Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 1 MEMO
TO: CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH
ATTN: HEATHER STEVEN, SENIOR PLANNER
FROM: LAURA JANSSEN, SR. ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN;
MARIANA RUIZ, ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN
DATE: MARCH 23, 2026
Introduction
Historic Resources Group (HRG) submitted a historic assessment report for the property at 31526 Valido Road in the City of Laguna Beach in November 2024 and a revised report in February 2025. An independent historic assessment report of the property by Chronicle Heritage was submitted to the City in April 2025.1 HRG provided a supplemental memo to comment on the report’s conclusions in June 2025. In July 2025, GPA Consulting submitted a peer review of both reports.2 This memo will respond to GPA’s peer review of HRG’s report.
Generally, GPA did not find fault with HRG’s methodology or research conclusions; however, they did not agree with the finding that the subject property appears eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) at the local level or the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR). They did not find sufficient evidence to support the idea that the property at 31526 Valido Road meets the eligibility criteria for listing in either the California Register or the National Register. GPA only provided an evaluation of whether HRG’s conclusions were supported by the facts and did not provide a third independent assessment of the property. HRG will only respond to comments made regarding their report and not comment on the evaluation of the Chronicle Heritage report. 1 “Historic Resource Assessment of 31526 Valido Road,
Laguna Beach 92651,” prepared by Chronicle Heritage, April 2025.
2 “Peer review of Historic Resource Assessments for 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach,” prepared by GPA Consulting, July 28, 2025.
556 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 101-514
Pasadena, CA 91105
Attachment 22
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 2 HRG’S RESPONSE
HRG has no response to the first three items of GPA’s peer review. HRG’s responses begin with Item 4 and follows and corresponds to the highlighted sections and bold lower case letters below. The paragraphs below are clipped from pg. 7 under Item 4 of GPA’s Peer Review:
4. We also review whether the conclusions regarding historical significance (or lack thereof) are supported by substantial evidence, as defined in National Register Bulletin 15 and related relevant guidance. This includes assessing whether the property was evaluated for the correct area(s) and level(s) of significance (local, regional, state, or national), whether appropriate integrity aspects were considered, and whether the property retains sufficient integrity to convey its significance. We examine whether the subject property has been appropriately compared to similar properties within the same historic context and whether the narrative argument clearly establishes that the property is not only historic but significant under the applicable criteria.
In their February 12, 2025 report, Historic Resources Group (HRG) evaluated 31526 Valido Road within the historic context of “Homesteading and Agricultural Development in South Laguna (ca. 1909–1928)”. This context emphasizes the early 20th-century EuroAmerican settlement of South Laguna, specifically through land claims made under the Homestead Act of 1862. HRG links the property to this context through its association with William F. Egan, who filed a 40-acre homestead claim in 1910, constructed the original cabin around 1909, and actively farmed the land with his family into the late 1920s. The property’s significance is evaluated solely under California Register Criterion 1 (and National Register Criterion A) for its connection to early homesteading activity in the area. HRG does not assert eligibility under other criteria. The defined period of significance (ca. 1909–1928) reflects the timeframe during which the property developed and functioned as a working homestead.
While HRG identifies “Homesteading and Agricultural Development in South Laguna (ca. 1909–1928)” as the relevant historic context for evaluating the property, this context may be overextended and insufficiently substantiated when measured against the evaluative guidance provided in National Register Bulletin 15, which also underpins the California Register criteria. Bulletin 15 cautions that “a property must be more than simply associated with a historic trend; it must clearly illustrate that trend or be one of the most important properties associated with it.” In this case, HRG has not convincingly demonstrated that the Egan property rises to a level of distinctiveness, rarity, or illustrative clarity to justify significance under the broad theme of homesteading (a).
Although William Egan filed a 40-acre homestead claim in 1910 and constructed the original cabin ca. 1909, the Homestead Act was enacted nearly 50 years earlier in 1862, and many earlier and more robust examples of homesteading occurred in Southern Orange County—not specifically in what later became Laguna Beach (b). In fact, South Laguna was not formally named until 1934 and was not annexed into the City of Laguna Beach until 1987, calling into question whether it is appropriate to evaluate the property’s significance solely within the context of Laguna Beach’s local history, rather than in the broader regional context of Southern Orange County or unincorporated Orange County 625
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 3 rural development (c).
Additionally, HRG does not provide sufficient comparative analysis with other known homestead properties in the region to support a claim that the Egan property is a particularly important or rare surviving example (d). Chronicle rightly critiques this point, emphasizing that the setting has been substantially altered, and without the surrounding agricultural context, the property no longer clearly conveys its claimed association with early 20th-century homesteading. While the residence may retain integrity in several aspects, the loss of setting (e)—combined with an arguably generalized historic context and absence of a compelling comparative framework—undermines the strength of HRG’s argument for eligibility under Criterion 1.
HRG response:
a) Rarity of the Egan Homestead - HRG conducted additional research on the history of homesteading in Orange County to better understand the historic significance of the Egan Homestead. (See “Homesteading in Orange County” historic context below.) This research has revealed that homesteading in Orange County at the end of the nineteenth century was very limited due to the large, private landholdings of the California ranchos, as well as to the land grants acquired by the transcontinental railroad. In order to acquire property, early settlers were forced to either purchase land from the railroad companies or to homestead federal land limited to the rugged terrain of the Santa Ana Mountains, the lower San Joaquin foothills, or on unclaimed land between bordering ranchos (Laguna Beach). Of the 1,467 homestead declarations in Orange County3 recorded through 1940, approximately 70 homesteaders were successful in acquiring land patents, according to historian Josh Sides.4 This small number of homesteaders faced extreme hardship, isolation, intense physical labor, and limited resources, to survive in the rugged terrain they were left to occupy.
In the Santa Ana Mountains, the establishment of Cleveland National Forest in 1893 limited the development of the canyons further. Only early homesteaders with legal claims within the boundaries of the Cleveland National Forest were allowed to sustain private property in the area. Homesteading in Laguna Beach, conversely, prospered while the city ultimately developed into a flourishing beach community surrounded by a greenbelt of natural landscapes with mountains and dramatic canyons, coastal cliffs, caves and arches, and ever-changing ocean views. In 2016, the Laguna Beach greenbelt was documented under the Historic American Landscape Survey (HALS).5
3 California Department of Transportation, “A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for
Agricultural Properties in California,” 2007, 42.
