About the time that its neighboring city to the north, Dana Point, was being developed, Ole Hanson, a former Seattle Oregon Mayor designed a community that he named San Clemente after the island that lies off shore.  So, around 1925, the first San Clemente real estate market, known today as Ole Hanson Originals, were Spanish style stucco buildings with red tile roofs.  As there were few if any jobs in the area as whole, most of the people who bought these homes were either retirees or people buying vacation homes.
San Clemente continued on as a quiet beach front area until President Richard Nixon purchased  a Spanish mansion in the southern part of town known as Cotton’s Point.  This became the “Western White House” and San Clemente real estate was definitely now on the map. From the 1970s on, the town has grown but in a rather small town way. 

The 5 Freeway cuts right through San Clemente splitting the residential areas into the Ocean Side and the Hill Side of the freeway.  Many of San Clemente’s hillside homes have fantastic views of the Pacific Ocean, Seal Rock and Catalina Island.  Some even have views of Dana Point Harbor.  San Clemente also has many ocean front homes in a variety of small communities. More recently, what is known as the back country has experienced rapid growth and the building of modern, new homes.

San Clemente real estate market will continue to expand in the back country that borders Camp Pendleton and there are many opportunities to buy small, older homes and either expand or rebuild.  Many of the older vacation cottages that sat on prime land have already been re-developed making beautiful, luxury homes available on prime Pacific Ocean Coastal land.