Crystal Cove Historic District

We have some idyllic places just a short bike ride from Irvine, CA. One of these places is a throw-back to an earlier time–Crystal Cove State Park in Corona del Mar, CA. We had a pleasant, sunny afternoon strolling on the beach, catching some raysand cogitating how fortunatewe are to live in this little piece of paradise.

Back in the 1920’s Crystal Cove was transformed into “a paradise of the south seas” by a budding silent film industry, and small cottages were built and thatched with palms to reflect the exotic appearance of Tahiti or Hawaii. Silent movies were filmed on location here as it was easily accessible by rail and much more affordable than shooting in a far off location.

A tradition evolved that allowed employees and friends of the James Irvine family to return each summer, make improvements tothe existing cottages, and buildadditional cottages throughout the 1920’s and ’30’s. In the late 1930’s the summer dwellers were asked by the Irvine family to choose either move their cottages or relinquish their ownership and lease the cottages from the Irvine Company. The lease agreements specified that no dimentional changes could be made to the cottages, thus preserving the cottages original integrity.

In the mid 1970’s one of the long time summer cottage residents together with another Crystal Cove resident and historian and a local preservationist worked on a successful proposal to place Crystal Cove on the National Register of Historic Places, thus preserving it for future generations to enjoy as it was originally conceived.The State of California purchased the land from the Irvine Compnay in 1979 to form a state park named after Crystal Cove. Today visitors to Crystal Cove State Park may rent these historic beach cottages on a “first come-first serve” basis.

In addition to enjoying the If you’re looking for a great place to have brunch, a midday snack, or a romantic sunset dinner, you may want to check out the Beachcomber cafe–

The Beachcomber Cafe

Views from The Beachcomber Cafe

a restaurant right on the sand in Crystal Cove State Park. Parking is free with a Beachcomber cafe validation and is located across the street on the Pacific Coast Highway and Los Trancos. A tram will take you from the Beach parking lot and let you off a few steps from the Beachcomber restaurant. There is a nominal $1.00 per person charge each way with children under 12 years riding free. Or if you are to traveling by foot, it’s a pleasant ten-minute walk from the parking lot to the beach.

“Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon…in the summertime…in the summertime…”

(Lyrics by The Kinks)

I usually make it a point to scan the Real Estate sections of the L.A. Times, the Orange County Register, and the New York Times at some point over the weekend. However, I overlooked an article regarding 10 zip codes in Southern California that actually experienced price appreciation in the 1st quarter of 2008 as compared with the 1st quarter of 2007. Thankfully I came across Elaine Carlson’s article in PalosVerdesSource.com entitled Hottest SoCal Zip Codes.

The numbers were based on at least 20 sales in each of the zip codes as reported by DataQuick Information Systems. In Orange County, Irvine’s zip code 92603, which encompasses the villages of Quail Hill, Turtle Rock (including Shady Canyon), and Turtle Ridge, experienced an 18.0% increase in the median sales prices for existing single family detached homes as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007, Newport Coast’s 92657 zip code had an increase of 27.4% in the median sales price, and Newport Beach’s 92663 zip code encompassing Lido Isle and Balboa Peninsula had a 66.8% in the median sales price as compared to the 1st quarter of 2007.

Why do “some markets sizzle, while others fizzle?” Proximity to the beach where demand is high and inventory is relatively low has a great deal to do with price appreciation. These coastal areas have buyers who are able to qualify for good fixed rate loans, whereas the interior part of the state had borrowers who were stretching to afford homes, many of whom fell victim to the sub-prime mortgage debacle. (See my article entitled Which Cities are on Top for Home Sellers in California).

To view the cities with the biggest losses, Click here.