AT HOME : Charming Coastal Area Packs Them In : Corona del Mar: Despite small lots and high home prices, community of older beach homes is one of the most desirable in Southland.
After living in Denver for 20 years, Carole Lobdell was shocked at home prices in Southern California, especially in Corona del Mar, where they hoped to find a home close to her husband Donn’s work in Irvine.
They also wanted to be near cultural opportunities, good restaurants and they wanted privacy. She began house-hunting in the spring of 1992.
“I went out with realtors time and again. I would say ‘You people are all insane. . . . You’re paying so much for a little house.’ I finally got to the point that I saw this was the way it would be. . . . Everyone is crazy, but now I’m crazy too.”
The Lobdells found a house they liked and bought it for the mid-$700,000s. They are now remodeling and adding 1,100 square feet to the four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house.
“It was difficult (for us) to accept living in a house so close to another neighbor, but we are at the top of a hill,” she said. “Visually, we have the feeling of open space.”
Corona del Mar, with a population of 13,000, is a coastal community within Newport Beach and is the eastern border of the city. A stretch of beach provides the southwestern border. Pacific Coast Highway runs through Corona del Mar for about three miles.
The area between Coast Highway and the ocean, known as “old” Corona del Mar, or as residents frequently call it, “The Village,” is where much of the community’s residential charm is found.
Many of the houses are older beach homes, most of which were originally built with wood clapboard siding or shingles, and small-paned wood windows--reminiscent of New England seashore architecture--and situated on tiny lots. Today many of those homes have been extensively remodeled and enlarged, often covering the entire lot or spread over two lots.
Throughout “The Village,” where the narrow streets are named for flowers and trees, designers have combined a variety of styles. Next door to what would best be described a mansion will be a beach cottage. The tiny yards, where additions have consumed the lot, are frequently overflowing with blooming flowers in planters, pots and baskets.
Along Pacific Coast Highway there are shops, restaurants and the vintage theater, The Port, which provides a taste of a bygone era.
To the north of the highway, newer homes on larger lots have gradually crept up the hillsides offering views of Newport Bay and Catalina Island.
Corona del Mar, which means “crown of the sea” in Spanish, is one of the most expensive and desirable communities in Southern California. The median home price is in the low $600,000s, according to Dataquick Information Services, and sales are up. But that wasn’t always the case.
Back in 1904, George E. Hart, who was described as an “intrepid realtor,” bought 700 acres from the Irvine Co., headed by James Irvine II--son of Irvine Ranch founder James Irvine.
Hart offered to sell land at $150 an acre. But in 10 years, only 15 houses and one small hotel had been built, so Hart traded 400 acres for citrus groves in Riverside County. In 1923, Corona del Mar was annexed to Newport Beach.
In the late 1940s, there were hundreds of lots in Corona del Mar with sewer, street and tax assessments of $350 to $400 each, and owners were walking away rather than paying.
Pat McNeilly grew up in Corona del Mar in the 1960s. “I remember when Fifth Avenue was a busted-up old dirt road, and cows would come up and stick their head through the fence and eat weeds.
“I worked in my mother’s store, the Toy Shop, on Pacific Coast Highway as a teen-ager,” said McNeilly, who is a captain with the Orange County Fire Department. He and his wife, Candi, now own the store, which has become a fixture on the street.
McNeilly was working in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he and Candi were married. The young couple wanted to move back to the community where their families had lived since the early 1960s. Both had attended Corona del Mar High School, where her father, John Mitchell, was head of the history department.
The McNeillys looked forward to raising their family where they had grown up, but the problem in the early 1970s was finding a house they could afford. They rented for several years, and in 1975 they bought a duplex in the old section of Corona del Mar for $80,000. The couple, who now have three children, still live there.
“We’ve remodeled twice,” McNeilly said. “We have three bedrooms, two baths and have about 1,500 square feet of living space, as well as a 300-square-foot deck on the roof.” The other unit in the duplex, about 750 square feet in size, is rented for $850 a month. McNeilly estimates that the property is worth between $450,000 and $500,000 today.
