Laguna Niguel

Laguna Niguel is an affluent master planned community located in the coastal San Joaquin Hills of southern Orange County, California.

The city cuts a long, vertical swathe in South Orange County, as it lies between renowned Laguna Beach and the marina city of Dana Point. At its farthest west point, Laguna Niguel boasts many multi-dollar beachfront homes that line the same beaches that the Ritz Carlton looks down upon. Travel almost straight inland and you will find one luxurious community after another as Laguna Niguel stretches to the San Juan Capistrano ridge, Trabuco Creek.

The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon",) and "Nigueli" (the name of a Juaneño Indian village once located near Aliso Creek). The city was initially begun on a Mexican land grant, which was then purchased in 1895 by Lewis Moulton of The Moulton Company. In 1959, the Laguna Niguel Corporation, begun by a Boston firm, created a 7,100-acre blueprint for one of California's first master planned communities.

That Laguna Niguel master plan continues to this day, encompassing condominiums, townhouses, zero-lot line executive homes and exquisite beachfront mansions.

Aside from private schooling academies in the area, the Capistrano Unified School District governs the Laguna Niguel school system, which consists of Moulton and Crown Valley Elementaries, and Niguel Hills Middle School. Students then move to either Dana Hills High School or Aliso Niguel High.