Newport Harbor alumnus, woodworker uses a former lifeguard tower from his youth as inspiration for his new family home.

BY SARAH PETERS sarah.peters@latimes.com

NEWPORT BEACH — For Newport Harbor High Class of ’84 alumnus Mike Bless, Lifeguard Tower 62 was a symbol of a youth spent on the sand and in the waves.

The tower on 62nd Street and Coast Highway was torn down in the mid-’80s, but a new Lifeguard Tower 62 has become a landmark for Bless’ newest stage in his life: a new home for him and his family.

Bless and his wife, Cristina, bought a one-story property two blocks from the beach in Newport Shores on 62nd Street in 2009. Immediately, the simple structure became a canvas for the expert wood and stoneworker’s future family home.

“I knew that I wanted to raise it up, and I wanted an office high enough to see the waves,” Bless said. “With the cubicle shape already there, I saw that I could turn it into a lifeguard tower.

“We decided to put Tower 62 back.”

The now two-story, four-bedroom home features an elevated office space for Bless’ growing woodworking business, WoodyBoard, which specializes in high-end ocean décor and custom wooden gates.

With “62” emblazoned in

See TOWER, page C44