4 Josh Sides, Backcountry Ghosts: California Homesteads and the Making of a Dubious Dream (University of
Nebraska Press, 2021), e-book, 212.
5 National Park Service, “Historic American Landscape
Survey Laguna Beach (HALS-CAL 123)” 2016. The
Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) is the
National Park Service (NPS) program dedicated to
documenting historic landscapes across the U.S. and its territories. Founded in 2000, HALS creates permanent
records—including photographs, histories, and drawings— of significant sites, such as gardens, public spaces, and agricultural areas, which are then archived in the Library of Congress.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 4 The Egan Homestead is the only intact homestead residence within the present-day area of Laguna Beach, and it appears to be the only surviving homestead residence in the whole of Orange County. Additional research ruled out James Shrewsbury’s homestead residence, now located at 31511 Eagle Rock Way in Laguna Beach.
Unlike the Egan residence, the Shrewsbury house was relocated from its original location near the top of Third Avenue in South Laguna in the 1930s and converted into a two-story residence.6 Due to modern alterations and its relocation from the original homestead, the Shrewsbury house does not retain its association with homesteading or retain sufficient integrity to be listed in the CRHR or NRHP.7 This additional research further supports the Egan Homestead residence is a rare and intact example of early twentieth century homesteading in Orange County. b) The Homestead Act and its impact on western development – The Homestead Act of 1862 was a significant piece of legislation aimed at promoting the settlement and development of the American West. The original act allowed any American, including freed slaves, to put in a claim for up to 160 acres of federal land, provided they improved the land by building a dwelling and cultivating crops. This act was a cornerstone of westward expansion, encouraging millions of Americans to migrate west in search of new opportunities.8
By the early twentieth century, additional versions of the Homestead Act were enacted to address various challenges and expand the opportunities for settlement.
The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 increased the amount of land available to settlers to 320 acres, recognizing the need for larger tracts of land to sustain agricultural operations in the more arid regions of the West. The Stock-Raising Homestead Act of 1916 further expanded opportunities by allowing settlers to claim 640 acres of land primarily for livestock grazing, acknowledging the different agricultural needs of the western territories.9 The Homestead Act remained in effect until 1976, with limited provisions in Alaska continuing until 1986 – superseding the period of significance for the Egan Homestead (ca. 1909-1928) and the establishment of South Laguna in 1934 by approximately fifty years. Although it was modified and expanded, the opportunities provided by the Homestead Act were not limited to the first fifty years after it was enacted. Over 270 million acres – roughly 10% of the area of the United States – were transferred to private citizens by 1986.10 Early homesteads in Orange County all reveal similar characteristics – a small cabin, a farmstead, an agricultural farm and/or apiary – on varying acreage of land. In some cases, wealthy settlers purchased multiple homestead claims and adjoined railroad property, to develop large ranches or estates, such as the Adkins Ranch or the 6 Francesca Smith, [letter dated September 18, 2025, Re.
Agenda Item 5.9, Design Review 24-0658, Coastal
Development Permit 24-0657,] City of Laguna Beach
Notice of Appeal for 31526 Valido Road, October 8, 2025. 7 31511 Eagle Rock Way is currently listed in the Laguna Beach Historic Register, but not for its association with homesteading, rather as an example of a 1930s-era bungalow. 8 “[California Homestead Map] Department of the Interior State of California,” Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique
Maps,
https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/104408/californi a-homestead-map-department-of-the-interior-st-usgeological-survey, accessed May 2025. 9 “[California Homestead Map] Department of the Interior State of California.”
10 “About the Homestead Act,” National Park Service,
https://www.nps.gov/home/learn/historyculture/abouthomes teadactlaw.htm, accessed March 2026.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 5 Modjeska estate. These more robust properties, although agricultural and/or rural in nature, are not considered historically homesteads granted through federal land patents under the Homestead Act of 1862 or one of its subsequent amendments.
The Egan Homestead, conversely, was a land grant under the Homestead Act and remained a working agricultural property into the late 1920s and remains the only intact residence associated with homesteading in Orange County. It unclear how GPA could make a claim that there are “many earlier and more robust examples of homesteading in southern Orange County,” when they did not perform any additional research.
c) Historic Context – HRG initially chose to evaluate the Egan Homestead within the context of Laguna Beach’s local history due to the property’s significance within the early history of the area. CRHR and the NRHP criteria at the local level of significance, evaluates buildings, sites, districts, structures, or objects based on their significance to a local community’s history, architecture, development patterns, or influential local persons, rather than national or state history.11 Because homesteading, including the Egan Homestead, was a catalyst for development in South Laguna, it was appropriate to evaluate its significance within the context of Laguna Beach’s history, but in response to GPA’s comments HRG has developed a broader context of “Homesteading in Orange County.”
The HALS documentation in 2016 was meant to emphasize the fact that the area’s dramatic landscape was the basis of the development of Laguna Beach. In the “Landscape Character” description, the HALS documentation states: “The enclaves formed by these hills are the basis for the city’s character. The slopes on the coastal side are composed of terrace material eroded over the years from the hillsides and include relatively deep soils that were farmed by early homesteaders. They were among the first to be developed, as they were easy to reach and build upon.”12 Moreover, examining the Egan Homestead within the broader context of “Homesteading in Orange County,” has further supported the rarity of the Egan Homestead residence, as the only extant homestead dwelling that retains historic integrity in the County.
d) Comparative Analysis – HRG conducted research into the history of homesteads in Orange County and concluded that the Egan Homestead is the only surviving homestead property with an intact homestead residence in the County. (See “Homesteading in Orange County” historic context below.) As mentioned above, the only other dwelling with a now distant association with homesteading in Orange County is James Shrewsbury’s home located on Eagle Rock Way.13 However, due to modern alterations and its relocation from the original homestead site, the Shrewsbury house does not 11 National Park Service, “National Register Bulletin 15:
How to Apply the National Register Criteria for
Evaluation,” 1990; revised 1991, 1995, 1997. Revised for Internet 1997, 9.
