Find Your Neighborhood

Laguna Beach is a great place to visit but an even better place to live. If you are a local like me, then you understand the importance of knowing the neighborhoods and how they add value of your home. If you are looking to buy a home in Laguna Beach, I can help you identify the perfect home in the right neighborhood for your specific needs.

The happiest people live surrounded by nature and enjoy it daily. The residents of Laguna Beach visit their nearest beach, park, or hiking trail often daily offering the opportunity to run into your neighbors and friends and build that village community that the residents of Laguna Beach cherish. While a few other coastal Orange County cities enjoy some ocean views, the best and expansive ocean views are found in Laguna Beach. The unique topography creates ocean breezes and such perfect temperatures year round, that most homeowners do not need air conditioners to cool their homes. 

With only about 12,000 homes and 22,000 residents, Laguna Beach has some of the best and smallest public schools in Orange County with one local public High School (Laguna Beach High School), one local public middle school (Thurston Middle School), and two local public elementary schools (Top of the World Elementary and El Morro Elementary). Laguna Beach is also home to the private schools of Anneliese preschool, St. Catherine of Siena Parish School, and The Laguna College of Art & Design (LCAD). Residents can enjoy the Laguna Beach High School’s track, tennis courts, and pool making it an ideal place to enjoy life from raising a family through retirement.

For Information about the city of Laguna Beach and helpful links please CLICK HERE.

North Laguna Beach starts on Broadway and stretches north to Newport Beach. The north end of Laguna Beach offers it’s residents easy access to enter and exit the city using PCH North of downtown. It has closer proximity to John Wayne Airport and Newport along with other northern parts of OC increasing demand and making homes more expensive in this area. There are Historical Homes in North Laguna which provide the owners with a tax break as an incentive to preserve them. In North Laguna, you will find several choices of restaurants, galleries, stores, and the Laguna Art Museum which collects and displays only California art.  North Laguna offers access to the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and its 40 miles of trails connecting to the trails of Crystal Cove State Park. North Laguna Beaches include Boat Canyon, Crescent Bay, Diver’s Cove, Emerald Bay, Fisherman’s Cove, Irvine Cove, Monument Beach, Picnic Beach, Rockpile Beach, Shaw’s Cove, and Twin Points Hidden Beach.  North Laguna Parks include Heisler Park, Irvine Bowl Park, Riddle Field Park, and Smithcliffs Park.

In North Laguna, you will find the gated communities of Emerald Bay, Smithcliffs, and Irvine Cove at the very north end of Laguna Beach. Smithcliffs consists of only 21 homes east of PCH and south of Emerald Bay. Crown Point consists of a small section with oceanside homes and condos west of PCH and south of Smithcliffs and Emerald Bay. Emerald Bay residents have access to a tunnel that connects the residents from the east side of PCH to the west side for easy access to the private beaches and community amenities. High above the hills in North Laguna, you can enjoy panoramic views away from the hustle and bustle east of Crown Point in the Emerald Terrace and Victoria Highlands neighborhoods. On the Oceanside of PCH, you will find the rarely available homes of The Coves neighborhood.

Laguna Village is the area between North Laguna and South Laguna which starts on Broadway and ends by Victoria Beach including some of the neighborhoods on the hills. However, when people refer to “The Village” they are mainly referring to the neighborhood nearest Main Beach, and downtown with walkability to the beaches, restaurants, and shopping. Tourists mostly come to Laguna Beach to visit the downtown area and beaches so this can be the most congested neighborhood. The downtown area of Laguna Village is home to the oldest historic homes in Laguna Beach. The Laguna Village beaches include Agate, Bluebird, Brooks, Cleo, Cress, Oak, Main Beach, Moss Point, Mountain Rd, Pearl, Sleepy Hollow, St. Ann’s, Thalia, Victoria Beach, and Woods Cove. The parks include Bluebird and Moulton Meadows Park.

In the Laguna Village area, there are other clearly defined neighborhoods with their own unique characteristics. Temple Hills is a hilly and windy residential area between Thalia and Top of the World and enjoys beautiful ocean and sunset views and is very central and close to Thalia Beach, downtown, and an easy drive to local public schools and Alta Laguna Park. The Top of the World neighborhood is found up from Thalia from Temple Hills or Park Ave to Top of the World which is flat and home to Alta Laguna Park which has tennis courts, playgrounds, and a large field that has hiking trails connecting to Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. Just down from Top of the World to Park Ave, you will find Park Avenue Estates which enjoys mostly canyon views with newer larger homes on larger lots. Mystic Hills provides exceptional and expansive ocean views with more single-level homes available than in most other parts of Laguna Beach.

