L OOKING BACK
The people, places and stories behind the OC
ust beyond the ridge marking the southwest boundary of The Resort at Pelican Hill lies a crescentshaped coastline known as Crystal Cove. Early 20th century filmmakers, charmed by the primitive
setting, shot some of the period’s most memorable movie scenes there, including portions of the 1950 silent film
classic Treasure Island, along with Sea Wolf, Stormswept and Sadie Thompson. Listen carefully and you may hear
echoes of Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, Gary Cooper and others who helped shape cinematic history.
“They could create a South Seas movie set without leaving Southern California,” said Laura Davick,
founder and acting president of Crystal Cove Alliance (CCA), which is spearheading the area’s restoration.
“Even though the coastline was barely known in the early 1900s, by midcentury it had been discovered by
pioneering filmmakers and become one of the
region’s premier shoot locations.”
To complete their island-inspired sets,
Hollywood designers trucked palm trees from
Los Angeles nurseries to Orange County, and
then left them behind. The trees and a smattering
of film huts perched along the shoreline would
form the cove’s first bathing beach. In 1925,
James Irvine, whose family’s Irvine Ranch
included Crystal Cove from 1846 to 1979, hired
the first manager to oversee campsite rentals and
moviemaking. His one-room office still serves as
the cove’s visitor center.
The 1926 completion of the stretch of Pacific
Coast Highway to Laguna Beach opened Crystal
Cove’s door to the privacy-seeking Hollywood
elite, including Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall,
John Wayne and, most recently, James Franco,
who spent time there during the shooting of
TNT’s docudrama about James Dean.
The area thrived even during the Great
Depression, with the lack of utilities and running
water failing to dampen the spirits of campers
who resided on the beach. In the 1920s and ’30s,
early settlers, then squatters, expanded a small
number of the old film huts and constructed new
cottages, some from driftwood, teak planks from
shipwrecks, and palm fronds (for the thatched roofs.)
®
The Leading Lady
OF LANDMARKS
A postcard from the 1930s advertising an idealized version of Crystal Cove.
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by Randy Kraft
From top: Still photo from the film set “Treasure Island,” 1950.
Newly completed stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, 1926.
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Left: Cottage #13, where “Beaches” was filmed. Right: Barbara Hershey and Bette Midler on the set of “Beaches,” 1988.
Cove dwellers in the early years included a Japanese
farming community that settled on the bluffs and in
1935 established a language school and a religious
center. Tragically, these enterprising farmers were
dispatched to Japanese internment camps during the
war years and never returned to Crystal Cove.
By 1950, the makeshift campground had grown
into a small village complete with a general store
and community center. Forty-six cottages dotted the
landscape and, by 1988, when Bette Midler’s Beaches
was filmed at Cottage #13, Crystal Cove had been
designated a state park and added to the National
Register of Historic Places. In 2007, the Historic
District received the Governor’s Award for historic
preservation and, in 2015, added a designation as a
California landmark.
Crystal Cove State Park draws visitors and locals
to its 3.2 miles of coastline, 2,400 acres of hiking
trails, surfing, skim-boarding and sunbathing beaches
and marine education programs. During a morning
stroll to breakfast at The Beachcomber restaurant, or
a sunset glass of wine at The Bootlegger Bar, be sure
to stop by the visitor center to view a photographic
montage of California history in the making. k
For information and activities visit crystalcovealliance.org.
To find out more about contributing, contact
[email protected].
Established more than 15 years ago, the nonprofit
CCA is dedicated to preserving the Crystal Cove
Cottages and protecting the area from development.
Together, CCA and California State Parks have raised
$25 million to restore 29 of the historic cottages.
Crystal Cove offers overnight cottage rentals,
education programs, a restaurant and other facilities.
The popular cottages are booked seven months in
advance, and the Alliance is working on plans for a
campaign to restore the remaining ones.
A present-day Crystal Cove Cottage in the Historic District.
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