Neighborhood Showcase: The Sights of Del Mar

Del Mar has long stood out as one of the premier neighborhoods of the North San Diego County region. Established for the beauty of the region and its clear ocean views, the city remains a focused region of premium schools, shopping, homes, and entertainment.

Del Mar’s origins begin with Theodore M. Loop, a contractor and engineer who worked on the first Southern California Railroad project which connected San Diego and San Benardino. In 1882, he selected acreage on a mesa north of San Diego and built his home on land he considered the most attractive place on the west coast. That same year, he met Jacob Taylor and suggested they might start a town in the area. Attracted to the beauty of the region and the growing potential of San Diego and its neighbors, Taylor purchased 338 acres on the mesa and founded the town of Del Mar.

Taylor imagined Del Mar as a seaside resort catering to the rich and famous and worked alongside family and partners to build a home and a hotel resort in the town known as the Casa Del Mar. Other attractions and properties including dancing pavilions and a bathing pool soon sprang up across the town.

Unfortunately, the Casa Del Mar burned down a mere four years after it was initially built, sending the town dormant for several years before renewed prosperity in the early 1900s reignited the development of the town, this time at the hands of South Coast Land Company and prominent architect of the era John C. Austin.

Since then, Del Mar has served as one of the region’s most beautiful and cosmopolitan neighborhoods. Mainly composed of single-family homes, Del Mar real estate often features large square footage, vaulted ceilings, and panoramic ocean views.

A beach city in San Diego County, Del Mar sits northwest of San Diego proper, alongside Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Mesa. Other neighboring towns include Solana Beach, Carmel Valley, and Camino Del Mar.

Del Mar shares San Diego’s Mediterranean-subtropical climate generally considered the most desirable climate in the country. With warm, dry summers and mild, humid winters, the area rarely sees extremes of temperature or weather. Only occasionally will the temperature exceed 85 degrees in the summer or drop below 41 degrees in the winter.

Del Mar maintains a year-round average temperature of 65 degrees and sees about 264 sunny days in a normal year. Some form of precipitation falls about 22 days out of the year, making it a relatively dry and temperate neighborhood.

The 2010 US Census estimated a current population of 4,161 people at the time. The population of the area has reduced slightly in every census since 1980, but estimates as of 2016 suggest an increase in population since the last census.

Del Mar has been a hotbed of architectural expression since the early 20th century, and hosts homes in a wide variety of modernist and contemporary architectural styles, with some influence from Spanish architecture. Many single-family homes offer amenities such as vaulted ceilings, built-in BBQs and high square footage.

School Districts:

Education in Del Mar is served by two distinct school districts, with Del Mar Union School District maintaining a number of K-8 schools and San Dieguito Union High School District providing high school education to the children in Del Mar homes.

Schools in both districts rank among the best in the country for academic performance and standardized test scores. As with other school districts in California, open enrollment allows parents to choose from any school within the district.

Del Mar serves as home or neighbor to a number of historic, modern, and natural places of interest.

Torrey Pines State Beach: Like much of the region, Del Mar has easy access to the length of the Torrey Pines State Beach. The beach starts at Del Mar and runs south 4.5 miles. This is one of the only locations you can find the Torrey Pine tree.

Del Mar North Beach: Also known as the Del Mar Dog Beach, this two-mile stretch of Del Mar coast is well-known for catering to dog owners.

The Del Mar Horse Races occur at the Del Mar racetrack on the city fairgrounds every summer and serve as a major attraction every year. The Fairgrounds and Racetracks date back to the early history of the city and are close enough to offer ocean views for patrons.

This mall and shopping center is well-regarded by residents and visitors, hosting an abundance of shopping, food, and entertainment venues in a well-maintained and pleasing environment.

Del Mar also hosts KAABOO, an entertainment and art experience that eschews the title and associated discomfort of ‘music festival’ in favor of a more curated, carefully designed weekend escape. KAABOO offers music, comedy, and enough basic comfort to make it an excellent experience for music lovers uninterested in a traditionally manic festival experience.