San Diego real estate blog - Peter Toner

“Defensible landscape” and “shelter in place” are the current buzzwords in San Diego after our recent fires.

The newer developments in Rancho Santa Fe; Cielo, The Bridges, The Crosby’s suffered no losses even though the fire came up to their boundaries. Why? They were designed to withstand the onslaught of a firestorm - see Union Tribune story.

Older developments such as Fairbanks Ranch were not originally designed in this way but homeowners on the boundaries of a neighborhood have a choice as to how and what they plant in their backyard.

These homes are on the edge of Fairbanks Ranch. The house on the right #1 (I represented the buyers when they purchased earlier this year) has good defensible space created by a wise previous owner, so does the one in the middle #2. Not so the house on the left #3, here it is below - just a shell after the fire. The home across the street #4 was lost too, presumably from the embers of #3.