1. Page 60 www.sdbj.com SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL September 28, 2015
These La Jolla Gems Sparkle on Their Perches Near the Pacific
There are scores
of charming neigh-
borhoods in San
Diego County, but
the Barber Tract in
La Jolla is one of
the most beguiling.
Reminiscent of
Carmel in North-
ern California, the
streets of the com-
munity are lined with
vine-covered cottages, grand estates
and a treasure trove of architecturally
significant, historic homes.
And the weather in La Jolla is better
than in Carmel.
The area’s boundaries are loosely de-
fined as being from La Jolla Boulevard
west to Windansea Beach, between the
center of Westbourne Street on the
south and Sea Lane on the north.
The Barber Tract is so-named
because it was developed by Philip
Barber, an heir to the Barber & Co.
steamship firm in New York. The
tract of seaside land was originally
called “Neputunia” and Barber was
touring it in the early 1920s when he
decided to buy it. He moved his family
from back East and began selling off
parcels.
Drew Nelson, a native La Jollan and
Realtor with Willis Allen Real Estate,
said the Barber Tract is one of the
most neighborhood-centric ocean front
communities within La Jolla.
“It’s very much a neighborhood,
people get together every year and have
a parade,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t
feel like a bunch of tourists live there,
there’s not much public parking or
beach access as compared with La Jolla
Shores.”
Nelson has a listing at 301 Vista de
la Playa with 76 feet of ocean front
footage on the bluff above Windansea
Beach. The home is 3,718 square feet
with five bedrooms, five full baths and
two partial baths. Listed for sale in
late July 2015 for $14 million, the price
was recently dropped to $12 million in
mid-September.
“There are a couple things about
the home that are unique and irre-
placeable,” Nelson said. “The first is its
forward location on the cul-de-sac — it
sits forward of the adjacent homes so it
affords it a better view, not only of the
ocean, but up north to Marine Street
beach from the house, deck and the
yard.”
Nelson said that it’s rare for a home
in La Jolla to have so much usable
entertaining space on the ocean side
of the home. He said it affords privacy
that is not necessarily the case with
other homes that are on the beach in
this area.
“You’ve got that buffer of the yard
and the high seawall and the fence, so
you don’t have people congregating
around the house as much,” Nelson
said. “And, you don’t feel them if
they are there because of the setback
between the seawall and the actual
home.”
Nelson, who has been in real estate
for 12 years, also had the high-
est-priced sale in the Barber Tract in
the past year, according to Redfin.
com. The 2,828-square-foot home at
310 Dunemere Drive sold in March of
2015 for $11.4 million. Shawn Rodger,
also of Willis Allen, was the buyer’s
agent.
Nelson said the sale of Dunemere is
a nice “comp” at $4,000 a square foot
and additional sales in a similar price
range seem to support that there is an
appetite for ocean-front homes.
The Dunemere home was recently
remodeled by Del Mar-based Bokal &
Sneed Architects and has private beach
access. The remodel included a deck
with a cabana and a bar down below
that “activates the western side of the
home for entertainment purposes,”
Nelson said.
Just to the north of Nelson’s list-
ing on Vista de la Playa is 7310 Vista
del Mar Ave. listed by Jill Sellers of
Advantage Team Real Estate. The home
has 59 feet of ocean frontage, is 4,900
square feet with four bedrooms and five
bathrooms.
Sellers, a London native who moved
here “because of the weather,” said it’s
only one of a handful of homes with
direct beach sand access and it has a
pool in the front yard.
“The Coastal Commission never
allows that now on ocean front prop-
erties,” Sellers said. “It also includes a
buildable lot (next door) which makes
up the cumulative lot square footage of
approximately 15,000 square feet and a
third tiny strip lot — so you can build
another house next to it.”
Sellers said the original owner owned
the lots on each side of her home and
put in deed restrictions to keep the
views. The owner sold those lots and
kept the home at 7310 Vista del Mar
for herself.
Barber also kept a lot for himself at
325 Dunemere Drive when he origi-
nally bought the acreage. Sadly, the
Depression took its toll on the area
and Barber was forced to relinquish
the home to creditors. He eventually
moved to Julian and died in 1963. The
house, now known as “Casa de la Paz,”
was purchased by the former Academy
Award-winning actor and native La
Jollan Cliff Robertson, who owned it
for 40 years. On 1.4-acres, Robertson
renovated the house with architect
Thomas Shepherd and it was designated
Historic Site No. 520 in 2002.
As the real estate beat goes on,
Nelson said it best, “The Barber Tract
really personifies what people’s vision
of a La Jolla beach neighborhood feels
like.”
Send luxury real estate items to
sglidden@sdbj.com.
LUXURY
REAL ESTATE
Stephanie R. Glidden
Photo courtesy of Cameron Aker
The pool at 301 Vista de la Playa is
surrounded by the home and provides
protection from ocean breezes.
Photo courtesy of Cameron Aker
The entrance gate to 310 Dunemere Drive
that sold recently for $11.4 million.
Photo courtesy of Cameron Aker
The view of the beach from 310 Dunemere
Drive in the Barber Tract area of La Jolla.
Photo courtesy of Brian Sullivan of Future Home Photo
The beach access for 7310 Vista del Mar in
the Barber Tract in La Jolla.
Photo courtesy of Brian Sullivan of Future Home Photo
The interior courtyard of 7310 Vista del Mar on
the bluff above Windansea Beach in La Jolla.
Photo courtesy of Brian Sullivan of Future Home Photo
The front gate of a home at 7310 Vista del Mar
inLaJollathatisonthemarketfor$14.9million
by Jill Sellers of Advantage Team Real Estate.
Photo courtesy of Cameron Aker
The living room view at 301 Vista de la Playa that is on the market for $12 million by Drew Nelson of Willis Allen Real Estate.
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