Misison Viejo History

The hilly region which Mission Viejo occupies was primarily used as cattle and sheep grazing land, as it was of little use to farmers. It was one of the last regions of Orange County to be urbanized due to its geologic complexity.

Englishman Juan (John) Forster, husband of Mexican Governor Pío Pico's sister Ysidora, acquired the Rancho Trabuco (future Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita) from Santiago Arguello.

Forster provided fresh horses to American military forces led by Commodore Robert F. Stockton and General Kearney on their march from San Diego to retake Los Angeles during the Mexican-American War. The force camped in Lake Forest along their march.

Early developers in the 1960s dismissed most of the land in the area as simply "undevelopable".

In the early 1970s, urban planner Donald Bren, who would later become the president of the Irvine Company, drafted a master plan which placed roads in the valleys and houses on the hills, and contoured to the geography of the area.

The plan worked, and by 1980 much of the city of Mission Viejo was completed.

During the late 1970s and the 1980s, houses in Mission Viejo were in such high demand that housing tracts often sold out before construction even began on them. The houses and shopping centers in the city are almost uniformly designed in a Spanish mission style, with "adobe"-like stucco walls and barrel-tile roofs.

Many point to Mission Viejo as the first and largest manifestation of Donald Bren's obsession with Spanish architecture, which would again become apparent with his developments in Irvine and Newport Beach.

In the late 1990s to early 2000s, Mission Viejo, California became a major suburban city, one of the many communities bringing attention to "South (Orange) County" (wikipedia)

Lake Mission Viejo

(Photo below) At the center of the city is a man-made lake, Lake Mission Viejo. This lake is a private association for Mission Viejo residents. Lake Mission Viejo is near the city's northern tip with the backdrop of Santiago Peak about five milies further north. Custom waterfront homes, condominiums, boat rentals, and swim beaches surround the lake. There are two main beaches, Playa del Norte and Playa del Este, with a few smaller, private beaches. Lake Mission Association web site.