Beach and mountain homes and condos with private pools and mountain views, from the Bay Area down to San Diego County, and inland to the Wine Country and Santa Barbara. Every one privately owned and professionally managed.
The places our guests return to most, ranked by how many homes we currently represent there.
California runs roughly 1,200 kilometres from top to bottom and covers ocean, desert, vineyard and alpine lake. The region you pick changes the weather, the season and the kind of house far more than the address does.
The largest share of our California homes, and the most reliable beach weather in the state. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach run boardwalk-and-bay; La Jolla trades that for coves and cliffs; Coronado and Rancho Santa Fe are quieter and more residential.
Santa Barbara County carries almost all of this stretch, where the coast turns east and the hills come down to the sea. Santa Cruz County sits further north, cooler and more wooded.
Malibu holds most of what we represent here, on the open Pacific north of the city. Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Manhattan Beach put you on the sand with the city behind you; central Los Angeles homes suit trips built around the city itself.
Palm Springs, Palm Desert and La Quinta: low desert, reliable winter sun, and the kind of walled house with a pool that the area is built around. Summers are extremely hot, which is why the season here runs opposite to the coast.
Sonoma County, Napa Valley and the Santa Ynez Valley north and west of the Bay. Inland valleys rather than coastline, with homes suited to small groups touring by car.
An alpine lake straddling the California-Nevada line, with a ski season and a summer lake season. The North Shore runs quieter; the South Shore is busier and closer to the casinos.
Laguna Beach for coves, headlands and a walkable arts town; Anaheim for groups building the week around the theme parks and wanting more room than a hotel.
Big Bear, up in the San Bernardino Mountains: a mountain lake town with snow in winter and hiking in summer, close enough to Los Angeles for a short drive.
The Sierra foothills on the western approach to Yosemite, for trips built around the national park rather than around a town.
Stinson Beach, on the Marin coast north of San Francisco. Cold water and open ocean, an hour from the city over the headlands.
A rotating selection of top-tier California properties, each one professionally managed and photographed.
San Diego County holds the largest share of what we represent and the most dependable beach weather. Los Angeles County and the Central Coast put you on the open Pacific, cooler and with more surf. North of the Bay the coast turns cold and dramatic rather than swimmable.
The desert around Palm Springs, the Wine Country valleys and Lake Tahoe run on seasons opposite to the coast: the desert is at its best when the beaches are cool, and unbearable in high summer. Tahoe and Big Bear give you a ski season and a lake season in the same house.
Platinum, Gold, Silver and Value rank a property on its interior furnishings only, not on price or location. A Platinum or Gold home can cost less than a Silver one with a better view, and we move a ranking up or down as a home is upgraded or left to age.
We do not encourage online bookings. Your agent should be someone who knows the area, and every home here is run by a local management company responsible for cleaning, maintenance, and guest support. A call is also the fastest way to find out what is genuinely open on your dates.
The things travellers ask us most before they book.
San Diego County is the usual answer, and it is where most of the California homes we represent are: Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla between them carry the largest share. The water is warmest and the weather most dependable there. Further north, Malibu, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz give you the open Pacific, which is cooler and better for surfing than for swimming.
Yes. Every home on this page is privately owned but represented by an established local property-management company that handles cleaning, maintenance and guest support during your stay. Before a property joins our portfolio it is vetted on location, quality of the accommodation, access to amenities and the reputation and responsiveness of the management company, and it is removed if it stops meeting that standard.
Palm Springs, Palm Desert and La Quinta run on the opposite season to the coast. They are at their best through the cooler months and extremely hot in high summer, which is worth planning around if you are choosing between a desert house and a beach one.
Some homes accept pets and some do not, and it varies by property rather than by region. Use the pet-friendly filter above to see the homes that currently allow them, then confirm the type and size limits with your agent at the start of the selection process rather than after booking.
They are our own rankings, and they describe the interior furnishings only - not the price, the view or the location. A newly fitted kitchen can earn a home a Platinum ranking even though a Silver-ranked property nearby is more expensive because it has a better position. We revise rankings over time, up when a home is upgraded and down when it has not been refreshed in a while.
It depends on the region, the season and how close to the water you are. Where an owner has published a starting rate you will see it on the listing; where they have not, rates are quoted on request, because they change constantly with season and length of stay and we would rather price your exact dates than show you a number that has moved.
Tell us who is travelling and when, and a destination specialist will narrow ten regions of homes down to the handful that actually suit you.