12 “Historic American Landscape Survey Laguna Beach
(HALS-CAL 123),” 19.
13 Smith, [letter dated September 18, 2025, Re. Agenda
Item 5.9, Design Review 24-0658, Coastal Development
Permit 24-0657].
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 6 retain sufficient integrity to be listed in the CRHR or NRHP. e) Integrity of Setting – In response to the issue of compromised integrity of setting, it is important to note that a historic property need not meet all seven aspects of integrity to be eligible for listing in the CRHR or the NRHP but should retain enough integrity to communicate its historic significance in relation to its physical environment. According to National Register Bulletin 15, “The evaluation of integrity is sometimes a subjective judgment, but it must always be grounded in an understanding of a property’s physical features and how they relate to its significance. …Ultimately, the question of integrity is answered by whether or not the property retains the identity for which it is significant.”14 In addition, the California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series #6 notes, “It is possible that historical resources may not retain sufficient integrity to meet the criteria for listing in the National Register, but they may still be eligible for listing in the California Register. A resource that has lost its historic character or appearance may still have sufficient integrity for the California Register if it maintains the potential to yield significant scientific or historical information or specific data.”15
Historian Pat H. Stein, in research for the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, provides guidance as it relates to the assessment of integrity of setting when evaluating homestead properties, as follows:
The essential thing to note in appraising location of setting for a homestead is the extent to which post-historic civilization has encroached on the rural character of the property. To take an extreme case: if the buildings and structures of what was once a 40-acre homestead are now tightly sandwiched amid “Strip” development, then the homestead has lost its integrity of setting. This is not to say that the homestead need retain all 40 acres in an undeveloped state in order for it to possess this type of integrity. However, enough of a visual buffer must exist around the old structures and buildings to still convey a sense of the historic surroundings.16
In the case of the Egan Homestead, although the immediate surrounding area has been developed as a residential neighborhood, the majority (more than 50%) of the Egan Homestead land has been retained as a wildlife conservation area in perpetuity, part of the Aliso and Woods Canyon Wilderness Area.
The HALS documentation affirms:
Ranch boundaries and the constraints posed by local hillsides and canyons 14 “National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the
National Register Criteria for Evaluation,” 44-45.
15 “California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series #6 California Register and National
Register: A Comparison,” Office of Historic Preservation, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Register (California Code of Regulations, Title 14, Chapter 11.5, Section 4850 et seq), http://ohp.parks.ca.gov, accessed March 2026.
16 Pat H. Stein, “Homesteading in Arizona, 1870-1942,”
Arizona State Historic Preservation Office, 1990, 22-23. 629
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 7 discouraged or precluded development and created the opportunity for the conservation of the large areas of preserved open space. What is now known as the Laguna Greenbelt encompasses some 22,000 acres within and outside of the city limits and includes city-owned open space parcels, Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, Crystal Cove State Park, and Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park. Approximately 400 acres of privately owned land remain in naturally vegetated open space on the edge of urban development, mostly adjacent to publicly owned open space lands.17 This wildlife conservation area has retained the same characteristics as the rugged terrain present during the arrival of the Egan family ca. 1910.
Left: 1938 aerial photograph of the Egan Homestead, UC Santa Barbara Library. Right: 2024 aerial photograph of the Egan Homestead, Google Earth.
While there are some concessions for homestead properties provided by the National Park Service and other regulatory bodies as noted above, HRG acknowledged the property had diminished integrity of setting; however, the property still retains enough integrity of materials, design, workmanship, location, feeling, and association and still retains its essential form and appearance from its period of significance (historic identity) and therefore its association with homesteading in Orange County.
The paragraphs below are clipped from pg. 8 under Item 5 of GPA’s Peer Review:
5. Lastly, we assess whether the consultant’s conclusions are well reasoned, factually supported, and internally consistent, and we provide recommendations for improvement in future submittals when applicable.
Based on our review of the two independent historic resource assessments prepared by qualified professionals, GPA does not find sufficient evidence to support that the property at 31526 Valido Road meets the eligibility criteria for listing in either the California 17 “Historic American Landscape Survey Laguna Beach
(HALS-CAL 123),” 20.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 8 Register of Historical Resources or the National Register of Historic Places. As such, the property does not meet the definition of a “historical resource” under CEQA, nor does it appear to qualify as a historic resource under the City of Laguna Beach’s current Historic Preservation Ordinance, which requires that properties be either formally listed, eligible for listing, or voluntarily nominated by the property owner.
While HRG identified a potential association with early homesteading, the broader historic context presented does not convincingly support eligibility under Criterion 1, particularly in light of the compromised integrity of setting and the lack of rarity or comparative analysis. That said, GPA acknowledges there may be some potential for local historical significance under a more narrowly defined sub-context of early rural residential development in South Laguna, particularly given that the Egan residence is documented as one of the first homes constructed in the area. However, under the City's current ordinance—which requires owner consent for local designation—the property cannot be formally recognized unless the owner voluntarily elects to pursue local listing. Should the owner wish to do so in the future, the potential eligibility of the property under local criteria may warrant further exploration within this refined context.
HRG response:
Refer to response (d) and (e), above, for comments on comparative analysis and integrity of setting, respectively. See “Homesteading in Orange County” historic context below.
HOMESTEADING IN ORANGE COUNTY
Homesteads in California18
The Homestead Act in 1862 is perhaps the most sweeping piece of federal legislation passed in the nineteenth century in an effort by the federal government to encourage settlement through agricultural development west of the Mississippi River. It operated on the theory that “both Labor and rewards were distributed evenly through the population; permanent, responsible settlement resulted; families anchored people in space and through time; farm products provided an essential self-sufficiency; and an unlimited cycle of planting and harvesting ran no risk of depletion.”19 In actual practice, much work, investment, and luck proved necessary before even the relatively cheap federal or state lands yielded their first proceeds. Until that time, many homesteaders had to take out loans and live frugally in the hope that this American dream would eventually pay off.
