Unincorporated Town and Neighborhood, San Diego County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92091, 92067
Prestigious. Among the choicest addresses in the
county and probably in the world. The 2000 census placed Rancho Santa Fe
— known by locals as “The Ranch” — number one in income in the U.S. www.mccormacks.com
Click for regional or detailed map
Even
modest homes sell for well over $1 million and many go for $10 million to $25
million.
Around
Rancho Santa Fe are about two dozen wealthy developments, Fairbanks Ranch, the
largest, 620 homesites.
Click for regional or detailed map
The others
include, Whispering Palms, 554 sites, the Bridges, about 250 sites, Crosby, 443
sites, Cielo, 528 sites, Del Mar 108, Rancho Diegueno, 238. In this Olympus,
some might also place Santaluz. See Carmel Valley.
A little
orientation.
Rancho
Santa Fe, named after the railroad company that used to own the land, started
development in the 1920s. The project covered about 6,200 acres, ultimately
fielded about 1,460 homes and was packaged as an exclusive community controlled
by a homeowner's association. www.mccormacks.com
No
sidewalks, no street names, no street lights, just miles of elegant homes in a
lovely setting, streets bowered with trees. This association runs the golf
course and sets the rules.
Key word:
covenant. If you live in a covenant home, you live in the original Rancho Santa
Fe, which has about 3,300 residents (2000 census). But from a different
perspective, the address includes many more.
Rancho
Santa Fe is located about six miles east of Encinitas in a wide and beautiful
valley rumpled by hills and mesas. When it was built, San Diego County was
sparsely populated, roads were poor and freeways nonexistent. To stick a major
development out in the country without stores and services didn't make sense.
So with
the Santa Fe homes came a hamlet that now includes shops, banks, real estate
offices, post office, a library and restaurants.
A small
school district was formed, Rancho Santa Fe Elementary District. After the
eighth grade, the students move up to the schools of the San Dieguito District
and, usually, Torrey Pines High in Carmel Valley. See following. www.mccormacks.com
Rancho
Santa Fe is unincorporated. It is not a legal city. It is technically governed
by the County Board of Supervisors but in reality, it is pretty much governed
by the Covenant Homeowners' Association but this absence of municipal
boundaries is worth noting.
For a long
time, Rancho Santa Fe just sat out there by itself, an isolated enclave
surrounded by large citrus farms. It was so big and influential, however, that
its name was applied to the region, even to homes outside the covenant.
About the
1970s, as the freeways were opened, developers discovered the lands surrounding
the covenant. And so, Fairbanks Ranch, the Bridges, etc. Technically, they are
not part of the “true” Rancho Santa Fe but they are in the region or the zip
code of Rancho Santa Fe.
So often
they are marketed as, say, “Rancho Santa Fe Communities” and zip code for the
region puts the population about 12,000.
Most if
not all of these developments are coming with homeowner associations that set
and enforce the rules of building and design within their borders and manage
the golf course or communal grounds and if gated and guarded, the security. www.mccormacks.com
These
places have their own identities. Some people will talk of Fairbanks Ranch as
simply Fairbanks Ranch and it will show up on maps as Fairbanks Ranch. When you
deal with Realtors, they might rattle on a bit about Rancho Santa Fe, then get
down to the specifics of each development.
Not all
developments are served by the school districts that educate the Rancho Santa
Fe kids. Many students will attend the schools of the Solana Elementary
District and move up to the high schools of the San Dieguito District (but not
necessarily Torrey Pines High).
Several
developments, including Santaluz, are located within the borders of the City of
San Diego. Santaluz is part of the Poway Unified School District.
Traffic is
a problem. Little has been done to improve the half-dozen two-lane roads that
have served the region for God-knows-how-long. The roads carry the new and old
residents, tourists, trucks making deliveries and commuters taking shortcuts.
More development is coming, and the existing roads may be extended to tie into
projects building out from Interstate 15.
Not all is
gloomy. Some of the larger developments, notably Fairbanks Ranch and The Ranch
itself, are close to Interstate 5. In a few years, Santaluz will open a road
that will allow access to Highway 56, a new freeway. For many people, we are talking about traffic that will
irritate occasionally, not infuriate constantly. www.mccormacks.com
Once on
Interstate 5, it is a short drive to the job centers around UC San Diego and
Sorrento Valley. And beyond them, another 10-15 miles to downtown San Diego and
the International Airport. For surfing, the drive will be 15 or 20 minutes or
less.
If you are
buying in the region, check out the area general plans from the county and from
the City of San Diego.
