Urban Village Has It All Close at Hand

When he left his job in 1978 as a master planner for the Irvine Co. after 15 years, Richard Reese had plans to spend a year in the Greek Islands. But before he could pack his bags, Reese was asked to look over a 5,000-acre piece of south Orange County that was slated for development.

Although he was reluctant to consider planning another community, when Reese surveyed what would become Rancho Santa Margarita, he felt an unusual connection to the land.

“As I came over Chiquita Ridge and looked down on Plano Trabuco with the sycamore- and oak-filled canyons, the chaparral-covered hillsides and Saddleback Mountain in the distance, I thought it had to be the most marvelous opportunity I could have to create a planned community,” he said.

Reese never made it to Greece. Instead he helped plan and design Rancho Santa Margarita, where he lives today.

The town, now 10 years old, is nestled in a valley between the hills of Mission Viejo and Coto de Caza and framed by Saddleback Mountain. It is bounded to the south by the 1,000-acre new community of Las Flores, which is next to Oso Parkway; to the east by the Chiquita Ridge and Plano Trabuco Road; to the north by Trabuco Canyon and the foothills of Saddleback Mountain; and to the west by portions of Mission Viejo and O’Neil Regional Park.

Rancho Santa Margarita has been called Orange County’s first urban village. It was created as a self-contained community in harmony with the land, and more than half of the town’s 5,000 acres is devoted to open space and recreational uses, including a man-made lake with a beach club, an 18-hole tournament-style golf course, 24 athletic fields and seven community parks.

Driving in Rancho Santa Margarita isn’t a necessity for the town’s more than 25,000 residents. Bike and walking paths link all residential neighborhoods to major recreational facilities, shops, schools, day-care centers, a post office and restaurants. The town has a traditional center that includes homes, restaurants, shops, a library and soon-to-open movie theater. Many other businesses are located in Rancho Santa Margarita as well.

“Our objective was to create a place where people could live, work and recreate near their home,” said Reese, who bought an 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home for $190,000 when the town was begun in 1986. “We wanted to create an old-fashioned hometown atmosphere where people could experience a more nurturing lifestyle.”

To many residents and onlookers, the planners of Rancho Santa Margarita have been successful. In a 1992 episode of “20/20,” Barbara Walters dubbed the town a modern-day Shangri-La. Developers from throughout the nation and other countries regularly come to study the community’s design.

Although developers sought a hometown feel and beautiful setting, they knew that affordable housing was important too. When the first homes went on sale in 1986, condominiums were priced as low as $55,000 and single-family detached homes began at $113,000. Prospective owners camped out to ensure a home.

Today affordability is still a major attraction of Rancho Santa Margarita, said Jack Cable, a Realtor and manager of the Coldwell Banker office in Rancho Santa Margarita.

“Right now we have 11 different tracts with homes for sale, all in [a variety of] price ranges,” said Cable, who has lived in the community for almost seven years.

In resale homes, on the low end there are one- and two-bedroom condos from 600 square feet to 1,100 square feet, ranging from $58,000 to $100,000. Mid-range, you’ll find two- to three-bedroom houses with two to 2 1/2 baths from 1,000 square feet to 1,800 square feet that run from $148,000 to $200,000. On the upper end, there are 2,000- to 3,000-square-foot, four- and five-bedroom houses with 2 1/2 to three bathrooms for $210,000 to $400,000.

New-home construction is underway in several neighborhoods by a variety of builders, including John Laing Homes, K. Hovnanian Co., Hertel Homes, Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., Warmington Homes, Chadmar Homes and Newcrest Development. Lewis Homes just bought 500 lots in the community and is to begin building single-family homes immediately in the $160,000 to $270,000 price range.

In new homes, there are 900- to 975-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath condos in the golf course area for a little under $110,000. The average new house sells for $175,000 to $225,000 for a four-bedroom, three-bath home of 1,500 to 2,000 square feet. On the high end, you’ll find 3,400-square-foot five-bedroom, three-bath homes for a little more than $310,000. Sam Nasser recently bought a two-bedroom 870-square-foot, 2 1/2-bath detached home in the Los Abanicos development built by RGC/K. Young Homes Inc. for $124,000. He rented in the community for three years before buying. Rancho Santa Margarita’s affordable prices and many recreational amenities attracted him.

“‘I shopped around, and the prices in Rancho Santa Margarita were the best,” said Nasser, 37, who works for Cleveland Golf, a Cypress golf club manufacturer. “I also like having my health club near my home and living by a golf course.”

