knoll Park" and had wood-frame houses on the neighboring lots along the street that curved around the circular park. There was a one-story wooden aviary in the east side yard of the Green mansion (Mr. Green collected exotic birds), and a two-story, wood-frame garage (formerly a carriage house) along the rear lot line. The former address of the Green house was 735 Park Circle.

The Rankins were from Nebraska but visited Long Beach since Mrs. Rankin's parents ran a boarding house in town. Thomas M. Rankin's wife, Hazel was a musician and there are two pianos in the house - one purchased on her honeymoon, and another restored in the 1920s. Her daughter, Dorothy, was ten years old when the family moved into the home in 1919. Dorothy grew up to be a musician, and taught music for decades in a number of local schools. The house was framed and clad in redwood and included four bedrooms upstairs and four bathrooms. The cast concrete foundation imitates the look of stone. Some upgrading of the interior of the 18-room house was made in the mid-1920s, including a new kitchen. The original gas lighting was replaced with electric lighting. Part of the wraparound porch was enclosed to create a breakfast room; the second-floor sun porch also was enclosed. The interior woodwork was intricately carved and has been well-preserved; a leaded glass lighted globe atop the newel post in the main stairway was still the original (as of 2007), as well as some of the stained-glass windows.

The house was inherited by Dorothy and her brother, Neil Rankin, after their father died in 1960; Dorothy bought out Neil's interest. The nearby park (now "Drake Park") was set to be expanded in the late 1960s and the Green-Rankin-Bembridge House was slated to be demolished. Dorothy, who had married Charlie Bembridge (he died in 1963), strongly objected to this, and her home was spared. The mansion was declared a Long Beach Historic Landmark in 1981. Mrs. Bembridge was 89 years old in 1999 when she was murdered by a man who had recently been released from prison; he had been serving time for a previous burglary at the Bembridge property, where he had worked as a handyman. The perpetrator was captured in 2000 and sent back to prison.

Mrs. Bembridge bequeathed the property to Biola University. The carriage house in the backyard originally had a large door on the front and back, so a horse-drawn vehicle could pass through; the building was later modified to become a garage and one door was removed. When the rest of the property was restored by Long Beach Heritage after their 2000 purchase from Biola U., they replaced the front door of the carriage house with an original door and had a replica copy constructed to place on the former alley side (now Corvo Court). Very few carriage houses have survived in Long Beach and even fewer Queen Anne style mansions in nearly original condition.

Hemmerlein, Sandi. Photo Essay: The Dorothy Bembridge Murder Mansion, Avoiding Regret. July 29th, 2015. Accessed June 22nd, 2023. https://www.avoidingregret.com/2015/07/photo-essay-dorothy-bembridge-murder.html.

Lehrer, Ruthann. NRHP nomination of Bembridge House, Long Beach, California. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2004.

Mitchell, John L. "Man Charged in Slaying at Historic Homes." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles) April 18th, 2001.

Tour of the Historic Bembridge House. Long Beach Heritage & John Gean. Performed by Iris Schutz. U.S. 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PfEZi4bQWo.