Lower Bluebird has Bluebird Park which has a large playground and grounds nice enough for regularly held open summer concerts where residents come together to enjoy the music, fresh air, picnic, and a little dancing. Up the winding and narrow streets of Bluebird, you will find yourself in a woodsy area that many say feels like some European landscape they once visited.  The homes in this area don’t typically have panoramic ocean views but may enjoy the advantage of more backyard space, and being surrounded by lush green hills. Up Bluebird, you will find the Rancho Laguna neighborhood which is one of the highest hillside points of Laguna Beach and is actually home to a local farm.

Bluebird splits and leads to the coveted Woods Cove known for its cottages, walkability, and ocean views. From Woods Cove, you can access Alta Vista, which is between Summit Ridge to Arch Beach Heights. Summit Ridge has mostly smaller to mid-sized custom homes perched on the hills with excellent ocean views as does the Alta Vista neighborhood. The residents in this area enjoy being farther from visitors and traffic. The homes in these hills are often multi-level to take full advantage of the views. Upper Diamond is lower on this hill and enjoys some of the same perks with more walkability. Arch Beach Heights is at the top of the hill near Moulton Meadows Park which offers trails, tennis courts, basketball courts, dog park, a playground, and soccer field. The homes in this area have a standard lot size of 2,500 sq ft. and most enjoy ocean views. The southern entrance or exit of Arch Beach Heights is through Portafina which consists mostly of larger custom homes, on larger lots, with ocean views. Towards the bottom of the hill, you will find Upper Victoria Beach and the oceanside Victoria Beach.

South Laguna Beach starts after Victoria Beach and stretches all the way to the entrance of Dana Point. Residents of South Laguna Beach have easier inland access via Crown Valley Parkway and PCH. While Laguna Beach became more of a real full-time residential town around 1887, South Laguna didn’t become part of Laguna Beach until 1987. Victoria Beach is connected to the oceanfront gated community of the townhomes in the Blue Lagoon neighborhood. The Lagunita neighborhood is a smaller gated community of custom homes with ocean views and private beach access. South Laguna Beach includes Aliso Beach Park, Christmas Cove, Goff Cove, Lagunita, Table Rock, Thousand Steps Beach, Three Arch Bay, Totuava Beach, Treasure Island Park, Victoria Beach, and West Street Beach. The parks of South Laguna Beach include  Aliso Beach Park, Lang Park, Treasure Island Park, and Village Green Park. Aliso Beach is the only local beach that allows bonfires and has a large public parking lot. 

The gated condominiums of Aliso Laguna enjoy panoramic ocean views and amenities east of PCH. The residents along the coast and on the ocean side in South Laguna Bluffs enjoy the proximity to the beach. South of Aliso Laguna and above Aliso Creek Beach on the east side of PCH is Coast Royal with mostly mid-sized homes. On the lower west side of South Laguna residents enjoy walkability to the beaches as do the residents of the Ocean Vista Custom around Wesley Park and Aliso Creek with an eclectic variety of homes and condos.

South Laguna Village consists of a mix of luxury homes on the oceanside to multi-units above PCH. This area is famous for its Thousand Steps Beach which most residents discover is not actually a thousand steps but just feels like it. South Laguna has some of the most exclusive and expensive homes in all of Laguna Beach in Montage Ocean Estates. However, the grounds and beaches of The Montage Hotel can be enjoyed by all. Another exclusive community that has been around since the 1920’s is the gated Three Arch Bay which expands to both sides of Coast Pacific Highway. In South Laguna, you will also find more options for condominiums to full-on luxury with amenities, ocean views, and beach access in communities such as Creekside condos, Laguna Lido luxury condos, Laguna Ocean Vista condos, and Laguna Royale condos, and the rarely available Montage Beach Villas highly exclusive condos. There is also a mobile home community Laguna Terrace Mobile Park and the land leases can be over $3,000 a month. South Laguna residents enjoy their own local favorite restaurants and bars including Ben Brown’s Golf Course at The Ranch in South Laguna Beach, and the Montage with the public beaches and landscaped grounds.

If you are heading inland and north, you exit Laguna Beach through Laguna Canyon which has its own neighborhood of very unique homes and residents that may enjoy the flatness, walkability, and lush landscape the area offers. The homes along Canyon Rd. offer a unique mix of homes, businesses, apartments, and lofts. The Canyon stretches beyond the 73 highway and includes California Cove, and the townhomes and condos in Terraces Laguna Beach. These are planned communities which have the advantage of being part of the Laguna Beach School district. The Canyon is home to the  Anneliese pre-school, Blue Bell Foundation for Cat’s, Laguna Beach Animal Shelter, Laguna Beach Dog Park, Laguna Playhouse, The Laguna College of Art & Design, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Pageant of the Masters Festival, and the Sawdust Art Festival.

