Rancho Santa Fe was established in 1928 as a country residential community with an emphasis on agriculture and preserving the rural landscapes. The community has become known as simply “The Ranch” from its earliest residents like Hollywood legend, Bing Crosby, who was as passionate a horseman and golfer as he was an actor. He chose the Ranch to raise his family in this peaceful, sylvan paradise away from tinseltown.
You may also hear residents call their community “The Covenant,” which refers to an agreement among property owners to preserve and maintain the character of the community and its landscape, and to uphold a particular aesthetic of future architecture. The agreement came to be known simply as “The Covenant” and now refers not only to the principal governing document, called the Protective Covenant, or PC, but also to the community itself. You may see the terms “Ranch” or “Covenant” used on this site to describe the homeowners’ neighborhood.
Today, historic Rancho Santa Fe encompasses roughly 10 square miles or 6,730 acres and is home to around 3,156 residents as of the 2020 census. Near the center of the Covenant is the Village of Rancho Santa Fe, with shops, restaurants, other commercial businesses and the historic Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The Rancho Santa Fe School District campus is located adjacent to the Village. The R. Roger Rowe School, for elementary and middle school aged students, K-8, features a state-of-the-art campus, a performing arts center, classroom labs and more.
The acclaimed and exclusive Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club is located in the heart of the community. Membership to the Max Behr-designed, 6,700-yard par-72 private course is only available to Association property owners. Opening in 1929, the golf club served as the original site for a 1930s-era golf tournament called “The Clambake” hosted by Bing Crosby, an early resident of the Covenant. The golf course is perennially ranked among the top residential golf courses in the United States.
Most of the Ranch is beautiful rolling topography with spacious low-density, large-lot residential homes where the average lot size is more than two acres. Looping through the pristine countryside and alongside the golf course, a private equestrian and hiking trail network runs throughout the community. The exclusive, secure, rural character of the community, combined with its proximity to the ocean are what set this community apart as being a highly desirable place to live.
Preserving and maintaining the character of the community are of utmost importance, as is the privacy, safety and security of its residents. The Rancho Santa Fe Association has a full-time private security patrol, and is served by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol.
The Association
The Rancho Santa Fe Association manages the community of Rancho Santa Fe. The Association was incorporated in July, 1927 as a California nonprofit corporation for the purpose of managing the planned community of Rancho Santa Fe. In 1928, property owners entered into a mutual agreement to preserve and maintain the character of the community and its rare landscape features. That mutual agreement was called the “Protective Covenant” or PC, which remains as the principal governing document for the community. Although technically a Homeowners Association, the Rancho Santa Fe Association functions very much like a small city with a building department, planning department, parks and recreation department, the Rancho Santa Fe Patrol.