Coto de Caza, CA Real Estate

Coto de Caza is a suburban planned community of about 4,000 homes, and one of Orange County's oldest and most expensive master planned communities. Coto de Caza is twenty minutes from the Interstate 5 freeway via Oso Parkway and five minutes from the 241 Tollroad.

The project began in 1968, when it was envisioned as a hunting lodge, now the Coto de Caza Guest Lodges; the community was completed in 2000. The development occupies about 4000 acres, roughly half of which is designated as open space. Coto de Caza has been annexed to Rancho Santa Margarita, but is usually considered a separate community.

The Thomas F. Riley Wilderness Park, which is open to the general public, surrounds the Coto on its eastern, northern, and southern borders. The park is known for its oak groves, sycamores, 2 creeks, and for its diversity of wildlife. It is nearly 500 acres in size and features nearly 5 miles of equestrian trails, 12 miles of hiking trails, and several biking trails. The park is also a breeding ground for mountain lions, which have been known to attack without warning.

The community is the setting of the reality-based television show The Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo.  The whole community is guard-gated, and some of the more exclusive areas are even guard-gated multiple times. Homeowners Associations are very vigilant here with regards to outside house colors, general upkeep and landscaping. There is one general store inside the gates, but generally residents shop five minutes away in Rancho Santa Margarita or twenty minutes away in Mission Viejo.

The majority of Coto is tract homes and semi-custom homes, with collections of customs on the outskirts off the main streets. Around the town there are still some undeveloped lots available for purchase; new home building on these lots is now proceeding gradually, with the average new home having 7 bedrooms.

Coto features two 18-hole golf courses with club houses; in fact the community is basically built around the golf clubs. The Coto Valley Community Club is an all-inclusive recreation center, featuring tennis, racquetball, in-line skating hockey rinks, a swimming pool and a full service gymnasium in the fitness club complete with basketball courts.
Homeowners in Coto also have access to a full service Equestrian Center. The center boards 160 horses and includes five arenas and 47 miles of trails in the surrounding wilderness, complete training and riding facilities. Lessons are available.

Coto is served by Capistrano Unified School District. The only school located within the gates is a private elementary school, Merryhill School, teaching grades pre-school through fourth. Santa Margarita Catholic High School is located at the North Gate. An attempt to build a public school within the walls of the community was voted down by the residents.