La Jolla Farms

La Jolla Farms: Where Billionaires Meet Surfers

In San Diego's La Jolla Farms, owners like Ron Burkle and former litigator Bill Lerach share a coastline with college kids and sports enthusiasts

When Bill Lerach's wife wanted to move from north San Diego's spacious Rancho Santa Fe area to the posh but relatively cramped La Jolla, he worried they couldn't find the land to accommodate his gardening habit—Mr. Lerach's primary occupation since he was released from prison, three years ago. 

BILLIONAIRE'S BLUFF

The home of investor Ron Burkle sits on a bluff overlooking La Jolla Farms. 

They found a solution in 2005 in La Jolla Farms, a small but open area perched on an ocean-side bluff that overlooks a nude beach and the Pacific Ocean. Mr. Lerach's $26 million, Italian-style home sits on six heavily gardened acres that end at a seaside cliff. 

"La Jolla Farms became a perfect compromise," says Mr. Lerach, the securities litigator who, after a long career trying corporate-fraud cases, was disbarred after serving time for a felony conviction on charges of obstruction of justice. 

The Farms, among the most expensive areas in San Diego, is an enclave within an enclave of greater La Jolla. It isn't as well-known as the seaside La Jolla Village, and the roughly 100 homes there, while boasting some of the best views on earth, don't have any beachfront. What they do have is land: The lots range from around 1 to 7 acres. And as Mr. Lerach notes, there are some advantages to not having beachfront. "Nobody can get up from below," he says. 

On a recent morning Mr. Lerach greeted guests in a sweatshirt and boat shoes. His hands were flecked with his own dry blood (from a gardening injury) and he had a pair of plastic garden ties in his back pocket. He said the Farms area, with its mild climate and plentiful sun, is a gardener's dream. He does most of his work on the property's ocean-facing side. He and his wife tend to a crowded jungle that includes California native plants, berries and herbs, and a rowed vegetable garden with cabbage, tomatoes and eggplant.

With the area's miles of beaches and water come views of whales, dolphins and surfers. It's a perfect place to search for the "green flash," an elusive burst of light that rises over the ocean at sunset. Paragliders regularly fly over the property on their descent to the beach below. 

Some people gripe, Mr. Lerach says, "but I find it entertaining."

La Jolla Farms sits a few miles from downtown La Jolla, up a winding hill. In contrast to the collection of boutiques and restaurants in the village, the Farms is adjacent to a small city of dorms, labs and office buildings that belong to the University of California, San Diego, and affiliated research institutions. La Jolla Village has a Ralph Lauren store. La Jolla Farms has a Ralphs supermarket in a nearby shopping center. 

The result is that the Farms, though it has its share of visitors, has a less touristy, more residential feel than La Jolla proper. The lots, developed mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, are a mixed bag architecturally, ranging from modern contemporary to Spanish colonial. The area has almost no architectural guidelines or constraints, so people build whatever they want, says Cory Wilcox, a real-estate agent with Keller Williams. 

The fact that the area isn't well-known outside of San Diego may be contributing to a lag in prices. Homes in the Farms area have been selling for roughly $845 per square foot, through there is some variation depending on the view and acreage. That is down from around $1,500 per square foot in the real-estate heyday from 2004 to 2007, according to Mr. Dickinson. 

San Diego hasn't attracted many foreign investors, he says, because the area doesn't have the global reputation of say, Los Angeles, about two hours to the north. Also, the city's small downtown airport has a relative handful of international flights. 

"In a way, we're on sale," says Mr. Dickinson. "We're missing out on that customer." 

The Farms has all the marks of a wealthy neighborhood: gated homes, dense shrubbery and a private security force that roams the circle in green-and-white cars. But unlike most wealthy neighborhoods, the area also plays host to an eclectic band of outside traffic. The university is a few hundred yards away, and students amble through the Farms daily on a windy path leading to a vantage point called "the cliffs," where they watch sunsets.

Surfers also make frequent stops. When the waves are good, they use La Jolla Farms Road as a de facto parking lot on their way to the beach. And while residents get keys that allow them to drive down an access road to the water, it's an open secret that the best-networked surfers have secured keys of their own. 

Alex Zha, a freshman at the university, takes study breaks there. "It's a pretty big change of scenery" from the campus, Mr. Zha says, who walks to the Farms about once a month to chill out and take in the view. 

Mr. Zha's view from the cliffs one recent afternoon included not just waves but a sprawling Mediterranean-style home belonging to Ron Burkle, the Los Angeles investor and billionaire who now spends most of his time in London. The home, surrounded by palm trees and panoramic views of the ocean, is used mostly for entertaining, a spokesman for Mr. Burkle says. The investor paid $16 million for the property when the house was still unfinished but has since had offers for more than $60 million, the spokesman adds. 

Other Farms residents include Ted Waitt, founder of Gateway Inc., and Roger Tsien, a Nobel laureate and UCSD chemistry professor. 

Mr. Lerach's home is full of African art and statutes he has collected, along with pots and pots of plants that have helpful placards to identify them. The home is a popular stop on local garden tours.

He says he and his wife host charity events, including for "Just in Time," an organization that helps children transition from foster care to the real world. He also estimates he has hosted a dozen weddings on the property. 

Touring the home, Mr. Lerach doled out trivia about World War II and blueberries. The house contains remnants of his legal career, such as a caricature of a bald man's head on a platter—a vanquished legal opponent. 

Mr. Lerach was sentenced in 2008 to two years in prison and paid an $8 million penalty after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with alleged kickbacks paid by his former law firm to clients. He says he served about 16 months. He was later disbarred by the state of California. 

"I'm completely satisfied in the life I now live, and I'm proud of the work we did," he says. 

The home also has reminders of Mr. Lerach's native Pittsburgh, including a sooty fountain from his hometown left by a previous owner. Just beyond the gated driveway is an aviary with African and South American birds. He has two toucans, named Badass and Badasser, and mynah birds he is teaching to speak Pittsburgh slang. Right now, they're working on "yinz."