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Four new Crystal Cove cottages will open to public, just in time for Christmas

December 18, 2024

Staying at one of the coveted Crystal Cove cottages is like taking a travel trip back in time – and it could make for the perfect Christmas gift, if you’re lucky enough to nab a spot.

Getting a reservation at the seaside getaway isn’t easy – but with four more newly-restored cottages up for grabs starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, the chances to stay in the unique beachfront retreat just got better. The first visitors will be able to stay starting Dec. 23.

“They will go fast,” Crystal Cove Conservancy president and CEO Kate Wheeler said. “We’ve been working hard to try and get them released for the holiday.”

Reservations for a fifth unit, Land’s End, will also start on Thursday, but that cottage won’t be available for visitors until Dec. 30, she noted.

Reservations will initially be released in a four-week format.

A stay at one of the quaint beachfront homes isn’t about luxury, but about a unique experience that harkens back to a simpler time.

The four cottages are part of the $55 million North Beach restoration that is years in the making. Eight of the restored cottages were opened to the public in 2023, and another five more, including a duplex making a total of six units, are expected to be released in about a year, Wheeler said.

A man walks by one of four newly-restored units at the Crystal Cove cottages in Newport Beach, CA on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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A man walks by one of four newly-restored units at the Crystal Cove cottages in Newport Beach, CA on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Crystal Cove’s historic cottages are among the most in-demand overnight stays in the State Parks system, a place tucked in coves and cliffs, wedged between Laguna Beach and Newport Beach.

“It’s probably one of the most desirable, popular elements of California State Parks. There’s been a massive investment into these cottages and it has taken over 20 years,” State Parks Superintendent Kevin Pearsall said.

Painstaking detail has gone into ensuring the cottages represent when they were built between the 1930s and 1950s, a bygone era when “coveites” enjoyed a laid-back lifestyle in the cobbled-together collection of homes, many built from wood that washed ashore.

At one point in the late 1990s, a luxury hotel was planned to replace the beachfront homes, but opponents squashed the development proposal, making way for the stretch to become a state park.

In 2006, after decades as a private community, Crystal Cove became a place for vacationers to have a unique getaway on the sand. The 29 south-end cottages in the 2.3-acre Crystal Cove Historic District were previously restored and joined the State Parks’ inventory of overnight offerings.

Planning for the restoration of the North Beach cottages spanned a decade, with an extensive back-and-forth in the California Coastal Commission permitting phase that ended with the granting of approvals in 2017.

Details such as ensuring the boardwalk was built up on stilts, rather than having a seawall that could exacerbate erosion, were added into the plan to get the final approval.

“It’s just exciting when a few more can go online for the public to enjoy and experience,” Pearsall said. “Adding four more to one of the highest-demand reservation opportunities in our department is always a benefit – to everybody.”

Funds for the project came from many sources – donor pledges, institutions, low-interest loans, grants and earned revenue from the existing cottages.

Among the 17 cottages on the northern end will be a hostel-style accommodation with 11 beds that will also serve as an overnight educational opportunity for coastal engineering programs.

“It’s hard to describe, frankly,” Wheeler said. “Really, coming in on the close of this project feels like a bit of a miracle. When we started this project in the years leading up, we didn’t have the funding and didn’t know where the funding was going to come from.”

But just like the cottages – built with a hodgepodge of what was available to create something incredible – it has all came together to make “Crystal Cove magic,” she said.

While reservations have a reputation for being impossible, people who dedicate themselves to learning the system, and with a little bit of luck and persistence, can score a spot, Wheeler said.

“We find that if people go after it with a little bit of tenacity, the way we’ve done with the project and the way people have done with saving the cottages, people can do it,” she said.

Here’s a bit about the new cottages coming online:

• Carpenter’s Castle, #11A, has an ocean view and features four bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, and sleeps up to eight people.

• Crow’s Nest, #11B, is perched high above the shoreline and offers a cozy studio with one bathroom with “sweeping ocean views and endless sunshine.” It sleeps two people.

• Grunion Run, #25, has ocean views from the patio and living room, just above the sand. It has two bedrooms, one bathroom and sleeps six people.

• Board and Batten, #28, has an ocean view patio, and is a cozy retreat with two bedrooms and one bathroom; it sleeps up to six people.

Go to reservecalifornia.com to reserve a cottage.

Four new Crystal Cove cottages will open to public, just in time for Christmas Orange County Register

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Four new Crystal Cove cottages will open to public, just in time for Christmas

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