Willmore, Long Beach, CA

Willmore is the oldest residential corner of Long Beach, a grid of Victorian and early 1900s houses just northwest of downtown, named for William Willmore, who laid out the original townsite. The streets around Drake Park hold the city's largest cluster of houses from that first building era, which gives the neighborhood a look unlike the newer apartment blocks around it. Houses in Willmore range across Queen Anne Victorians, Craftsman bungalows, Mission and Prairie designs and Spanish Colonial houses, many of them converted into duplexes or apartments over the decades. The Bembridge House, a Queen Anne run by Long Beach Heritage, opens for tours and shows what the grander homes looked like. Drake Park is the neighborhood's gathering place. It covers several acres between 9th and 10th Streets, with a playground, tennis and basketball courts, a soccer field and a community center, and the Drake Chavez Greenbelt links it south toward Cesar E. Colonial Bakery on Pacific Avenue is the longtime neighborhood bakery, and Birdcage Coffee House on 4th Street is the nearest independent cafe. Tortas Ahogadas Armando and Mariscos Las Islitas cover lunch, and downtown's Pine Avenue restaurants are a short walk southeast. Small markets such as Chestnut Market and Jed's Market handle quick groceries, while bigger shopping means a trip into downtown. The Metro A Line runs a few blocks east toward Los Angeles, and the 710 Freeway is close by. The tradeoff is the edge-of-downtown mix. A slow loop around Drake Park covers more than a century of Long Beach houses in one short walk.