Other legislation that enabled settlement of California’s federal and state agricultural lands included the Preemption Act of 1841; the Swampland Act of 1850; the Timber Culture Act of 1873; the Desert Land Act of 1877; the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909; the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916.
18 The context for California homesteads is adapted from the California Department of Transportation, “A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for
Agricultural Properties in California,” 2007, 42-45.
19 Limerick, Legacy of Conquest, 124. As cited in “A
Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for Agricultural Properties in California,” 43.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 9 Historians, William W. Robinson and Stan Stein examine the effects of federal homesteading laws and their influence on the broad patterns of rural agrarian life in the West.20 The data in Table 1 shows the number of total homestead claims granted in California. The proportion of claims and claimed acreage to all California agricultural properties differs markedly from other western and midwestern states. By 1900, homestead entries stabilized at just under half of all farm and ranch properties. The low proportion of entries reflects substantial consolidations of agricultural land because of prior Mexican and Spanish land grants, fraudulent federal and state land claims, and sections of land deeded to railroads as enticements to develop transportation systems to serve the state.
The acreage claimed by homesteaders continued to rise until it made up about a third of all agricultural land by 1940. That ratio is deceptive, however, because residual federal lands poorly suited for agriculture characterized most twentieth century claims. In addition, abandoned and rejected claims rose greatly after the turn of the twentieth century. For example, many Desert Land Entries were never “proven up” due to inadequate water and harsh conditions.
Table 1:Federal Land Records, California by County. California Department of Transportation, “A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for Agricultural Properties in California,” 2007. 20 William W. Robinson, Land in California, (Berkeley, CA:
University of California Press, 1979); Pat H. Stein,
Homesteading in Arizona, 1862 to 1940: A Guide to
Studying, Evaluating, and Preserving Historic Homesteads, (State Historic Preservation Office, Arizona State Parks, 1990). As cited in “A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for Agricultural Properties in California,”
42. 632
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 10 Professor Marshall Bowen recognized at least four distinct motivations for establishing homesteads in Nevada, which seem to mirror homesteads in California.21 Claimants included those wishing to establish farms, settlers who wanted to enlarge their existing holdings, those who simply wanted a country estate, and land speculators. These differences clearly influenced land use, residency, and the types of development strategies employed. Fabricated claims, however, were most likely among speculators and claimants adding acreage to an existing holding, not those with a bona fide interest in establishing a homestead.
Ultimately, the hard realities of the arid West, shortages of labor, costs of transporting crops to market, and depressed wholesale prices forced many aspiring western farmers to abandon their homesteads. Lands available for homesteading also became increasingly marginal over time, requiring ever-larger tracts to achieve success. As Gilbert Fite observes, “for most farm operations the needed efficiency required larger units”.22 In California, large ranchos from the Mexican and Spanish eras and enormous holdings controlled by railroad barons led to a pattern of large-scale factory type farming that came to dominate the regional marketplace, displacing small farms.
Homesteads in Orange County
In Orange County, availability of federal land was extremely limited due the large, private Mexican landholdings in Southern California. Following Mexico’s independence from Spain in 1821, the Californios became the region’s ruling class, many of whom were first generation descendants of the Portola expedition.23 Pio Pico, the last Mexican Governor of California, ordered all the Missions secularized in 1834, and soon began awarding generous land grants to prominent businessmen, officials, and military leaders.24 After the Mexican American War ended in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, California officially became the thirty-first state in the Union on September 9, 1850. Facing growing political pressure to make lands in the West available for settlement by Americans, in 1851, the United States Congress passed the California Land Act – officially known as “An Act to Ascertain and Settle Private Land Claims in the State of California.” The statute established a three-member board known as the Public Land Commission, which was charged with determining the validity – or lack thereof – of land grants previously assigned by both the Mexican and Spanish authorities under earlier periods of rule. All holders of Spanish or Mexican land grants were required to present their titles for verification by the Public Land Commission.
Landowners were given two years to present sufficient evidence to support their claim to their land; if they could not do so, the property would automatically pass into the public domain and could then be dispensed by the United States government.25 The map in Figure 1 shows the distribution of California ranchos in Orange County in 1889. The limited portions of federal land open to homesteading was restricted to the Santa Ana 21 M. Bowen, “The Desert Homestead as a Non-Farm
Residence.” Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 31, no. 3 (1988): 198-211. As cited in “A Historical Context and
Archaeological Research Design for Agricultural Properties in California,” 44.
22 Fite, The Farmer’s Frontier, 238. As cited in “A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for
Agricultural Properties in California,” 45.
23 “Camp Pendleton Base History.” Camp Pendleton
website, www.cpp.usmc.mil. As cited in Historic Resources Group, “Historic Resources Survey Update, San
Clemente,” City of San Clemente, 2006, 21.
24 “Historic Resources Survey Update, San Clemente,” 21. 25 Historic Resources Group, “City of Pasadena’s Historic Context Statement,” City of Pasadena, 2025, 59.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 11 mountain range, the southern San Joaquin foothills, the area of Laguna Hills, and San Juan Capistrano.
Figure 1: Map of Orange County, 1889. Orange County Archives.
The largest landowner in the late nineteenth century in Orange County was James Irvine. Irvine immigrated from Belfast in 1845 and arrived in California during the Gold Rush. Although he mined for gold, Irvine found more success as a merchant selling produce and invested those profits into San Francisco real estate.26 During the drought of 1864, many Mexican landholdings in what was then southern Los Angeles County, were put up for sale due to financial loss in agriculture and cattle.27 It was during this time that Irvine, in partnership with businessmen 26 “Josh Sides, Backcountry Ghosts: California Homesteads and the Making of a Dubious Dream (University of
Nebraska Press, 2021), e-book, 206.
27 Clara Mason Fox, A History of El Toro (El Toro Women’s Club, 1940), 27.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 12 Llewellyn Bixby and Benjamin and Thomas Flint, acquired 110,000 acres of former ranchos, including the 47,000-acre Rancho Lomas de Santiago, 13,000 acres of the former Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, and the 50,000-acre Rancho San Joaquin.28 The total acreage of their holdings amounted to approximately one-third of the entire county.
