Tagged : San Clemente Historic Homes

It's that time again for the annual San Clemente historic home tour that will take place this year on Saturday October 14, 2023 from 12:00 to 4:00pm.  As you know San Clemente has a very limited number of historic homes so any chance you can get a chance to view these homes it's well worth it.  This year they will be touring 12 homes which will be self-guided so similar to an open house.  The tickets have already gone on sale and they are currently $35.00 until September 1st and then it goes to $40 until October 13th and then $45 the day of the tour.  They don't announce what homes will be on the tour so it is a total surprise for everyone involved.  Once you purchase the tickets then you will get notices before the day of the event.  To get tickets email

We always get excited when new listings come on the market in the San Clemente that offer a unique opportunity to find a home that is not necessarily the same as other homes that are on the market.  A perfect example of this is a new historic home that was built in 1929 and offers a unique position on a hilltop location.  San Clemente has a very limited number of historic homes from the 1920's and 1930's that still exist today.  The large majority of them are located near the downtown area with a few of them located on unique locations like 165 Calle Redondel.  

The home is currently listed at $1,050,00 and has been on the market for 3 days ago and sure to see a lot of activity.  It features a total of 2 bedrooms with an approximate 934 square feet

The San Clemente historic home tour is set to take place next month on October 12, 2019. This year will feature a tour of 9 historic properties here in San Clemente.  San Clemente has a very small number of historic properties still in existence so a chance to visit nine different properties is a rare opportunity.  The San Clemente historical society is now offering advance tickets for those who would like to attend.  Currently tickets are being sold at $30.00 per person or $100 for 4 tickets.  This changes on the day of the event which increases to $40 per person.

The tour details of which properties will be on the tour have not been released yet but will be sent via email once tickets have been purchased.  It's important to note that the tour will

There are always seems to be a limited number of historic homes for sale in San Clemente at any given time but this is often not the case when looking to rent one of these older homes.  The main concentration of these historic homes can be found near the city center which is commonly referred to as downtown San Clemente. This is the main area that leads down to the San Clemente Pier where many great restaurants and shopping can be found.  The downtown area offers a good mixture of apartments, condos and residential homes with a huge number of rentals available at any given time.

What to expect for rental prices for historic properties?  The most affordable rentals with be studio apartments located in a historic property.  These can often be found

One of the best attractions in San Clemente is visiting the historic Casa Romantica home in San Clemente that sits majestically above the San Clemente Pier.  In recent weeks there has been a huge television campaign letting people know that the historic home built in 1927 is now open to the public.  The home belonged to the founder of San Clemente, Ole Hanson, who kept this home as his personal residence when building many of the homes built in the 1920's and 30's in San Clemente.  It's best well known for it's "key hole" entrance as pictured below and it's large interior courtyards.

The actual living quarters are modest but still large for it's time with large bathrooms and walk-in closets.  The biggest attraction is the main living room with soaring

Ole Hanson was the founder of San Clemente and was the person who had the vision of many of the older Spanish homes from the early 1920's and 30's that you see today in San Clemente.  During the 1960 and 70's many of these homes were torn down in pursuit of building larger homes and condo buildings.  Luckily, many of these homes were preserved and have become the rich heritage that San Clemente is proud to be associated with.  These homes can be found in the older sections of town which are the Southwest San Clemente, San Clemente Central and San Clemente north neighborhoods.

The homes tend to be on the smaller side with two to three bedrooms and range anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 square feet of living space.  Many of these properties rarely come onto

The Mills Act is a federal organization located in the Western part of the United States that specifically helps protect historic homes from being improperly renovated or destroyed.  Mainly found in California and Arizona, the Mills Act works with the individual states in lowering the yearly tax base paid on these historic homes.  The savings can be significant and I have personally seen the taxes as low as 50% lower than what the normal tax rate should be.

Things to look for when looking for a historic home.  First, not all historic homes will be covered by the Mills Act.  Just because the home was built in the 1920's or 30's doesn't automatically qualify the home to be covered under the Mills Act.  It's worth asking the real estate agent and/or owner