A Local's Guide to
Laguna Beach

by Skip Hellewell

Laguna Beach, the jewel of the California Riviera, is a unique town formed from a fascinating history. It was first a gathering place for homesteaders of an obscure faith in the 1870s, then the preeminent art colony of the West Coast for early California Impressionists, a busy site for movies with “sound” in the ‘30s and home to stars before Malibu, a force in the rise of surfing culture with surfer-businessmen like Hobie Alter and Charles “Tex” Haines, and finally home to the conservationists who created the Laguna Greenbelt, the nation’s most important urban wilderness.

Finally there’s a book, written for residents as well as visitors, that examines the roots of Laguna’s uniqueness. Chapters remember past Laguna characters, the original homesteading families, early artists, the architects behind our picturesque buildings, and the founding of the first churches. There are resources for “things to do,” tips for dining like a local, walks through the downtown area and Heisler Park, and driving tours to picturesque cottages that go back to the 1880s.