Signal Tribune Newspaper

By Heather Posey, Staff Writer

One of Signal Hill’s most well known properties, and former home to the city’s late political poet, is on the market.
The house and land of Mary Louise Lynott, school teacher, Planning Commission member and, up until her death in 2005, Signal Hill resident, is up for sale at $995,000. The property, located at 2107 Stanley Avenue is isolated among oil wells and vacant lots along the west side of Stanley between Hill and 21st Streets.
Lynott, who passed away in her home at the age of 99, lived there in Signal Hill since 1950. An office occupations professor for Long Beach City College for 23 years, she kept up with Signal Hill politics and acquired a spot on the city’s planning commission from 1975 to 1979. She never married nor had children and is survived by two nephews in Michigan and Tennessee.
The cliff-hanging property is zoned for one two-story single-family dwelling and the land is perched above a former sand quarry, now a consolidated oil well drill site. Inquiries have been made about tearing down the existing buildings. The houses are said to have “outstanding views,” though fire safety setbacks will limit development opportunities.
Potential developers will have a trying time with renovating and replacing the building, but as Lynott was often quoted saying, “The view of the hill is every bit as important as the view from the hill.”