When locals say “The Island,” they’re referring to the three separate islands that comprise Balboa Island – Balboa Island (the “main” or “Big Island”), Little Balboa Island (often called “Little Island”) and Collins Island – that offer upscale real estate plus unparalleled dining, shopping and scenery, allowing residents to relax in luxury.
In its infancy in the 1910s, Balboa Island quickly became one of the most popular residential and recreational neighborhoods of Newport Harbor.
‘NO SNOB’ ISLAND LIVING
Life on Balboa Island means island living at its best – exclusivity and natural ocean beauty. All Balboa Island homes are within a block-and-a-half from the Bay. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the nearly three-mile-long Boardwalk encircling the Island, where they can view close-up marine life, boats, and a dazzling array of Island homes. There is always a cooling ocean breeze to refresh residents and visitors, and the Island’s gardens are admired by all.
“I often say that the Island is a ‘no-snob zone’ where residents are comfortable grilling on their front patio and chatting amiably with their neighbors” says Don Abrams.
Through Abrams Coastal Properties, Abrams has sold about 50% of all of the homes sold on Balboa Island since 1998 – and he’s also a longtime resident.
“I live on Little Balboa Island in a ‘mid-century modern’ home on the Grand Canal with my wife Gwenn, son Ben, and two Hungarian Puli sheepdogs, Tora and Mason.”
Abrams said that Marine Avenue, the main commercial street of the Big Island, “is loved for its varied retail stores, restaurants, and mouth-watering bakery and ice cream shops. On weekends, Islanders tend to stay on the Island for all their shopping and dining needs.”
“I love everything about houses and the people who buy and live in them,” Abrams said, “so owning Abrams Coastal Properties is the perfect business for me.”
UNUSUAL FOUR-BEDROOM HOMES
Balboa Island offers some of the finest residential properties in the U.S. Abrams is currently listing three residential homes and “an iconic commercial property on Marine Avenue.”
All three of the homes have four bedrooms, which Abrams said “is unique since Balboa Island’s relatively small lots often accommodate homes with three or fewer bedrooms. All have views of the bay ranging from ‘peekaboo’ to front-and-center.” The commercial property “is one of the best buildings on Marine Avenue, and at one of the best locations.” The listings range in price from $2,400,000 to $3,795,000.
Today’s prices generally range from about $1,500,000 for an older (lot value) home on a standard 30- by 85-foot lot to $7,000,000 or more for a home on the Bayfront. “Depending on location and quality of construction,” Abrams said, the average prices for new homes range from about $3,000,000 to $3,500,000.
Don Abrams
Abrams Coastal Properties
315 Marine Avenue
Balboa Island, CA 92662
o: 949.675.4822
m: 714.325.9055
f: 949.675.5547
don@abramscoastal.com
abramscoastalproperties.com
