Press and Media

In the News

CRYSTAL CLEAR - By Karin Gallagher -San Clemente Times

Up the coast, the Crystal Cove State Park Historic District offers a reprieve from everyday life and a look back in time

Less than 20 miles from San Clemente, up the twisting Pacific Coast Highway, you can step back in time to a preserved sliver of California coastal history. To a three-mile stretch of beach that looks today nearly the same way it did nearly a century ago. To the remnants of a unique community cobbled together out of the flotsam of the film industry and the jetsam of Poseidon's pantry. And you don't need a time machine to get there, either.

Crystal Cove State Park Historic District, 12.3 acres within the nearly 3,000-acre Crystal Cove State Park, is perhaps most famous for its 46 rustic cottages originally built between the 1920s and 1950s—some of which first served as movie sets. In addition to the cottages that still line the shore and bluff, families of campers once spent entire summers in tents—or cabañas—right on the beach.

“It was a set for Hollywood filmmakers during the silent-film boom, a drop-off spot for Prohibition-era rumrunners, a destination for motorists during the early auto-touring movement, a staging ground for postwar tiki parties and luaus, and a continual source of inspiration for nearby Laguna's famed art community,” writes Laura Davick, one of three co-authors of Crystal Cove Cottages: Islands in Time on the California Coast .

Today Davick, who grew up in Cottage #2, serves as the president and founder of the Crystal Cove Alliance (CCA), the nonprofit organization that was formed in 1999 and helped defeat plans to demolish the cottages and turn the area into a luxury hotel resort. Due to CCA's efforts to protect, preserve and restore the historical district, 13 unique cottages—10 individual and three dormitory-style—have been made available as overnight rentals to the general public since June 2006; nine other cottages are used for visitor-serving functions, including operational support, concessions and the check-in office. “We are focused on trying to raise the necessary funds to restore the remaining 24 cottages so that we will be able to bring 17 of those online for overnight rentals,” says Davick, who estimates it will require about $20 million to complete the project.

But despite that hefty figure, prices remain reasonable; the average cottage rental rate is $165 per night, which is based on a four-person occupancy. Reservations go on sale on the first of every month at 8 a.m. through booking agent ReserveAmerica (800.444.7275) and callers can book up to seven months in advance. “Usually the individual cottages are gone within 10 minutes,” says Davick, who recommends visiting the ReserveAmerica Web site to pre-register to avoid wasting time the morning of the sale. “It's a unique facility within the state park system. When you get a reservation at Crystal Cove, you really need to consider yourself a lottery winner, because they're in such demand and there's really quite a small inventory.”

Although there is no minimum stay, a seven-night per rolling calendar year maximum has been imposed to ensure that everyone gets a shot to get lulled to sleep by the nearby crashing waves. (For instance, if you book a week in September, you won't be able to reserve again until the following September).

If you are one of the lucky few able to land a reservation, you'll no doubt be charmed by the quaint cottages which, in addition to receiving updated electrical, plumbing and safety features, have been painstakingly restored to their heyday period with vintage furniture. (Bring your guitar, favorite book or board games, as there are no televisions or telephones).   

If you're unable to secure a much-coveted reservation, you can still stroll on the beach, visit The Store (which sells original plein air artwork, jewelry, books, photographs and educational toys), and even dine right on the sand at the Beachcomber Café—a portion of whose proceeds get channeled into CCA's continued restoration efforts.

Free tours of the historical district and cottages are offered 10 a.m.–12 p.m. on the second Saturday of every month (except December or in case of rain)—many times by Davick herself.