The Forgotten History of the Balboa Bay Club

Photos courtesy of the Balboa Bay Club

Here are eight things you might not know about the Balboa Bay Club, one of Newport Beach’s most beloved institutions.

1. The Balboa Bay Club, which opened in 1948, was built on nearly 16 acres of city-owned bayfront land used during World War II for housing pilots in training and repairing ships. 

2. The land was originally owned by the Irvine Co., which gifted it to the city and insisted the property be for public use. This stipulation would prove controversial over the years as debates raged over whether a private club constituted public use. That's why in 2003 the property was basically split in half between public and private use.

3. Original plans called for a $27-million (today’s dollars), family-oriented club with a swimming pool, tennis courts, weekend cottages, two-story hotel and yacht club.

4. The venture was a huge bet on the future of Newport Beach, which then was a sleepy town of just 10,000 residents. 

5. Initial memberships costing $15,000 (today’s dollars) were sold from a hamburger stand on the club’s construction.

6. The pool was built first as a showy attraction for wowing potential members, and the beach was created with imported sand from Carmel and Monterey. 

7. The club’s popularity took off in the 1950s and 60s when it became a favorite haunt of Hollywood’s biggest stars. 

8. Every Republican U.S. president since Dwight Eisenhower has made a stop at the Balboa Bay Club. Nixon even set up a miniature Oval Office in an apartment there, complete with a hotline to the Kremlin.

William Lobdell is the historian laureate for the City of Newport Beach. He is also founder of Newport Beach in the Rearview Mirror, which produces a local history podcast and 90-second videos (with over 6.5 million views) that appear on Instagram and Facebook.

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