Idyllic California city is the state’s best-kept secret

Chock-full of charming Mission-era structure and luxurious bushes, the Los Rios Historic District is a feast for the eyes and steeped in historical past.

The Orange County neighborhood is nestled in San Juan Capistrano, a metropolis established by the Spanish in 1776 because the seventh of the Spanish California missions.

“It just feels like a step back in time,” third-generation resident Damian Orozco informed SFGATE. Orozco’s household operates a tea home on Los Rios Street within the historic metropolis, however he says the neighborhood hasn’t all the time been tourist-friendly.

According to him, the world was tough within the Eighties and ’90s.

“The Los Rios District was nothing like what it’s like today,” he informed the outlet. “Really, it was considered the wrong side of the tracks. Both sides of my family are from San Juan Capistrano, and when my mom was riding horses back in the day, they would always tell her not to go through the Los Rios District because it wasn’t a great neighborhood.” 

But now, the historic strip is dotted with charming properties and quaint small companies. There are additionally vacationer hubs like a petting zoo and the San Juan Capistrano Historical Society, which includes a museum detailing the town’s path from a tiny Catholic parish to a thriving West Coast vacation spot. The historic district can also be situated proper alongside Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route, which takes guests alongside the golden coast from San Luis Obispo to San Diego.

Orozco says the neighborhood started to alter after the opening of the Ramos House Cafe within the ’90s.

“They were the first restaurant on the street, or the first shop on the street, that reopened its doors and started the revitalization process,” Orozco mentioned. 

The neighborhood additionally boasts what’s believed to be the oldest dwelling in California, the Pablo Pryer Adobe-Hyde House inbuilt 1790 — and the centuries-old Mission San Juan Capistrano, which welcomes some 300,000 guests per yr.

“That’s one of my favorite things to hear from our guests, that it’s not like anywhere else that they’ve visited in California,” Orozco mentioned. “Especially being in Orange County where it’s a little bit more cookie-cutter. It’s nice to have something that feels like old-world charm.”

Despite its classic historical past, the city continues to be increasing. In 2024, the River Street Marketplace opened. The new complicated is a gathering place for the neighborhood and features a classic clothes retailer and a surf store.

The market maintains the city’s old-world really feel, with a country wood water tower and farmhouse-style buildings.

“The timing of it was absolutely perfect for what people wanted,” Harrison Taylor, a local of the city and the developer of the River Street Marketplace, informed SFGATE.

The picturesque city even has an Old Hollywood connection.

“There’s a little section in the backside of Los Rios, kind of close to where I live, that is nicknamed Little Hollywood. During the Prohibition era, it was where people would gamble and drink,” Taylor mentioned.

“The Hollywood elite would take the train down to San Juan, and it was walking distance from the train station, and they could gamble and drink and get away with it.”

Like America itself, San Juan Capistrano celebrated its 250th anniversary this yr, with occasions marking the milestone scheduled by way of the yr.

“It just has such an authentic small town feel, even in this busy Orange County life that we all have,” Taylor mentioned.