Fairbanks
Ranch is named after Douglas Fairbanks, who used to live there with wife, Mary
Pickford. They were two of the first movie stars.
The hamlet
takes in two neighborhoods off San Dieguito Road. The first, population 900,
consists of one tract near the Fairbanks Ranch Country Club. This tract is
situated within the City of San Diego and is patrolled by San Diego cops. The
housing is upscale — two stories, four to six bedrooms, landscaped —
but not overwhelming. And not gated.
At the
edge of this tract, the land moves into the jurisdiction of the county, which
is patrolled by sheriff's deputies. The second Fairbanks neighborhood,
population 2,244, starts about here. It is gated, woodsy and loaded with estate
homes on large lots. It also has many upscale homes, well appointed, custom
designed, but not in the estate class. www.mccormacks.com
Both
Fairbanks were built mostly in the last 15 years. Stores, offices and service
shops and a fire station are along El Apajo Road. Also a private school and a
public, Solana Santa Fe Elementary. Other developments:
• The
Bridges. 250 plus homes on 540 acres. Gated. Golf Course. Clubhouse, a la
Tuscany, with swimming and workout rooms. Off of Camino Del Norte.
• Cielo.
530 homesites on 1,740 acres, many of them in rugged hills near Elfin Forest
Road. Views of ocean and countryside. Gated. Tennis, pools, clubhouse. Park.
Shops and stores to open in 2006 or soon after
• Crosby.
722 acres. Mix of villas, custom and semi custom homes around golf course.
Gated. Clubhouse, pool, tennis courts. Off of Del Dios Highway.
• Del Mar
Country Club. 266 acres. 108 sites around a golf course. Gated. Tennis and
swimming. Off of San Dieguito
Road. www.mccormacks.com
• Rancho
Diegueno. 238 sites. Gated and non-gated. San Dieguito Road.
•
Whispering Palms, which shows up on maps as Morgan Run. About 600 homes,
condos, townhouses around golf course. 300 acres. Tennis, swimming.
The
schools serving greater Rancho Santa Fe are among the highest scoring in the
county and state. But often parents will compete to get into “the best of the
best.” With these schools, parents are expected to put up their own money for enriched programs.
And to
volunteer. The communities also help. In Rancho Santa Fe, the Cap and Gown
Society raises more than $300,000 a year for the schools. When the music and
singing were threatened, the fundraising cranked up to $2 million and the
programs were saved.
The Rancho
Santa Fe district has been trying for years to build another school but running
into opposition over location. The latest plan, circa 2006, is to convert Rowe
(Rancho Santa Fe) school, in effect a K-8, into an elementary school, K-6, and
build a middle school at Calzada del Bosque and Via del Charro. www.mccormacks.com
The other
districts are opening schools, which means changes in attendance boundaries.
For info on attendance, check with the school districts. For more on schools,
read Encinitas profile. See also Carmel Valley.
About half-dozen golf courses. Horse
country. Stables and miles of trails. Polo field. County park on west side but
most recreation is private: clubs for tennis, swimming, fitness. Great variety
of pursuits, gardening, bridge, charities, etc. Cooling breezes from Pacific.
School grounds for soccer, basketball, baseball. Society. If you want to meet
people, many ways.
Crime very
low. Many people or neighborhoods sign up with private security.
• In 2005,
a 73-year old Rancho Santa Fe man out to pick tomatoes in his back yard
surprised a deer. The buck, trying to escape, hooked the man, causing injuries
that killed him. Hunters later killed the deer.
• Sir
Elton John Plays Rancho Santa Fe. At the 2006 wedding of Tanya and Charles
Brandes. He’s into stocks, ranked 382 on Forbes, worth $2 billion. Just before
the wedding, the Brandes home was finished, 54,000 square feet, $50-$60
million, 30 acres. If you’ve got it, why not? www.mccormacks.com
On the
other hand, if you don’t got it, shouldn’t cut corners to get it. In 2006, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a former Navy
Top Gun, Vietnam ace and congressman, was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Took
bribes to buy, among other things, a house in Rancho Santa Fe. Lost house,
possessions, wife (filed for divorce). She called the house, valued at $2.3
million, “a fixer upper.”
• Rancho
Santa Fe and its communities are getting into arguments over traffic and
whether to widen the roads. One suggestion: incorporate as a legal city and
bring tighter controls to development.
• To reach
Rancho Santa Fe, drive east on Linea del Cielo Road from Solana Beach or
Encinitas Boulevard out of Encinitas.
