The Beach Boys Historic Landmark, commemorating the site of the childhood home of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, is located at West 119th Street and South Kornblum Avenue in Hawthorne, California.
Early Beach Boys recordings were made in the home, where the Wilsons lived until the mid-1960s. The house was demolished in the 1980s to make way for construction of the Century Freeway.
Dedicated on May 20th, 2005, the monument is centered around a stone relief carving of the six members of the Beach Boys carrying a surfboard, inspired by the cover of their 1963 album Surfer Girl. It is designated as a California State Historic Landmark and bronze plaque reads:
It was here in the home of parents Murry and Audree that Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson grew to manhood and developed their unique musical skills. During Labor Day weekend 1961, they, with cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, gathered here to record a tape of their breakthrough song “Surfin’.” This marked the birth of the rock group known worldwide as the Beach Boys, and the beginning of an historic musical legacy that would change the recording industry. The music of the Wilsons, Love, Jardine, and friend David Marks broadcast to the world an image of California as a place of sun, surf, and romance. Brian Wilson would become a legendary producer, arranger, and songwriter.
