You’ve seen Coto de Caza on television with Botoxed trophy wives partying and driving luxury cars while their husbands play golf behind its pearly gates.
On Bravo channel’s reality show, “The Real Housewives of Orange County,” Coto de Caza is seen as a home to wealthy businessmen and their families and all the perks that come with being rich and beautiful.
Residents say it’s not really like what you see on TV.
To them, Coto de Caza is a bedroom community for executives, celebrities and athletes who prefer trails and trees to surf and sand. Most importantly, it’s for people who want to keep a low profile.
Many well-known people call Coto de Caza home.
Gen. William Lyon, founder of Newport Beach-based William Lyon Homes Inc., lives there.
So do Paul Folino, chairman of Costa Mesa’s Emulex Corp., and Taco Bell Corp. Chief Executive Greg Creed.
Resident Dave “Phoenix” Farrell, bass player for rock band Linkin Park, hits balls at the Coto de Caza Golf and Racquet Club.
People move to Coto de Caza because it’s the most well-to-do inland community in Orange County after Irvine’s Shady Canyon.
Coto’s History
The guard-gated masterplanned community originally was a part of the Bryant family ranch.
In 1964, Macco Co. acquired the ranch and eventually changed the area’s name to Coto de Caza, according to the community’s CZ Master Association.
After a series of deals, Great Southwest Corp. developed Coto de Caza into a hunting, equestrian and private social club.
Lot sales started in 1971. The first homes were built in 1975, according to the association.
Around that time, the Vic Braden Tennis facilities and equestrian center were built.
Coto de Caza’s development stalled in the late 1970s when the California real estate market suffered a downturn.
The area remained mostly open space with barley fields and grazing sheep.
The CZ Master Association was formed in 1980 to help foster Coto de Caza’s development into a gated community with amenities, open space and landscaped areas.
Coto de Caza butts up against the Saddleback Mountains and Cleveland National Forest in South Orange County.
The 5,000-acre community has more than 13,000 residents and 4,000 homes.
Residents there have four baseball fields, two basketball courts, two volleyball courts, parks, picnic areas and a 36-hole Coto Golf & Racquet Club, which also consists of an aquatic center and spa and sports club.
Coto de Caza is home to upper-middle-class residents with families, according to Mariann Cordova, longtime resident and agent with Prudential California Realty’s Fine Homes International division.
Easy Relocation
The area is favored by many out-of-state buyers who want a convenient move to OC with built-in amenities, she said.
“A lot of people move here from out-of-state to work in Newport Beach, Irvine or Costa Mesa, but they choose to live in Coto,” Cordova said. “It’s an attractive community because you have everything you need behind the gates.”
The area is big with homebuyers who have kids, she said. Working parents can keep their kids busy by enrolling them in sports, art or educational programs, according to Cordova.
Community events such as parades and fairs are big with younger Coto residents, she said.
The area also is for people who want to live in a place that has a rural feel, Cordova said.
Such was the case for Emulex’s Folino.
Folino has lived in Coto de Caza for about 15 years and is on his third house in the area.
He owned ranch land while living in Austin, Texas, when he was a board member of JatoTech Ventures LP. When he accepted the job to become chief executive of Emulex Corp. in 1993, he said he wanted to find a home that had the same kind of rural feel.
Folino checked out homes in Newport Beach, Orange and other areas. He said he fell in love with the mountains, trees and hiking trails that surround Coto de Caza, he said.
He bought his first home in the community just 30 minutes after taking a tour, he said.
“I just love living in the country,” Folino said. “I think it’s a good place to keep a low profile.”
The inland community is about 5 degrees to 10 degrees warmer than the coast, he said.
“I’m a bit of a desert rat. I love the heat,” Folino said.
The community turned out to be a great place for him to raise his daughter Courtney, he said.
“A lot of people prefer to raise their kids here because there’s so much going on whether its baseball or soccer,” Folino said. “It’s a great environment and all of the activities are contained within the gates.”
Folino’s house is built for comfort, he said. The 10,000-square-foot home rests on a 2.2-acre lot equipped with a barn, horse riding area, swimming pool and plenty of space for his dogs to run amuck.
Living in Coto de Caza does have its drawbacks, Folino said.
His family has had to evacuate their homes twice in the past 15 years due to wildfires in nearby Cleveland National Forest, he said.
Folino, who is active on many philanthropic boards, often has to commute to charity events and dinners in the cities of Newport Beach, Irvine and Costa Mesa.
A commute during rush hour traffic can be a bit much, he said.
“But all of that is offset by the fact that the community takes you away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Orange County,” he said.
Community Feel
Socializing is big in Coto.
Whether you’re going to a party, parade or a fundraiser, there’s always some kind of event that helps you interact with your neighbors.
The Coto Community Activities Network is a nonprofit group that puts on seasonal events to enhance community pride. Events include the Easter Eggstravaganza, Fourth of July parade and country fair, Halloween party, holiday parade and tree lighting, golf tournament, casino night, movies in the park and more.
There’s also the Coto de Caza Committee of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, which raises money for music programs in public schools.
Parents send their kids to private schools such as Coto de Caza’s Merryhill School.
Serra Catholic Elementary School and Santa Margarita Catholic High School in nearby Rancho Santa Margarita are other options.
Local public schools also are seen as good choices, residents said. Coto de Caza is served by the Capistrano Unified School District.
Children from kindergarten through the fifth grade can attend Wagon Wheel Elementary School in Coto de Caza, which scored an 896 out of a possible 1,000 on the 2007 Academic Performance Index report. Las Flores Middle School scored 875 and Tesoro High School scored 815.
