Avalon Retains Quaint Village Atmosphere

For Pastor Lopez Jr., the dream of owning a home was alive and well--and totally out of reach.

Like many Catalina Island natives, Lopez loved his hometown of Avalon but was daunted by high housing prices in the tiny (pop. 2,900) resort enclave, where a two-bedroom one-bath cottage without a view starts at $250,000.

“To own a home here was always my dream,” said Lopez, 46, the city’s director of public works. “I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I never let go of that dream.”

Lopez found a home-buying ally in an unlikely place--Avalon City Hall.

Sensitive to the high costs of housing, Avalon created the Land Trust Program in 1994 for people who live and work on the island but who could not afford to make the leap from renters to homeowners. The program helps buyers by dividing a property’s value between the land and its improvements. The city holds title to the land and gives the buyer a home purchase subsidy.

In August, Lopez’s dream of homeownership finally came true. He, his wife, Sandy, 38, and their six children moved into a 100-year-old two-bedroom two-bath home for which they paid $290,000.

“The city owns the land, but I own the house,” Lopez said. “The only drawback was how long it took--almost eight months from start to finish. That’s a long time to hold your breath and hope.”

For Sandy Lopez, it was worth the wait. “I’m so happy,” she said. “I know it sounds funny, but we have two bathrooms. Around here, that’s a luxury.”

One reason second baths are regarded as a luxury is because of Catalina’s recurring water shortages. Building restrictions limit, among other things, the number of bathrooms a house may have and, for many homeowners, that means only one.

The building restrictions, coupled with limited available land, have kept Avalon’s development to a minimum. Lifelong residents like Lopez prefer it that way. “Avalon has grown too much already,” he said.

A one-hour boat ride from San Pedro, Santa Catalina Island has a long history as a resort destination. In 1887 it opened to visitors who came for the fishing, boating and sunbathing. At that time, there was one hotel and a “tent city” where small plots of land sold for $100.

In 1919, William Wrigley Jr. purchased the entire island (except for some private parcels) and began development of Avalon, Catalina’s only city.

Eventually, most property owners built homes on their tiny parcels. Some of the original tent cabins, with canvas walls, still stand as monuments to Catalina’s past.

Today, the typical cottage in the flats of Avalon is about 1,100 square feet in size and sells in the mid-$200,000 range, said real estate broker Peggy Meier. Homes in the hills tend to be larger, with views, and have an average purchase price of $475,000. Luxury estates with panoramic views of Avalon Harbor sell for more than $2 million. In Avalon’s largest condo development, Hamilton Cove, units start at $175,000 and go up to $1.5 million.

Meier has been selling homes in Avalon for six years and says she had her busiest year yet in 1995. “The island had 48 residential sales last year,” she said. “That’s an amazing year for our little village.” Still, with only 1,104 homes in Avalon, turnover is minimal. Instead of being sold, many homes are passed down from one generation to the next.

In 1927, Herb Wegmann and his wife, Mildred, paid $7,900 for a 1,600-square-foot three-bedroom two-bath home with a small backyard. “People thought Mildred and I were crazy spending so much money on a house, even if it was up in the hills,” said Wegmann, 92, the oldest living native with continuous island residence. “I’ll tell you what’s crazy. I could ask half a million bucks for this place today, and some fool would probably pay it.”

The Wegmann family came to Catalina in 1901 to open the island’s first photography studio, and Herb Wegmann was born in one of the original tent cottages. After a tour in the Army, Herb began what would be a lifelong career with Avalon’s post office. Mildred, a summer “visitor” (Wrigley didn’t like the word “tourist”), caught his eye, and it was love at first sight.

The Wegmanns lived, worked and raised a family on Catalina Island. Mildred Wegmann died in 1992. “We had a very happy life here,” Wegmann said. “There’s something about this island that keeps you happy and young.”

In their 1958 hit “26 Miles (Santa Catalina)” the Four Preps told the world about the “island of romance,” and Catalina’s lure as a lover’s paradise was born. Today, the island has a multimillion-dollar-a-year trade in weddings and honeymoons.

