San Diego California Events. Area focus - Rancho Santa Fe

City: Unincorporated area of San Diego County
Area Population: 7,601
Elevation: 197 feet above sea level
Distance from downtown SD: 26.0 miles north

Rancho Santa Fe is an unincorporated area in San Diego County, California, United States and a bedroom community of San Diego. At $245,631, it is one of the highest income communities in the United States with at least 2,500 households. The CDP is primarily all residential with one shopping avenue as well as several private schools, condominiums, and single family residential areas situated on uncommonly large lots.

Rancho Santa Fe has strict design restrictions. Many streets outside of the downtown area are lined with landscaping; on side streets the landscaping of individual properties provides ambient decor. Very few homes are visible from the road.

The downtown is centered around the intersection of Linea del Cielo/Paseo Delicias and La Granada/Via de Santa Fe. It is the site of offices of financial firms, restaurants, and small stores. A library and a school are also located there.

Communities

The Covenant refers to the original planned community of Rancho Santa Fe. It includes the downtown area, as planned by Lilian Rice, who also designed the library, civic center, elementary school, numerous private homes and the only hotel within the Covenant, The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Two large Spanish-style condominium complexes are also located in the Covenant's central area. The area offers some 45 miles (72 km) of riding trails, available for use by Covenant residents, who take advantage of these facilities as well as those availed of them by the Rancho Santa Fe Riding Club and Saddle Club. An Art Jury, a non-governmental organization, has the power to approve or disapprove of any exterior alteration to any building, fence, sidewalk (although no sidewalks exist outside of the downtown area) or other structure. Other features of Covenant life are lots of one or more acres which are typically located along winding roads with simplistic Spanish names (usually just a noun with its corresponding article or adjective; e.g. Las Planideras, La Noria, Lago Lindo). Many properties have sewer connections but there also are septic tanks on individual properties, as well as above-ground power lines. The Covenant lacks street lights, sidewalks and traffic lights, in accord with the original 1800s technology of Lilian Rice's time, as well as at-home mail delivery (each Rancho property-owner is assigned a post office box reflecting the original developers' goals of security and privacy. Despite what many would regard as drawbacks, properties in The Covenant, especially on the north side thereof, are higher-valued than properties of similar size and features elsewhere in Rancho Santa Fe. The Covenant is bordered on the north by Escondido Creek, on the south by the San Dieguito River, on the east by Camino del Norte and on the west by El Camino Real.

Horsemans Valley, a gated community and small but close-knit community adjacent to San Dieguito Park.

Rancho Cielo, a gated community east of the Covenant and bordered by Escondido.

Morgan Run, a golf course community surrounded by the Morgan Run Golf Course in the southern portion of Rancho Santa Fe.

Fairbanks Ranch, The Crosby, Hacienda Santa Fe, The Summit, Del Rayo, The Bridges, The River Estates.

Social history

Rancho Santa Fe has its origins as Rancho San Dieguito, a Mexican land grant made during 1836–1845 to Juan María Osuna (the first mayor or alcalde of the San Diego area). In 1906 it was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, which renamed it after the second transcontinental railroad to reach California. The Railway planted extensive groves of eucalyptus trees in the hope of having a near-inexhaustible supply of raw material for the railway ties they needed to expand in the Western American market. Eucalyptus wood, however, proved too soft, splitting when the spikes were hammered into it. One Sydney Nelson, about whom little else is known, helped finance the purchase of the ten square mile plot, as well as the construction of a golf course (today the main course of the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club). Nelson also drew up rudimentary community plans.

Rancho Santa Fe gained popularity between World War I and World War II, finding special focus following the construction of the Del Mar Racetrack. Bing Crosby is credited as an "early settler", hosting annual clambakes on the golf course at the Club. The present-day luxury tract home development "The Crosby Estates" stands on the site of his former estate.

In addition to many notable Hollywood figures (Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford) who played important roles in the founding and popularization of the resort town, Rancho Santa Fe has been the scene for a good deal of San Diego County's high social dramas. For example, the former mayor of neighboring Del Mar, Nancy Hoover, left her husband and home in 1983 and moved in with Rancho resident J. David Dominelli, who proceeded to defraud dozens of locals in foreign currency scams. In 1992, the family of alleged CIA operative Ian Spiro were found shot to death inside their Covenant home; Spiro was found behind the wheel of his SUV in the Mojave desert a few days later, having died of cyanide poisoning. The case was declared a murder-suicide, but some profess doubts. In March 1997, 39 members of the Heaven's Gate cult, whose leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave their bodily "containers" and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind Comet Hale-Bopp, committed mass suicide in a house at 18241 Colina Norte. Due to the publicity surrounding the case, the street is now called Paseo Victoria.

Rancho Santa Fe has one Catholic Church, the Church of the Nativity, founded in 1985. The Village Church, a Presbyterian Church, was founded in 1956 and is located just east of the Village.

Rancho Sante Fe was chosen to host the equestrian events during the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Rancho Santa Fe is in the 50th congressional district. Their representative, Randy Duke Cunningham, resigned from the House on 28 November 2005 after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004. Cunningham's corruption first came to light when he bought his Rancho Santa Fe house largely with the proceeds of the sale of his Del Mar home for an inflated price. He was replaced by Brian Bilbray in the 2006 elections, who beat Democrat Francine Busby.

The public library in Rancho Santa Fe is a branch of the San Diego County Library system, and is open to all California residents. The Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild owns the building and land that house the Rancho Santa Fe Library, as well as providing the staff for the children's room.

Library
17040 Avenida De Acacias, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
(858-756-2512) Map - Website

Post Office
16956 Via De Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92091
(800-275-8777) Map

Solana Santa Fe Elementary School (K-6)
6570 El Apajo, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
(858-794-4700) Map - Website

Rancho Santa Fe School (K-8)
5927 La Granada, Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
(858-756-1141) Map - Website

San Diego County Website
San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
Rancho Santa Fe Demographic Profile - Fact Sheet
Rancho Santa Fe Demographic Profile - Map

Rancho Santa Fe Weather - NOAA
Air Quality Forecast
Moon Phases & Astronomical Events
Recent Earthquakes

Rancho Santa Fe Homes For Sale
Rancho Santa Fe Condominiums For Sale
Rancho Santa Fe Multi-Family Properties For Sale
Rancho Santa Fe Rentals

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East County Magazine
Rancho Santa Fe School District
San Diego County Branch Libraries
San Diego County Business Directory - Rancho Santa Fe
Solana Beach School District
Wikipedia - Rancho Santa Fe, California

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