Renting a Million-Dollar View

By Allen Pierleoni, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.

Jan. 6–If you’ve never heard of Pajaro Dunes, don’t feel alone. When I told people we were renting a condominium there for a few days, to serve as a base for day- tripping around the Monterey Peninsula, the typical response was, “I think I’ve heard of it, but where is it?”

Pajaro Dunes is a calm refuge on the outskirts of a worldwide tourist destination. It’s a cluster of condominiums, townhomes and detached houses in the Pajaro Valley, on a beach on Monterey Bay about 20 miles south of Santa Cruz and 30 miles north of Monterey. It’s close to Watsonville, Las Lomas and Moss Landing. It’s near Sunset State Beach and abuts the meandering Watsonville Slough, a bird sanctuary and part of the Pacific Flyway migratory route.

The Pajaro Dunes property totals 150 acres. The housing portion — surrounded by sand dunes, tall Holland grass, trees, shrubbery and colonies of ice plant — is 1 1/2 miles long, faces the bay and is flanked on the north and south sides by miles of empty beach.

“One way we’ve promoted Pajaro Dunes is as a hotel without the hotel,” said Mickey Holzman, who sat in a conference room at the on-site company headquarters. “We’ll provide any service a hotel will provide, but we’ve found that our guests want to do things for themselves.”

Holzman is co-founder of Pajaro Dunes, the president and owner of the Pajaro Dunes Co. (which handles rentals and sales for property owners) and is a past director of the North American Vacation Rental Managers Association.

The south side of the Dunes was subdivided in 1966, Holzman said; the north side followed in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, the first single-family detached house was completed in 1967. By the numbers, the village ended up with 145 houses, 28 townhomes and 90 one-, two- and three-bedroom condos (in three-story buildings). The landscape-compatible buildings blend nicely into the environment — but, realistically, we’re still talking about a housing development on a beach.

The point for vacationers is this: Many of the condos and houses are for rent, but they’re nowhere near inexpensive. We stayed there in October (in a third-floor one-bedroom) and again in December (second-floor two-bedroom). Our condos were completely stocked with everything we needed. The views from the decks, the bedrooms and the living rooms were remarkable, and morning walks on the beach became an invigorating ritual to start each day. If you’re looking to buy, some condos are for sale — $724,000 to over $1 million. The few houses on the market right now approach $2 million.

So, why doesn’t that whole stretch of beach look like Daytona Beach, Fla., where you literally cannot see the Atlantic Ocean from State Road A1A because of the shoulder-to-shoulder beachfront high-rises? Credit the California Coastal Act of 1976.

“Essentially, (the act) restricted development and protected natural resources and public access to beaches,” said Sarah Christie, the legislative director of the California Coastal Commission. “(The act) is literally the reason why the California coast looks the way it does today.”

When I remarked to Holzman that he and his partners must have possessed great foresight to develop Pajaro Dunes when they did, he laughed.

“Here’s how foresightful I was: We were standing on the beach on a cold, wet, windy day, looking at the (undeveloped) property. I remember thinking, ‘Nobody’s ever going to want to come here …’ “

IF YOU GO

IF YOU GO

Getting there: The Pajaro Dunes office is at 105 Shell Drive off Highway 1 west of Watsonville, between Santa Cruz and Monterey.

We took Interstate 5 south to the Santa Nella exit, then Highway 152 west to Highway 156, toward Hollister-San Juan Bautista. It will eventually intersect with Highway 101. Take that north for about 1.5 miles, then take the Highway 129 West-Watsonville exit (Riverside Drive). It will dead-end after it crosses Highway 1.

Turn right on Lee Road, then left on Beach Road to Shell Drive. Turn right to reach the Shorebird gatehouse.

Deals: A golf package offers accommodations from $149 per person per night, based on four people in a two-bedroom condo, with a two-night minimum. It includes two rounds of golf (with a cart) for four people at the Pajaro Valley Golf Club.

Through April 30, the property is offering a third night free with any two-night rental.

Lodging: Sample rental rates, based on a two-night minimum:

Condos in the winter: $585 to $922

Condos in the summer: $761 to $1,043

Houses in the winter: $1,097 to $1,936

Houses in the summer: $1,354 and up

Information: (800) 564-1771 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily) or www.pajarodunes.com

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