Homes along Pacific Coast Highway east of Duke's (21150 Pacific Coast Highway at Las Flores Canyon) are the Las Flores Beach neighborhood. There are a scant few homes landside in this area, but beach side they are wall to wall to Moonshadows Restaurant (at 20356 Pacific Coast Highway) and on into the Big Rock Beach neighborhood. One of the oldest homes in the Malibu area was built here in 1913, at 21026 Pacific Coast Highway, outside the gates of Rancho Malibu. The homes are built along Pacific Coast Highway above the beach, uncovered at low tide but often underwater at high tide. Near Duke's at the western end of the neighborhood is the mouth of Las Flores Creek which has the widest beach. Sea lions are often visitors here.
Many of these homes are rentals, mostly duplexes and triplexes, and the typical quality is not the equal of the more upscale beach neighborhoods to the west such as La Costa Beach or Carbon Beach. However, a process of upgrading is going as more and more of these homes are replaced by homes of much better design and construction. Some condo units are also part of the neighborhood mix. During the Christmas Week storms in December 2004, high tide and waves undermined homes near the 20800 block of Pacific Coast Highway, after part of the bulkhead broke away. All the beach access stairs in the area were reported torn off by the waves. This was a reprise of a storm in December of 1982 that destroyed homes along PCH in Las Flores Beach. From the opposite direction, steep slopes above PCH on the land side have often had slides or large rock falls which sometimes cross the road and damage homes on the beach side. One of the worst incidents started June 19, 1998 when rocks came down onto Pacific Coast Highway, adjacent to Las Flores Canyon Road, resulting in the partial closure of Pacific Coast Highway for five months while major construction took place on the hillside. Slides in January and February 2005 also closed Pacific Coast Highway for a time.
Las Flores Beach homes are directly on Pacific Coast Highway with little buffer from noise and traffic hazards. It is an unusual situation, a residential neighborhood set right on a major highway with the sea beyond and only cliffs across the road. Almost all of the traffic on PCH is driving through, in a hurry to get somewhere else, with little regard for the local residents.
If you have any questions about this area or would like to view available properties, please feel free to contact Ishita Ganguly-Morrison at 424 234 0975 or Ishita@PacificGreatEstates.com.
