Overview
About Cyprus Shore
Cyprus Shore covers 44 acres and holds 169 addresses on 173 parcels, at a median parcel of 0.18 acres. Thirteen streets serve it and most carry a woman's name: Calle Ariana with 35 addresses, then Calle Isabella, Calle Louisa, Calle Marlena, Calle Lisa, Via Adelia, Calle Alicia and Calle Francesca. It is the 31st largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here.
Residential Low Density land accounts for 31.6 acres inside the boundary and public right of way for 9.3. Of the 44 acres, 9.2 fall inside the coastal bluff the city maps, the largest bluff acreage of any of the fifty boundaries, and the city's coastal access inventory records the access at Avenida de las Palmeras as private. The state fire hazard severity map reaches only 31.2 acres, 27.5 of them Moderate. Capistrano Unified's own school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia Elementary at all five interior points tested.
View available homes in Cyprus ShoreHistory
How Cyprus Shore was built
Cyprus Shore is the gated ground at the far south end of San Clemente, and the house behind the next set of hedges is the reason people outside the county know the name. Hamilton H. Cotton, one of the town's founding financiers, built a Spanish house on the point here in 1926, modeled on a country home in San Sebastian, Spain, and he used it to entertain Franklin D. Roosevelt. Richard Nixon bought the property from Cotton's widow in 1969 and renamed it La Casa Pacifica. It stands inside the gates, in the pocket of Cottons Point Estates and Cyprus Shore, and the Secret Service wrapped much of the grounds in a wall about 1,500 feet long when he moved in.
For six years the neighbors lived next to a working presidency. Leonid Brezhnev, Prime Minister Sato of Japan and Henry Kissinger all came through the gate, and Nixon received Brezhnev here in June 1973. The part that matters most locally happened two years earlier. In 1971 Governor Ronald Reagan established San Onofre State Beach on land leased from the Marine Corps, which opened Trestles, the run of breaks directly below the point, to anyone who wanted to walk in. The Nixons sold and left in 1980.
By the Numbers
Cyprus Shore by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Cyprus Shore lifestyle
San Clemente keeps ten beaches of its own along the shore, from North Beach past the pier to Riviera, and the city's Marine Safety division staffs them. The pier itself carries restrooms, metered parking, fire rings and the Amtrak and Metrolink platform at its foot.
The city publishes five trail networks that run from the sand up into the canyons and along the ridgelines. Bikes are welcome on all of them, electric bikes are not allowed on the Beach Trail, dogs are welcome on a leash, and horses are permitted on the Forster Ridgeline, Prima Deshecha and Cristianitos trails. City parks are open from 6 am to 10 pm without a reservation unless a group needs a permit.
Schools
Schools serving Cyprus Shore
Capistrano Unified assigns Cyprus Shore to San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia Elementary. The district's own school locator returned the same assignment at every point tested inside the boundary, and enrollment comes from the federal count for 2024-25.
9-12 · 2,740 students
6-8 · 634 students
K-5 · 533 students
FAQs
Common questions about Cyprus Shore
How big is Cyprus Shore?
The boundary the city publishes covers 44 acres, with 169 addresses on 173 parcels at a median of 0.18 acres. It is the 31st largest of the fifty San Clemente communities mapped here.
Which schools serve Cyprus Shore?
Capistrano Unified's school locator returned San Clemente High, Shorecliffs Middle and Concordia Elementary at all five points tested inside the boundary. Confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district before you rely on it.
Is there a historic landmark in Cyprus Shore?
Yes. The city's historic resources register lists the Cotton Estate Gate on Avenida de las Palmeras as a landmark, recorded as built about 1928 to a Carl Lindbom design for Hamilton H. Cotton in Spanish Colonial Revival.
When was Cyprus Shore built?
Tract 4202 was recorded in 1961 and later maps followed in 1982, 1983 and 1987. The county assessor carries a build year on 150 parcels here, spread from 1963 to 1995 across four decades.
How much of Cyprus Shore is on the coastal bluff?
9.2 of the 44 acres inside the published boundary fall within the coastal bluff the city maps, the largest bluff acreage of the fifty communities here. The city's coastal access inventory records the access at Avenida de las Palmeras as private.