Between the Mexican land grants, private landlords like James Irvine, and the Southern Pacific railroad holdings, most Orange County homesteaders, approximately 70 successful in total,29 were forced primarily into the steep and rugged lands of the Santa Ana Mountains30 and the southern San Joaquin foothills, now Laguna Beach.31 The area of San Juan Capistrano was open to homesteading but limited in scope due to the establishment of the town of San Juan Capistrano following secularization of the Missions.32 Because the Southern Pacific railroad (SPRR) owned alternating sections of land given to them by the government as a subsidy to help build new railroad lines in California, settlers were left with two choices, to buy land from the railroad or to homestead federal land.33
Homesteads in the Santa Ana Mountains
The first settlers began arriving in the Santa Ana Mountains in the 1860s. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and local history records indicate early homesteads were established in Silverado Canyon (originally known as Madera Canyon), Santiago Canyon, Trabuco Canyon, Hall Canyon, San Juan Canyon, among other branches in the Santa Ana mountain range. Given the rugged terrain of the canyons, the main source of agriculture was limited to apiaries and some livestock.
In accordance with Homestead Act, early homesteaders in the Santa Ana Mountains turned to beekeeping as an agricultural form of “proving up” their homestead. Beekeeping (apiary) was one of the most important industries in the Santa Ana Mountains in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The bees fed on (and pollinated) every flowering plant that grew in the hills, predominately in the spring and early summer, though there was always pollen available year-round. Honey was harvested while bees were out foraging. The honey was stored in drums, some holding as much as 1,500 pounds. Two men could fill one drum in a day during the height of the harvest, with 180 pounds a year per hive being considered a good yield. The honey crop for Southern California was estimated at three million pounds in the early 1880s.
The returns were low (only 4-5¢ a pound), but it was a dependable cash crop for many canyon homesteaders.34 Few cattle and goats were tended in the area.35 Samuel Shrewsbury (1838-1901), oldest brother of James M. Shrewsbury, arrived in Silverado Canyon ca. 1860 and laid claim to 134 acres, receiving his land patent in 1878.36 Prior to this claim, Shrewsbury had filed a claim on Saddleback ridge between Modjeska and Santiago peaks. 28 Backcountry Ghosts, 206.
29 Backcountry Ghosts, 212.
30 The Santa Ana Mountain range spans approximately 60
miles along the northeast border of Orange County and
Riverside County.
31 A History of El Toro, 29.
32 “The Town of San Juan Capistrano,” OC Historyland,
https://www.ochistoryland.com, accessed March 2026.
33 “Trabuco Oaks – A Canyon Community,” OC
Historyland, https://www.ochistoryland.com, accessed
March 2026.
34 “Trabuco Oaks – A Canyon Community.”
35 A History of El Toro, 30.
36 Samuel Shrewsbury (Orange, CA), homestead patent no. 531, “Land Patent Search,” General Land Office Records, accessed March 2026,
https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?acc ession=CA0500__.438&docClass=STA&sid=ikbsm1px.ipi#p
atentDetailsTabIndex=0.
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Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 13 There he established a homestead near his friend, J. Edward Pleasants. Shrewsbury established his homestead on the south slope where the canyon widened in the fertile valley. Here he set up a lime kiln to produce and sell quicklime in Los Angeles, as well as an apiary, supported by wildflowers and a natural spring. He built a two-bedroom dwelling and planted a fruit and nut tree orchard and a large grape arbor. The arbor became an attraction of the Shrewsbury homestead, welcoming many guests including Madame Modjeska.37 The Pleasants relocated to Silverado Canyon and acquired a 160-acre homestead south of the Shrewsbury property.38 A few years later, Count Karol Bozenta Chlapowski and Madame Helena Modjeska, Russian actress and socialite, bought the Shrewsbury homestead, the Pleasants’ ranch, a part of the Serrano acreage, and some adjoining railroad land. The couple improved the 1,300-acre estate, named Arden, with several buildings, including the single-story Modjeska House, a Queen Anne style cottage designed by architect Stanford White. The cottage incorporated the original cabin home built by the Pleasants in the 1890s.39 The estate was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1990, significant for its association with Madame Helena Modjeska. The current 14-acre estate is now an Orange County Historical Site. Neither the Shrewsbury nor the Pleasants homesteads are extant.
Typical bee ranch in the Santa Ana Mountains, Modjeska House, ca. 1980. (Orange County Archives) ca. 1914. (Orange County Public Library)
The Mason family arrived in Silverado Canyon in 1887 from Illinois and laid claim to 120 acres below the Shrewsbury property.40 The Mason family ultimately discovered a sulfur spring on their homestead, leading them to improve the property and convert it into a resort with healing waters called Mason’s Chateau.41 The Mason homestead is no longer extant.
The Masons youngest daughter, Clara Mason Fox (1873-1959) acquired a claim below her family’s property and lived on it for a year before turning it over to her brother Charles S. Mason when she relocated to New York to attend Cooper Union College in 1896.42 Clara was an 37 McClelland, “Silverado Canyon Sketches,” 39.
38 J. Edward Pleasants (Orange, CA), homestead patent no. 446, “Land Patent Search,” General Land Office Records, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed March 2026.
39 James H. Charleton, “National Register Nomination:
Forest of Arden” National Park Service, 1990, 3.
40 Nancy L. Mason (Orange County, CA), homestead
patent no. 2767, “Land Patent Search,” General Land
Office Records, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed
March 2026.