The Old Turner Inn is a favorite with newlyweds for its charm and central location in Avalon. Owners Bill and Jeanne Hill grew up on the island and know what it’s like to be young and in love in Avalon. “This place is so romantic, it’s hard not to fall in love here,” Jeanne Hill said.

Built in 1927 as a private home, the inn was bought by the Hills in 1988 for $550,000. After restoration, their home is now a five-suite bed and breakfast.

Jeanne, 72, a former Ice Capades skater, and Bill, 78, a retired businessman, share their love of the island by making visitors feel welcome. Their congeniality with guests is a reflection of their childhood on the island. Back then, during the summer of 1934, being friendly was just a new tourism gimmick. “Wrigley wanted everyone to feel welcome,” Jeanne recalled. “He had kids at the pier to greet visitors as they got off the boat We’d all shout, ‘Hi, neighbor.’ ”

One aspect of island life that residents are proud of is the low crime rate. A recent report showed that in 1995, Avalon had the fewest crimes (1,301) of any city or area patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Alcohol-related crimes are the island’s biggest problems, said Lt. Patrick Soll.

“We have our problems just like anywhere else. We have people who just aren’t good people,” Soll said. “The advantage here is that we generally know who those people are, and we keep very close tabs on them.”

Realtor Meier, who shows houses to clients in her golf cart (the standard mode of transportation in Avalon), believes that the island’s safety and family atmosphere have been big draws for mainlanders looking to escape from the city.

“Buyers come here and just breathe a sigh of relief,” she said. “Most of my clients are second-home buyers who want a safe place where they can come with the family and relax and not worry about all the stuff that goes on in the city.”

According to Meier, the biggest drawback to life on the island is the limited shopping. “People do get mall fever,” she said.

One person who won’t get mall fever is part-time resident Bob Teller, owner of the Orange County Marketplace--the giant swap meet held at the Orange County Fairgrounds--and owner of two condominiums in Avalon’s Hamilton Cove. A five-minute golf cart ride from the center of Avalon, Hamilton Cove is a 180-unit Mediterranean-style condo development with an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and private harbor.

Teller, 57, and his wife Rita, 54, were avid sailors who would frequently sail to Avalon from their Balboa Island home. “I had my eye on Hamilton Cove for a long time,” Teller said. “When the units went to auction, I jumped at the opportunity to buy.” In October 1994, Teller bought an 1,150-square-foot ocean-front condominium for $300,000 and a smaller one with ocean views for $190,000. “Hamilton Cove is just spectacular,” he said. “It makes me feel like I’m in Greece all over again.”

But as a businessman, Teller believes that Avalon could improve. “They need to make this more of a destination resort. I love the simplicity of life here, but it needs to be enhanced,” he said. Teller feels that development is essential if Avalon is to have a successful future.

“I understand that change is not easy, and a lot of people are happy with Avalon just the way it is,” Teller said. “But I don’t think Wrigley was a man content with the status quo. His vision was to make this a world-class resort. Whatever happened to his dream?”

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Avalon Home Sale Data

Sample Size (for 10-year period): 54

Ave. home size (square feet): 1,170

Ave. Year Built: 1928

Ave. No. Bedrms: 2.65

Ave. No. Baths: 1.51

Floodzone: 56%

Price Range (1995-96): $150,000-500,000

Predominant Value: $184,000

Age Range: 17-93 years

Predominant Age: 76 years

Average Sales Data

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Year Total $per Median Sales sq. ft. price 1996* 3 $234.83 $180,000 1995 11 $287.26 $300,000 1994 7 $219.81 $255,000 1993 3 $235.48 $190,000 1992 1 $178.35 $450,000 1991 1 $256.83 $460,000 1990 3 $301.46 $236,000 1989 6 $244.72 $275,000 1988 11 $206.62 $215,000 1987 8 $217.44 $239,375

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*1996 data current through March.

Source: TRW Redi Property Data, Anaheim