The Canyon is home to the  Anneliese pre-school, Blue Bell Foundation for Cat’s, Laguna Beach Animal Shelter, Laguna Beach Dog Park, Laguna Playhouse, The Laguna College of Art & Design, Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Pageant of the Masters Festival, and the Sawdust Art Festival.

Beach Road is a private, 24 hour guard gated community along the coast in Dana Point. The Capistrano Beach Road Association (CBRA) co-exists alongside the Capistrano Bay Community Services District (CBD) to maintain the community on social and aesthetic issues. The homes along the coast vary form small original cottages to grand modern architecturealy unique homes. The homeowners not only have direct access to the beach from their homes, but also enjoy breathtaking oceanfront and sunset views. The everchanging natural sea life and water sports are a constant source of enjoyment and entertainment. The waves, passing boats and watersports, Catalina Island views, lights along the shoreline up to Dana Point, and the spectacular sunset views are enjoyed by residents on a daily basis. There are about 200 parcels in the community, consisting of 182 homes and 13 vacant lots. Homes range in age from those built in the 1920’s, 40’s and 50’s, to new custom homes currently under construction. About 75% of the homes in the community are vacation homes.

Beach Road began life in 1924, when Edward Doheny Jr. a member of the oil-rich Doheny family, bought 1,000 acres in south Orange County, including 3 miles of beach frontage that was known as Boca De la Playa, from the heirs of Don Juan Forster. He commenced to create a subdivision named Capistrano Beach.

Doheny built four Mission Revival-style houses which still exist standing today, and the similarly designed Beachcomber’s Club at the head of the new road, where the county park is today. He planned to build more houses on Beach Road as well as to sell lots to prospective home builders. His vision was to create a relatively unspoiled, peaceful beachfront community that was far removed from the urban sprawl of Los Angles. 

However, Doheny was not to realize his dream. L.A.’s Harvey family, owners of Harvey Aluminum bought the property from the Doheny heirs. Their purchase included the Beachcomber’s Club, which it leased to private operators, many Beach Road lots, the water company that supplied the community. The Harvey’s sold individual lots to people looking for an idyllic second or retirement home. At the time, there were the Doheny houses and the water company, but no sewer or gas. 

The Harvey family opted to sell its entire holdings to developers Hadley-Cherry, who in turn sold the remaining ten lots at the end of Beach Road as well as the Beach Club and parcels of acreage on the Palisades. When Interstate 5 was completed, Capistrano become more accesible from Los Angeles and it became an increasingly desirable vacation home community.

Beach Road was a center of Southern California’s surfing community in the late 1950”s and 60”s. Many stories of those days remain when Poche was the unofficial social club, think tank, and surf spot for legendary big wave surfers Walter and Philip “Flippy” Hoffman. (Walter still resides at Poche today, filmmaker, Bruce Brown, surfboard foam inventor Gordon “Grubby” Clark ( a former resident), world famous surfer and surfboard designer Hobie Alter (for many years a resident) and Surfer magazine editor Pat McNulty, whose widow, Mary, still owns their longtime Beach Road home. In fact, it was right at Poche that Hobie Alter and pals spent countless hours testing, redesigning and perfecting the Hobie Cat, which would become the world’s most popular sport sailboat. 

Some of the next two generations of the surfing cabal went on to achieve fame of their own starting with world champion surfer Joyce Hoffman in the 1960’s. The 70’s and 80’s saw the rise of pro surfer brothers Sean, Brian, Terrence and Joe McNulty and a little later, Walter Hoffman’s grandson Christian Fletcher, considered the father of modern aerial-style surfing. The tradition continues today with such residents as the Trette family, one of the many Trette brothers is acclaimed big wave surfer Jacob Trette.

In 1989, after 61 years as part of unincorporated Orange County, Capistrano Beach became part of the newly expanded city of Dana Point. This gave the Capistrano Beach District better access to local services. Now well into the 21st century, the community continues to see the quaint beach houses and cottages of early years being replaced with significantly larger and more elaborate homes. These have been complemented by a road that was completely rebuilt in 2003, followed by an extensive renovation of the road entrance, gate, and parking areas in 2010-2011. Over the years the community’s ties have strengthened. Residents have succeeded in creating a model-private beachfront community that offers physical beauty, neighborly camaraderie, and an undeniably exceptional quality of life.

https://capobay.org/community-profile/

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