41 McClelland, “Silverado Canyon Sketches,” 55.
42 McClelland, “Silverado Canyon Sketches,” 53.
636
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 14 educated woman and became Silverado’s first schoolteacher and an early Laguna Beach artist.43 After a year, she returned to Silverado to continue teaching. In 1906, she married George Kirby Fox (1874-1951). The couple settled in Laguna Beach about 1920, where she designed a Craftsman bungalow as their family home. Later, they relocated to El Toro and built a two-story farmhouse.44 In 1937, Clara was commissioned by the El Toro Women’s Club to write A History of El Toro, published in 1940. As an educator, poet, historian, and artist, Clara is best known for her delicate and detailed botanical watercolors of the flora of Silverado Canyon and the surrounding area, located at the California Botanical Gardens.45 In her history of El Toro, Clara Mason Fox notes other early homesteaders in branches of the San Juan Canyon, including Samuel T. Miller and Josiah C. Joplin in Belle Canyon.46 Miller homesteaded 138 acres in Belle Canyon in 1873. He built a cabin and resided there for twentyone years until receiving a land grant in 1894.47 Miller created a successful business as an apiarist on his homestead, ultimately relocating to Santa Ana.48 Both the Miller and Joplin homesteads are no longer extant.
The Adkinson family lead by patriarch Jesse Adkinson relocated to Trabuco Canyon in 1883, after a failed attempt to homestead land between ranchos Santiago de Santa Ana and Las Bolsas in what is now Fountain Valley.49 Adkinson settled in the Trabuco Oaks area where he lived until his death in 1926. His sons, Jesse Jr. and W.E. (Ed) Adkinson, acquired homestead claims from early pioneer N.T. (Tule) Wood, and developed a ranch in the canyon.50 The Adkinsons were prominent canyon residents for decades. The Adkinson ranch farmhouse is no longer extant.
W.E. Adkinson farmhouse, Trubaco Canyon, 1946. Not extant. (Orange County Archives)
43 “May 2013 Meeting – Program: Clara Mason Fox, O.C.
Pioneer – Speaker: Lorraine Passero,” Orange County
Historical Society, https://www.orangecountyhistory.org/, accessed March 2026.
44 Fullerton Heritage, [One of the first pioneering female artists of Orange County], Facebook, April 29, 2025,
https://www.facebook.com/FullertonHeritageOC/.
45 [One of the first pioneering female artists of Orange County].
46 A History of El Toro, 30.
47 Samuel T. Miller (Orange County, CA), homestead
patent no. 2091, “Land Patent Search,” General Land
Office Records, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed
March 2026.
48 Samuel Armor, History of Orange County with
Biographical Sketches (Historic Record Company, 1921),
773.
49 “Trabuco Oaks – A Canyon Community.”
50 A History of El Toro, 31.
637
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 15 Other settlers in Trabuco Canyon included Jim Brown and Lew English, who acquired claims later purchased by Walter K. Robinson in 1883, which he developed into a 1,260-acre ranch called Mountain View Ranch.51 Robinson was born in Santa Clara in 1853. He married Margaret Waite of Los Angeles in 1883. For many years, Robinson held the office of Deputy Fish and Game Commissioner of California, with headquarters in Trabuco Canyon. Robinson planted 30 acres of vineyards and an orchard, 300 acres of barley, and he pastured the rest of the land, raising racehorses as well as Berkshire hogs and Jersey cattle. Water was hauled from Medlin Spring on the upper part of the ranch.52 The Robinson house was originally built as a singleroom cabin in 1883 by original homesteader Jim Brown. Over the years, the house underwent several additions.53 Robinson died in 1920; he was honored as one who remained through days of adversity and who never desired to live elsewhere.54 The Robinson ranch house was demolished in 1988.
Philander W. Straw and his family settled in Live Oak Canyon around 1878 on a 158-acre homestead.55 Straw (1831-1899), a Civil War veteran, came seeking a drier, healthier climate.
Like several early canyon residents, Straw was primarily an apiarist. He built a two-story home and several outbuildings on his homestead, which are no longer extant. P.W. Straw’s son Gus (1877-1959) took over the ranch after his father’s death and added to it, buying an adjoining 80- acres to the northwest. Gus Straw ran cattle, raised pigs, and kept bees. Much of the 158-acre Straw homestead is now a part of O’Neill Regional Park in eastern Orange County.56
Walter K. Robinson ranch house, 1988. Not extant. The Straw homestead, ca. 1900s. Not extant. (Doug McIntosh via OC History Roundup) (Orange County Archives) In 1902 Gus Straw married Trabuco schoolteacher Pearl Gray. They built a new house just south of his parents’ place. He continued to run cattle on the ranch until 1941 when he and his brother Herbert sold most of the property (300 acres). Gus Straw held on to the house and a little land around it but resided predominately in Laguna Beach. After his wife died in 1952, Straw sold his last eleven acres to Andrew Hoffman. Thus, Straw’s old home site is today marked on maps as the “Hoffman Homestead” in the O’Neill Regional Park.57 Hoffman enlarged 51 A History of El Toro, 31.
52 A History of El Toro, 31.
53 “Robinson Ranch.” Note: The Robinson Home's cobble
fireplace and a few other architectural features were
salvaged from demolition and incorporated into the homeowners association community center/swimming pool area.
54 The Santa Ana Register, Nov. 12, 1920, as cited in
“Robinson Ranch.”
55 Philander W. Straw (Orange County, CA), homestead
patent no. 2083, “Land Patent Search,” General Land
Office Records, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed
March 2026.
56 “Historic Spots in O’Neill Park,” OC Historyland,
https://www.ochistoryland.com/, accessed March 2026.
57 “Historic Spots in O’Neill Park.”
638
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 16 and lived in the house for over twenty years until declining health forced him to move out. The park acquired the property in 1974, and the house was later demolished.58 Only the remains of one of Gus Straw’s cattle pens can still be seen at the northern end of the park.
The Gus Straw home site ca. 1974, showing the additions (left) built by Andrew Hoffman. Not extant. (Doug McIntosh via OC Historyland) Beginning in 1890, the whole Santa Ana Mountain range was surveyed by the government for the establishment of the Cleveland National Forest in 1893, and only those with legal claims could remain within the boundaries of the forest.59 The railroads seized all the alternate sections they could as “lieu-lands” from the Black Star Canyon up to the Hughes (Holtz) boundary.
Figure 2: Trabuco Ranger District – Cleveland National Forest.
Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture. 58 “Historic Spots in O’Neill Park.”
59 For more information on the development of the
Cleveland National Forest, refer to “Discover History,” Forest Service US Department of Agriculture,
https://www.fs.usda.gov/, accessed March 2026.
