The Point San Luis Lighthouse is unique among lighthouses in California, and among lighthouses anywhere.
The lighthouse is not just a tall, thin pillar that looks like a giant sail on the shoreline. Instead, it is built into a Victorian-style home. Its unusual architectural style is sometimes called “Prairie Victorian,” a cross between the ornate Victorian style and the practical houses best suited to the prairie. Point San Luis is one of only three lighthouses ever built in that style and it is the only one left.
What you can do at the Point San Luis lighthouse
You can’t even catch a glimpse of the Point San Luis Lighthouse from any public road. To see it, you must take a guided tour. You may be wondering what this is all about, and here’s the simple answer: The old lighthouse is too close to the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant to allow visitors to enter without an escort.
Once you arrive at the starting point of the tour, you can walk or take a tram. While you’re in the area, you can also check out some of the things to do in nearby Pismo Beach.
If you love lighthouses, you can also combine a trip to San Luis with a tour of the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse, located on the coast north of Morro Bay, and Hearst Castle.
The interesting history of the Point San Luis lighthouse
In 1867, the President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, issued an executive order directing the Department of the Interior “to take the necessary steps to cause the reservation for the purposes of the House of Light of an area… of land at… Point San Lewis”. In 1877, Congressman Romaldo Pacheco of San Luis Obispo introduced a bill to build a lighthouse at Point San Luis.
However, all those orders and invoices did not add up to an immediate construction project. The San Luis Obispo Daily Republic newspaper reported on June 24, 1886 that the United States government had “allocated the sum of $ 50,000 for the construction of a lighthouse.” High construction costs and the inability to secure the land further delayed the project. It wasn’t until 1889 that construction began. The light was officially turned on for the first time on June 30, 1890, 23 years after that production order was issued.
A single kerosene lantern illuminated the light of Point San Luis from a 40-foot-tall tower, which cast a beam of light 20 miles from the sea. A Fresnel lens made this possible, designed to collect all the light from the lamp and send it out in a single beam.
In 1933, an electric light bulb replaced that kerosene lamp. In 1969, the Fresnel lens was removed and replaced by an automated electric light. The Point San Luis lighthouse closed in 1974. In 1969, the Fresnel lens was removed and replaced with an automated electric light. The Point San Luis Lighthouse closed in 1974.
In 1992, the Federal Government transferred the 30-acre site to the Puerto San Luis Port District, requiring that the station be restored and open to the public. Volunteers spent more than 65,000 hours to restore it. The original Fresnel lens is now on display and several of the buildings on the site have been restored.
Visit point Faro de San Luis
To get to the Point San Luis lighthouse, you must enter the PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric) property. Access without an escort is not allowed. You can catch a tram from nearby Bahía de Ávila or join a guided hike, which is a 3.5-mile round-trip ride over mountainous terrain. No matter how you decide to go, you will need a reservation for a guided tour. Get the current tour schedule. There is a fee for all tours.
You may also want to find more California lighthouses to tour on our California Lighthouse Map. They include two more California lighthouses that are similar to Point San Luis: the Point Fermin Lighthouse near the Port of Los Angeles and the East Brother Lighthouse in San Francisco Bay.
Arriving at the San Luis lighthouse
To visit the San Luis lighthouse, you will start in the small town of Avila, near Pismo beach. You can get more details about the starting point and about the tours on the Point San Luis Lighthouse website.
More California lighthouses
If you’re a lighthouse geek, you’ll enjoy our Guide to Visiting California Lighthouses.
