Pismo Beach has owned the Chapman Estate since Clifford Chapman donated it to the city in his trust 13 years ago. After more than a decade, the city is giving it back to the Chapman Estate Foundation.
The Chapman Estate is a place meant for the local community to gather and enjoy the grounds. Visitors from across the state were touring the gardens and historic estate when I visited on Tuesday.
Dawn Littell was one of those visitors.
“We've heard about the Chapman [estate] before," Littell said. "I just decided before going home tonight 'Oh, let's just do one special thing before we leave.'”
This special experience will soon be under new ownership. The estate was gifted to the city of Pismo Beach back in 2013 with the requirement that it stays available to the public. Lillian Jewell, the Chapman Estate Foundation’s board president, tells me the estate was also left with an endowment that the city spent on putting in new roofs and accessible restrooms. After those improvements two years ago, the city announced its plans to divest the property.
“Once [the endowment] was exhausted, they felt that they didn't want to continue to invest general fund money when there's so many other needs in the city," Jewell said. "So the city council voted to relinquish the property.”
That’s when Jewell, who lived nearby, stepped in. She said she met Clifford Chapman, the owner of the property, in 2011 and was at the dinner where he announced he wanted the estate to go to the community.
“The distribution agreement specifically said that if the city doesn't keep the property, they must first offer it to a nonprofit that will carry out Clifford's intentions," she said. "Seeing that provision has helped steer me towards the Chapman Estate Foundation as the vehicle to preserve the estate for the future.”
Now after two years of deliberation and legal hurdles, Silas Clarke, the city's assistant city manager, said they’re set to close escrow by the end of this month.
Clarke said in a statement:
"Following a longstanding partnership between the City and the Chapman Foundation, both entities agreed that consolidating ownership and management under the Foundation serves the best interests of the estate moving forward."
Once the foundation is the official owner of the estate, Jewell tells me they are prioritizing preserving the Gull Cottage and implementing ADA requirements so they can reopen the main house for tours and special events.