639
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 17 Carla Mason Fox notes in her history of El Toro that by 1900, the Santa Ana mountain range settlement was well established, with most settlers raising bees, some stock, fruit trees, and vineyards.60 However, due to development limitations put in place by the Cleaveland National Forest, these early settlements did not ultimately thrive and were later sold or abandoned.
Others were sold as public land and incorporated into the Orange County Regional Park system, including O’Neill Regional Park, Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, the Limestone Canyon Nature Preserve, among other designated wildlife preserves in the area. As a result, HRG did not find any homestead properties with original surviving residences in the Santa Ana mountain range.
Homesteads in Laguna Beach
Out by the coast, the land in the southern San Joaquin foothills was open to homesteading.
According to Merle and Mabel Ramsey in The First 100 Years in Laguna Beach (1876-1976), when California Governor Juan B. Alvarado granted Rancho San Joaquin (now Irvine Ranch), to Jose Sepulveda and Rancho Niguel to Juan Avila in 1842, the land between the two grants west to the ocean was not included. Ramsey’s research revealed that the land was inhabited by the Acunna family and Ysidoro Olivaries with his two sons. There is no date as to their arrival. The Acunnas later migrated to EI Toro. Olivaries worked for seventy years on the Rawson Ranch (later the Moulton Ranch) and broke horses until he was 90. During this time, he built a home and homesteaded fifty acres (not surveyed) between the Irvine and the Moulton ranches. Born in San Diego in 1826, Ysidoro Olivaries died in 1933 at the age of 107 in the Orange County Hospital. He left his land to the Daguerre family, which later became Leisure World-Laguna Hills.61 No structures are extant from the Olivaries homestead.
The “no grant” public lands that would become Laguna Beach were surveyed beginning in 1855, and in 1875 one surveyor noted the triangle of land between the ranchos had very little value because of its rocky terrain and salty springs. Beginning in 1875, several families from the midwest laid claims to those federal lands in Laguna Beach. The Goffs, Rogers, Thurstons, Nathan and William Brooks, and the Egan and Shrewsbury families, among other individuals. There were forty-two homestead claims between 1875 and 1916.62 In accordance with the Timber Culture Act of 1873, many of Laguna’s first families planted groves of eucalyptus trees on their homesteads to meet the homesteading criteria of the Act and “prove-up” their claim. The trees grew quickly and thrived in Laguna’s climate and soon became the preferred tree homesteaders used as wind breaks. Before long, most of the settlement was dotted with Australian eucalyptus trees.63
In 1878, John Damron claimed a 155½ acre homestead in Laguna Canyon, through what is now downtown Laguna Beach and down to Main Beach.64 In 1879, he sold the land to brothers Cyrus and Hiram Rawson before ever making any improvements. Two years later, the Rawsons sold the claim to George Rogers and his father, Henry Rogers, for $1,000.65 In 1878, Henry Rogers claimed an additional 160 acres which stretched from Temple Hills to Bluebird Canyon. To 60 A History of El Toro, 31.
61 Gene Felder, “How the Settlers Homesteaded in
Laguna,” The Los Angeles Times, January 23, 2004; Merle and Mabel Ramsey, The First 100 Years in Laguna Beach
1876-1976 (Laguna Beach Historical Society, 1976), 4-5. 62 Beryl Wilson Viebeck, Laguna Beach Homesteaders
1875-1916, Map, Laguna Beach Historical Society.
63 “Laguna’s Hidden History: The Trees of Forest Avenue,” Visit Laguna Beach, https://www.visitlagunabeach.com/,
accessed October 2025.
64 “Homesteaders Henry and George Rogers,” Laguna Life
(The Laguna Beach Historical Society Newsletter), April 2014, accessed October 2025.
65 “Laguna’s Hidden History: The Trees of Forest Avenue.” 640
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 18 prove-up the homestead and increase their holdings, Henry and George planted Australian Eucalyptus trees throughout their land.66
George Rogers and his family settled in downtown Laguna, building a ranch house (not extant) and planting a large pepper tree where Laguna City Hall now stands on Forest Avenue. In 1887, George began subdividing the downtown area into small lots, as part of the city’s first subdivision, named Roger’s Addition.67 He also named several streets in downtown Laguna such as Forest Avenue and Ocean Avenue. Because of failing health, George Rogers sold much of his land to his niece, Ora H. Wayman (Warling) in 1896 before returning to Kirksville, Missouri.68
George Rogers ranch house, ca. 1926. Not extant. (First Main Beach featuring Nate Brooks house on the left, date American Title Co., Orange County Historical Photo Archive) unknown. Not extant. (Laguna Beach Historical Society) A large portion of Arch Beach was homesteaded by brothers William and Nathaniel “Nate” Brooks, who arrived at Woods Cove in 1876. William’s wife, Annie H. Brooks, named the area Arch Beach after a natural rock formation near the end of Pearl Steet.69 Nate Brooks brought water to Arch Beach down from Bluebird Canyon through a 500 foot tunnel and developed a dirt wagon road to the village of Laguna Beach, which was platted in 1883 by Henry E. Goff.70 Nate received two land grants in Arch Beach – one in 1897 for 157 acres71 in the vicinity of Woods Cove and another in 1894 for 163 acres72 in lower Bluebird Canyon. William received a land grant for 169 acres in 1889 in the area of Arch Beach Heights.73 This large central area of Laguna Beach was subdivided and developed beginning in the early 1920s.
The Goff family arrived in Laguna Beach in 1878. There were four brothers who acquired homestead claims between downtown Laguna Beach to Aliso Canyon – Frank, Henry, Lee, and Hubbard Goff.74 Henry Goff’s 51.4 acre homestead south of what is now Park Avenue, was 66 “Laguna’s Hidden History: The Trees of Forest Avenue.” 67 “Homesteaders Henry and George Rogers,” Laguna Life
(The Laguna Beach Historical Society Newsletter).
