A beautiful corner of the world

Normally I post about houses in Atlanta (and the occasional D.C. house) - the houses that I walk and drive by on a daily basis. Today I am going to take you 2,000 miles away to one of my favorite places in the world: Laguna Beach, California. The architecture in Southern California is so different from the architecture in Atlanta, and the houses on the ocean must adapt to the particular challenges of oceanside topography. Here is a tour of lovely homes in my favorite Laguna Beach neighborhood.

This is one of my favorite homes in the neighborhood, although it is not oceanfront. It is like a New England house, with its picket fence, gray siding, and turret to the side. Normally I like very symmetrical houses, but there is something so charming about this one. The blue front door is divided in half, so the top can open separately. In the summertime, the top is almost always open to catch the ocean breeze. If you look carefully, to the right of the tree is an outdoor patio with weathered teak furniture. The landscaping is somewhat subdued right now, but usually it is a riot of flowers with every color of the rainbow. If you look closely, you will see that the lights in front of the fence are shaped like flowers.

This beautiful Normandy style home is also one of my favorites; a driveway is rare in an oceanfront home in this neighborhood.

Many of the ocean front homes in Laguna Beach are built on cliffs. The two houses on the right are older homes, and it is interesting to see how small the windows are. A house built today would have many more windows to take advantage of the breathtaking views.

Here are three homes that were built within the past 10 years; look at all of the windows and tiers of levels. The goal of these newer beachfront homes is to have as many rooms as possible with an ocean view.

This one reminds me of a beach house in New England. It is not oceanfront, and there is a pool behind the hedges, in the front yard. I imagine that the room with the windows is the living room.

I love the urns that flank the entrance to this home. A small peek of the ocean can be seen over the gate.

Although the lots are small in this neighborhood (or maybe because of it), much emphasis is put on the landscaping. The mild year round climate is good for a large variety of flowers, most of which I never see in Atlanta. I am definitely not a gardener, but I have such appreciation for the planning and work that goes into maintaining a beautiful landscape.

This house is built into a cliff, so the pathway to the front door is quite long. I love the view - this could just as easily be a house that is in Spain or Italy. The Mediterranean style is very prevalent in this community within Laguna Beach.

Every time we visit this area, my husband and I make a special point to walk by this beautiful home. It is built on a double lot, right on a cliff overlooking the ocean. I love the covered dining area with the fireplace. It is probably not very convenient to the kitchen, but it would be a great place for an evening cocktail.

Since many of the homes are ocean front, often the back of the houses face the street. Because of this, some of the garages and fences are works of art in and of themselves! This is one of my favorites - it wouldn't work in Atlanta, but in a ocean front community it is charming. Take a close look at the fence and you can see two mermaids and a merman (is that the correct term?).

This new Mediterranean style home has beautiful garage doors. Mediterranean is the most common style for homes that have been remodeled or newly built in this area.

Many of the oceanfront homes have courtyards in front, with a charming gate as the entry.

This is the gate that goes with the house that looks like it could be in Spain. I wonder whether they light the lanterns at night?

Some of the homes in the neighborhood are Japanese in style.

This is the largest property in the neighborhood; it is truly a compound, and so sprawling (and protected) it was impossible to capture on camera. The intricate pattern on the gate is so beautiful it merits a place in this post.

I find this 1930s home to be fascinating (the one on the left). It is built on the cliff, and was made to look like a ship. Rumor has it that Tom Cruise rented this home several years ago!

This is another one of my favorite homes in the neighborhood, but it was very difficult to capture in a photograph. Its garage is down low, and access to the house is by a small set of stairs carved into the hill.

The garden is on three levels of terraces.

A view of the side of the house. The blue awnings are so charming.

Clearly I like this house! The front door is tucked to the side, and is one of my favorite shades of green. I love the lantern and the green shutters.

This is one of my favorite places in the world.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. Do you have a favorite house? Mine is the last one in this post - the Mediterranean style with the green door. I love the New England style home and the Normandy style home too...

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