When my husband Brian first told me he’s from Laguna Beach, it took everything in me to play it cool. “Oh, is that near Los Angeles?” I asked.
Like most elder millennials, I knew exactly where Laguna Beach was. I’d seen every episode of the reality show (I was an LC with a Kristin haircut) and was a superfan of “The OC” to boot. (Seth and Summer forever!)
I don’t know why I pretended. Turns out, Brian’s a Seth-and-Summer stan, too.
I never imagined we’d end up living in the land of beachside cottages and sun-drenched ocean coves I’d seen on TV. But in 2021, we decided to leave the Bay Area and spend a couple months in Brian’s hometown. We both work remotely — I’m a writer and he’s in tech sales — so why not?
We’ve been here ever since. Today, we live in an old-school, 940-square-foot, aluminum-sided trailer across the street from the beach.
Deciding we wanted to stay in Laguna Beach wasn’t hard — I mean, it’s beautiful, sunny, laid back, and has a thriving art scene. But figuring out a long-term living situation in such a pricey area required us to get creative.
Finding a creative way to live in Laguna Beach
The median home price in Laguna Beach hovers around $3 million and the median monthly rent is over $8,000. Brian and I were paying $6,200 a month for our short-term rental, a steep price we could stomach for a couple of months but not something we could sustain.
Luckily, we discovered a quirky little neighborhood tucked away in a picturesque canyon across the street from the ritziest hotel in town. It’s filled with mobile homes that sell for as little as $150,000.
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Brian and I are no strangers to alternative abodes — we’d previously lived aboard a 46-foot motor yacht for three years — so the concept of a house on wheels didn’t intimidate us.
When you purchase a trailer in this mobile home community, the structure is yours but you rent the land it sits on. We decided…
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