68 “Old Rancho New Clubhouse,” Long Beach PressTelegram, April 17, 1927 69 Chris Jepsen, “Arch Beach Won’t Stay Put,” O.C History Roundup, published September 1, 2021,
https://ochistorical.blogspot.com/, accessed March 2026. 70 “History of Laguna Beach,” Orange County Historical
Society, https://www.orangecountyhistory.org/, accessed January 2026.
71 Certificate no. 624 for Lorenzo N. Brooks, March 13, 1897, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed
February 2026.
72 Timber-Culture Certificate No. 51 for Lorenzo N.
Brooks, April 27, 1894, US Department of the Interior,
Bureau of Land Management, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed February 2026.
73 Certificate no. 2190 for William H. Brooks, January 12, 1889, US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land
Management, https://glorecords.blm.gov/, accessed
February 2026.
74 “History of Laguna Beach,” Orange County Historical
Society, https://www.orangecountyhistory.org/, accessed January 2026.
641
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 19 recorded in 1880. When the area was subdivided in 1883, Laguna Avenue was named, designating the route to the large site Goff had reserved for what became the Hotel Laguna.75 The tract, along with Roger’s homestead to the west, now comprise downtown Laguna Beach.
In 1871, Eugene Salter was the first American settler in South Laguna. He claimed 152 acres of Aliso Canyon. After he left, George and Sarah Thurston claimed his land with a one-room cabin in 1879.76 The claim included steep hillsides, a meandering creek bed, and land near the shore, not traditionally suitable for farming. The Thurstons managed to grow crops and established a farm, raising chickens and cows (for eggs and butter), and an apiary. They also grew grapes, walnuts, and watermelons.77 George Thurston ultimately left the family, and his son, Joe Thurston, stepped in to support his mother, Sarah. Joe Thurston left the homestead in 1921, after purchasing it from Sarah Thurston who relocated to Santa Ana, where she died in 1928.78 Joe Thurston also purchased the George Rogers homestead, developing the Temple Hills tract in 1926,79 and became deeply involved in the development of Laguna Beach. The Thurston homestead in Aliso Canyon is no longer extant.
Thurston homestead in Aliso Canyon, ca. 1920. Not extant. (Laguna Beach Historical Society)
Other early homesteaders in South Laguna include Leon W. Goff, Sr. in 1884, Layette Thurston and George Thurston, Jr. in 1891, and William F. Egan and James M. Shrewsbury in 1910 and 1911.80 These homesteaders claimed land from Aliso Canyon south to Three Arch Bay. In central South Laguna, Blanche L. Dolph and Priestly Hall acquired Leon W. Goff’s 153-acre claim of coastal land for $700 in 1903.81 Just north of Blanche Dolph’s property, William Egan and his uncle, James Shrewsbury, took up separate claims totaling 200 acres of land extending from approximately West Street to Tenth Avenue.82 Egan built two of the first three residences in South Laguna, the Egan home at 31526 Valido Road ca. 1910, and the Shrewsbury home at the 75 City of Laguna Beach, “Laguna Beach Landscape and
Scenic Highways Resource Document,” Adopted
November 13, 2018, 66.
76 Turnbull, “A Short History of Laguna Beach.”
77 “Joseph Thuston's Laguna Beach of Early Days,” OC
Historyland, accessed March 2026.
78 “Joseph Thuston's Laguna Beach of Early Days.”
79 Tract No. 503, Temple Hills Map, Orange County
Assessor, 1926, Orange County Public Works, accessed
March 2026.
80 Beryl Wilson Viebeck, Homestead Map Overlays
Modern Streets, Laguna Beach Historical Society.
81 “Soars Does Land On Beach,” The Los Angeles Times,
August 8, 1906; J.S. Thurston, “Laguna Beach: Early Days,” (The History Press: Charleston), 1947.
82 US Department Bureau of Land Management, Patent
#027766 for 40 acres granted to William F. Egan, Issue
Date 1/17/1910; US Department Bureau of Land
Management, Patent #170682 for 160 acres granted to
James M. Shrewsbury, Issue Date 1/16/1911.
642
Historic Resources Group 31526 Valido Road, Laguna Beach | Peer Review Response 20 north end of Third Avenue.83 Together, Egan and Shrewsbury farmed the land, and grew melons, string beans, lima beans, and squash to sell at markets in Los Angeles and San Francisco.84 Egan and Shrewsbury succeeded in making their homesteads profitable and secured their claims. The Egan residence survives on Valido Road, while the Shrewsbury residence was moved in the 1930s (to Eagle Rock Way) and significantly altered.85
Egan homestead, ca.1910. (Nancy Burnham and Deborrah Shrewsbury homstead, ca. 1915. (First American Title Co.
Allen in memory of Howard Russel Hind and Esther Egan Orange County Historical Photo Archive) Hind; the South Laguna Civic Association)
The early homesteads in Laguna Beach, unlike the homesteads in the Santa Ana Mountains, were ultimately developed and subdivided into commercial and residential neighborhoods between the areas of downtown Laguna Beach through Arch Beach to South Laguna (previously Three Arches). The City of Laguna Beach was incorporated in 1927, and Three Arches was renamed South Laguna in 1934, which was later annexed in 1987. The City of Laguna Beach underwent several periods of development, first in the 1880s, then in the 1920s, followed by the postwar period, and then in the 1980s. Over time, the early homestead dwellings were overtaken by development, demolished, or relocated and significantly modified, like the Shrewsbury home. The Eagan Homestead residence was eventually integrated into the surrounding neighborhood; however, it was never demolished or significantly altered and remarkably retains its appearance from its period of significance (historic identity). It is the last remaining homestead dwelling in its original location and is representative of early twentieth century homesteads, not only in Laguna Beach but also in Orange County. 83 Karen Wilson Turnbull, “Three Arch Bay: An Illustrated History,” (Friss-Pioneer Press: Santa Ana), 1977, 35.
84 “50 Cents Pound Received For Early Beans,” The Santa Ana Register, April 10, 1920.
85 Francesca Smith, [letter dated September 18, 2025, Re.
Agenda Item 5.9, Design Review 24-0658, Coastal
Development Permit 24-0657,] City of Laguna Beach
Notice of Appeal for 31526 Valido Road, October 8, 2025. 643