While many people are attracted to Rancho Santa Margarita because of the reasonable home prices, they are also charmed by the area’s quiet and friendliness.

“I was really shocked at how beautiful and affordable Rancho Santa Margarita is,” said Casey Lancaster, 45. She moved into the area in September 1995, when she bought a two-bedroom, two-bath 948-square-foot condominium for $94,000. Lancaster had rented in Long Beach for years without hope of affording a home. Then she heard that south Orange County prices were reasonable and took a look in Rancho Santa Margarita.

“I fell in love with Tijeras Creek Villas immediately,” she said. “The complex is next to the golf course and very quiet. It’s delightful to sit outside on my balcony and read. The residents are friendly and things are clean. I still feel like I’m on vacation in my own home.”

Although she works far from home as a secretary for an aerospace firm in Torrance, Lancaster uses the company’s commuter van pool. “I get a lot of reading done,” she said. When she drives on her own, it takes about an hour and 15 minutes in the morning and half an hour longer at night.

“Many people ask me how I can stand the commute,” she said. “I just tell them that knowing I’m driving home to such a soothing, peaceful place is well worth the drive.”

Today, Lancaster and her 21-year-old son, who lives with her, enjoy activities they couldn’t in their old neighborhood, including nightly walks, visiting the nearby beach club and a library within walking distance.

“I love that we can walk or bike to town,” she said. “It reminds me of the past, when people lived on the outskirts of town and they walked to the town center for shopping and eating. It really gives you a sense that this is a true community.”

Statements like Lancaster’s delight Reese, who worked hard to create this village feel.

“The idea of creating a community with walking and biking trails near homes came from visiting a small Japanese village when I was in the Navy,” he said. “As you walked down the street, you felt as if you were a part of the community.”

The concept of a self-contained town in touch with the land was born in 1983 when Anthony Moiso--great-grandson of Richard O’Neil, who once owned land from Aliso Canyon to Oceanside--bought 5,000 acres of the family’s remaining 40,000 acres to create a “different kind of master-planned community.”

Moiso reestablished the Santa Margarita Co., which had been dissolved in 1942, and created a team to oversee planning and development of the area. Construction began in 1985, and the area’s first homes went on sale in 1986. Ten home-builders were involved initially, and all of the homes were built near the lake.

In 1987, the first businesses moved to Rancho Santa Margarita, and a year later more than 20 were established. The town’s population was 8,500 in 1988 and exceeded 20,000 by 1993. That year the first segment of the Foothill Transportation Corridor opened north of Rancho Santa Margarita; in 1995 the corridor opened into the town.

Almost 10 years ago, Mel and Kathy Mercado were lured to Rancho Santa Margarita by the area’s open space and quiet.

“As we passed the hills and cows to come out here, it felt like a world away from the rest of Orange County, which had become a series of very busy cities,” said Kathy Mercado, 33, who recently became a stay-at-home mom.

“We felt like we were escaping to a serene area with a sense of community, and we still feel that way. We know all of our neighbors; there are block parties and barbecues all of the time,” she said.

The Mercados bought a two-bedroom, two-bath 900-square-foot condominium for $98,000 in 1987. Two years later they bought a three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath 1,400 square-foot townhome by the lake for $185,000. They recently moved into an 1,800-square-foot four-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath house within walking distance of their church. The couple have two young children and regularly use the town’s many amenities. Rarely will they leave the area for entertainment.

“Every summer we’re at the beach club on the weekends,” Mercado said. “We eat around the lake and use the boats.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Rancho Santa Margarita Home Sale Data

Sample Size (for 10-year period): 398

Ave. home size (square feet): 1,647

Ave. Year Built: 1986

Ave. No. Bedrms: 3.22

Ave. No. Baths: 2.57

Pool: 1%

View homes: 17%

Central air: 64%

Floodzone: 94%

Price Range (1995-96): $154,000-247,000

Predominant Value: $165,000

Age Range: 8-14 years

Predominant Age: 10 years

Average Sales Data

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Year Total $per Median Sales sq. ft. price 1996* 5 $115.34 $183,400 1995 12 $121.75 $189,666 1994 11 $131.00 $178,363 1993 12 $124.99 $191,500 1992 11 $146.09 $199,363 1991 12 $141.25 $209,500 1990 20 $136.11 $236,850 1989 4 $132.85 $274,635 1988 182 $118.28 $198,666 1987 129 $99.21 $157,684

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*1996 data current through March.

Source: TRW Redi Property Data, Anaheim