In Chino Hills, golf is never far away

Los Serranos is all about golf. And it’s been that way for decades, ever since a tennis champion from 60 years ago put the rustic area on the map in Chino Hills, considered the gem of San Bernardino County with its luxury homes and blue-ribbon schools.

“Tennis is my first love, but . . . the golf course has been my bread and butter,” said the 86-year-old Jack Kramer.

Beginnings

In the early 1800s, the land that makes up Los Serranos became part of San Gabriel Mission and was used to graze horses and cattle. A series of land deals saw the property eventually end up in the hands of Richard Gird in 1881. His claim to fame was helping to start the city of Chino.

The main ranch house on Gird’s property was later transformed into the first clubhouse for the golf course, which opened in 1925. The club was a semi-private, 750-acre recreational community and resort providing golf, stables and riding trails and rental cottages, which largely make up the look and feel of today’s Los Serranos. Kramer bought the course in 1961.

Today, there are two 18-hole public courses -- the older North Course and the newer South Course, one of California’s longest at 7,587 yards.

Roughly speaking

The community wraps around the golf course and extends as far north as a retirement community surrounding Lake Los Serranos.

Pipeline Avenue cuts along the western edge of Los Serranos and connects to Chino Hills Parkway to the north and Soquel Canyon Parkway to the south.

Country Club Drive winds along a curvy edge of the northern section of the golf course. This area of Los Serranos is referred to as the upper “dog patch” and is the spot where there are million-dollar views of the Chino Valley when looking eastward across the course.

The views don’t extend, however, to the California Institution for Men, just over two miles to the east near California 71.

But Los Serranos also has highbrow neighbors. About two miles to the west is the 600-acre, private, gated country club community of Vellano, where home buyers are paying $1 million just for lots overlooking a Greg Norman-designed golf course.

Insider’s view

Some residents along Fairway Boulevard, including John Ruef, don’t care for the golf craze. Ruef spearheaded a petition drive this spring to have netting installed along the edge of the course.

He’s had errant balls smash his bay window, leave dents in his garage door and blow out the rear window of his Toyota Corolla parked in his drive- way. “I’m tired of balls,” Ruef said.

Terry Nisewander, who lives on Los Serranos Road, is willing to put up with the golf balls, however.

“It’s a million-dollar view right here,” Nisewander said.

There hasn’t always been trouble in paradise -- eucalyptus trees once provided a natural barrier to stop the tiny projectiles, but in the 1980s, hundreds were removed because of a bark beetle infestation.

Housing stock

Driving along the streets of Los Serranos, it’s not unusual to see “for sale” signs dotting frontyards.

“In its heyday a few years ago, some homes reached $500,000, with some going over $500,000 in the newer sections,” said Iris Tonti, a manager of Century 21 who lives in Los Serranos.

Today, a 1,200-square-foot house in the Pipeline Road area might sell in the $350,000-to-$400,000 range. Tonti has seen some 40-year-old homes sell for as little as $300,000.

New luxury homes being built along Bird Farm Road -- near the 71 -- will likely sell in the range of $480,000 to $500,000 for a 1,500-square-foot home, she said.

To the south of Los Serranos, near Chino Hills State Park, is the Ridgegate single-family subdivision with homes advertised at starting prices of $800,000 to $900,000 for 3,161 to 3,949 square feet. Views of the San Gabriel Mountains and Mt. Baldy are showcased.

The housing prices for more than 300 manufactured homes in the Lake Los Serranos retirement park range from just under $40,000 to $190,000 for 1,300 to 1,900 square feet.

Report card

There are two elementary schools within Los Serranos. Los Serranos Elementary scored 796 out of a possible 1,000 points on the 2007 Academic Performance Index Base Report. Chaparral, which opened in August 2006 and is among two dozen elementary schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District, scored 799. Students from these schools may go on to attend Townsend Junior High, which had a score of 820. From there, the public high schools are Ayala, 799, and Chino, 779.

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Sources: www.chinohills.org, chino.k12.ca.us, experiencevellano.com, fieldstone-homes.com.