Maxine Propp, a real estate agent with Grubb & Ellis in Newport Beach, has lived in Corona del Mar for more that two decades and also works there.
Home prices range from $360,000 on the low end for a three-bedroom, two-bath 1940s home, she said, to $4.9 million for a custom home with views of the bay, six bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths.
A four-bedroom, three-bath home with a view will sell for about $750,000, she said, and a one-bedroom, one-bath condo is listed at $179,500.
The Propps bought their home in 1972 for $95,000. She said that the house, which has been remodeled and a pool added, would probably sell for about $650,000 today.
In the mid-1980s, when Janet and John Gothard began house hunting, they were well aware of Corona del Mar’s desirability and prices. But they were also prepared to sacrifice to become a third-generation family in the community.
“My Dad, Jim Wood, was involved with real estate, and I think I’ve lived on many of the streets named after a flower,” said Janet Gothard.
In 1986, the Gothards bought a two-bedroom, one-bath home for $175,000. The 900-square-foot house was built in the 1940s on a 40-foot-by-60-foot lot.
The Gothards now have a 6-year-old son, Johnny, who attends the local elementary school. They want a larger home and are exploring their options for staying in the community.
When Val and Robert Zwerling began their house hunt after they married two years ago, both were acquainted with Corona del Mar.
Robert Zwerling, who is originally from New York, started his own software company 10 years ago in Newport Beach. Val had rented in the community for six years. They knew Corona Del Mar would be the right place to raise a family. Their daughter Megan was born in November, 1993.
“I like to walk a lot,” said Val Zwerling. “As we were expecting a child I wanted to be close to schools and shopping--close enough to walk to the beach, or out to dinner, even for dry cleaning, or groceries. It’s beautiful, clean and convenient.”
The couple found a 20-year-old home, five-bedroom, three-bath house in the $600,000 range. “We wanted a large home and large yard, and we wanted the ability to expand.” They are now adding between 2,000 and 2,500 square feet to the house and redoing the kitchen.
The Zwerlings are not concerned about over-improving for the neighborhood. “Younger families are moving in and remodeling,” Val Zwerling said. “You could buy a home in the area for $1.5 million.”
Another plus, she said, is the community’s safety. Sgt. Andy Gonis, the public information officer of the Newport Beach Police Department, agreed. Corona del Mar “is a very safe community,” he said. One of the bigger problems officers encounter are occasional break-ins of parked cars on the narrow streets.
At a Glance
* Population
1994 estimate: 13,659
1980-90 change: 0.5%
* Annual income
Per capita: 64,430
Median household: 70,508
* Household distribution
Less than $30,000: 12.4%
$30,000 - $60,000: 14.1%
$60,000 - $100,000: 22.2%
$100,000 - $150,000: 20.6%
$150,000 +: 30.7%
Corona del Mar Home Sale Data
Sample Size (for 10-year period): 645 Ave. home size (square feet): 2,372 Ave. Year Built: 1962 Ave. No. Bedrms: 3.46 Ave. No. Baths: 2.55 Pool: 20% View homes: 30% Central air: 6% Waterfront: 6% Floodzone: 65% Price Range (1993-94): $286,000-1,900,000 Predominant Value: $600,000 Age Range: 7-87 years Predominant Age: 31 years
Average Sales Data
Year Total $per Median Sales sq. ft. price 1994* 26 $367.97 $619,307 1993 51 $335.26 $698,450 1992 25 $271.11 $621,320 1991 25 $262.75 $703,640 1990 31 $309.12 $765,161 1989 42 $283.22 $685,904 1988 88 $229.23 $566,903 1987 155 $206.88 $428,841 1986 124 $202.17 $419,072 1985 78 $180.19 $386,570
*1994 data current through April. Source: TRW Redi Property Data, Riverside
