Cameo Community || Email: Info@Cameohoa.org
Villageway Management || Gavin Kuehn, Property Manager || Email: GavinK@villageway.com
2 Venture, Suite 500 Irvine, CA 92618 || PO Box 4708, Irvine, CA 92616
Phone: 949.450.1515 || Fax: 949.585.0146 || 24-Hr Emergency Phone: 949.450.1515
Copyright © 2007 Cameo Community Association. All rights reserved.
No information may be duplicated without permission from Cameo Community Association
Cameo's History
Cameo Community consists to two tracts known as Cameo Highlands (142 lots) and Cameo Shores (177 lots) in Corona del Mar, California. Corona del Mar is a subdivision of Newport Beach.
Cameo is known for its "firsts". We are the first area which Irvine developed using a “bare-ground lease” concept. And, the first Irvine development in which association membership was automatic with the purchase of a home.
In the 1930’s, the Irvine Company sold large land parcels outright with no retention of control. As a result of this experience, the decision was made to adopt a leasehold plan patterned after Hawaiian ventures so that quality land usage could be ensured. Deciding to begin its development with the coastal areas, Irvine recorded the company’s first leasehold tract in Bayshores in 1937. In that case, the Irvine Company put in the streets and facilities; the homes were built by builders selected by individuals who leased the lots. Irvine Terrace, opened for development in 1953, was the first leasehold in which outside developers built some of the houses.
In the 1950’s, Myford Irvine became enamored with the concept of a “Cameo” coastal community which would extend from Corona del Mar to Laguna and become the “Riviera” of America.
When Gilmore Ward, Frank Barrington and Charles Hester were considering the venture of additional land development, Mr. J. Leslie Steffensen suggested that these hills would be an ideal place for people to live. After extensive studies and negotiations with the Ward and Harrington Company in the mid- 1950’s, the Irvine Company agreed to the new concept of a 55-year bare ground lease (leasing land on which no improvements such as grading, streets or sewers had been made) for the area now developed as Cameo Shores and Cameo Highlands. This enabled Irvine to have a portion of its 83,000 acres developed without tying up funds.
At first, Ward, Harrington and Hester (by then known as the Sunny Homes Corporation) considered calling the beginning stage of their development “Cameo Cliffs.” Irvine was developing the cove area at the other end of the open land and was planning to name it “Cameo Cove.” With “Cameos” at either end, the land could have been known as the “Cameo Coast” as Myford Irvine dreamt. However, the Irvine Company changed that name to “Irvine Cove.” “Cameo Cliffs” evolved into “Cameo Shores” because several cliffs further north caved in — giving “cliffs” a bad connotation. In 1959, Myford Irvine died and the “Cameo Coast” concept died with him.
A tentative map of Cameo Shores was prepared and approved. Final improvement plans were being prepared to develop the area in a manner similar to Shorecliffs. Shortly after Ward, Barrington and Hester organized Sunny Homes Corporation and did their preliminary planning, John McCloud, owner of Macco Corporation, suggested purchasing an additional ravine between the Shores and Shorecliffs and terracing the lots so that there would be more lots and many more view lots available to lease. Sunny Homes and Macco Corporation then negotiated an agreement for the development and on April 1, 1958, the Master Development Plan was signed between the Irvine Company and Sunny Homes. Sunny Homes took the bare ground lease and homeowners would lease from Sunny Homes for the duration of the lease which was to 2013.
At the same time as the developers leased the 60 acres in Cameo Shores, they took an option on 40 acres across the highway which they later developed as Cameo Highlands.
The tract map for Cameo Shores was recorded on August 14, 1958 and the hill was reshaped into terrace lots by moving some 800,000 cubic yards of earth. Development of the Shores cost about $1,500,000. Referring to a New England almanac, Les Steffensen then named all the streets after towns in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. These names were chosen to give the new community a feeling of permanency and quiet dignity.
Once the tract improvements were completed, the partnership of Sunny Homes and Macco built the homes along Hampden under the name Cameo Shores Development Company. They recouped their development costs by offering leases to individuals, and by selling the “right to develop” to developers. The “second row” lots (those on Camden) were sold for $10,000 each. If a developer bought three or more “leasehold interests,” he received a 30% discount. If an individual wanted to purchase the leasehold interest in a lot on “the front row” (i.e., Brighton), he had to pay $18,000. In return, he would receive the lot AND the developers would build him a home at their cost. The first homeowner lease was signed on January 15, 1959.
After the initial work was done for Cameo Shores, the developers exercised their option on the 40 acres above Coast Highway and spent $1,000,000 developing the land in Cameo Highlands. The new area was called “Cameo Highlands” because it is higher in the hills and because of Mr. McCloud’s Scottish heritage. While the homes in the Shores were build individually or in small groups by developers, the majority of construction in the Highlands was done by John McCloud, under the name “Tartan Homes.”
In 1974, Sunny Homes gave up its leasehold interest under an agreement with the Irvine Company. This decision made it possible for Cameo homeowners to purchase their own land, an option most association members have exercised.
Have you seen any deer roaming through Cameo lately?
While our homes were being constructed in 1959 and 1960, residents in our neighboring community, Shorecliffs, often saw deer come down to investigate the home sites. More recent wildlife sightings include coyotes, road runners and hawks, who visit Pelican Hills Golf Club, our neighbor to the North and East of our community.
Source: Recapped from marketing materials that were given to prospective and new Cameo owners.
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Cameo Community Association
Gem of ♦ Corona del Mar ♦ California
A Coastal Residential Community Since 1960