Rancho Santa Fe is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California, United States, within the San Diego metropolitan area. The population was 3,117 at the 2010 census. The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, a middle and elementary school, and several restaurants.

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Rancho Santa Fe borders the Fairbanks Ranch gated community to the southeast and Solana Beach to the southwest.

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According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Rancho Santa Fe has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.

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The climate of Rancho Santa Fe is, for the most part, typical of the San Diego metropolitan area though its higher elevation and inland location lends itself to larger temperature variations.

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History

In 1841, Rancho San Dieguito, as it was originally named, was a Mexican land grant of 8,824 acres (35.71 km2) from Governor Pío Pico of Alta California to Juan Maria Osuna, the first alcalde (mayor) of the Pueblo of San Diego.

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In 1906, the Santa Fe Railway, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, purchased the entire land grant to plant a Blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) tree plantation for use as railroad ties, but the wood proved too soft to hold railroad spikes. The railroad then formed the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company to develop a planned community of country estates, and 6,200 acres developed from the original Rancho San Dieguito land grant were renamed "Rancho Santa Fe" in 1922.

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In 1921, architect Lilian Rice, working under Requa and Jackson, was chosen to develop the community's master plan. Rice worked through to 1927, designing, supervising, and constructing the village center, as well as several homes. The basics of the original Lilian Rice land plan are in effect to this day, and the resulting low density high green space community is unique in Southern California.

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In 1923, the Santa Fe Land Company constructed a guest house called "La Morada" to house potential land purchasers. It was renamed in 1941, as "The Inn", when it was purchased by a private owner.

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From 1937 to 1947, Bing Crosby hosted a golf tournament known as the "Bing Crosby Clambake" at the Rancho Santa Fe Country Club. Crosby's golf tournaments, which included Hollywood celebrities matched against professionals, drew great crowds to the area. After 1947, the tournament was moved to Monterey Peninsula, just outside San Francisco.

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In 1989, "The Covenant" of Rancho Santa Fe was registered as California Historical Landmark #982 for its status as a historic planned community.

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Notable People:

• Warren Barton, former English football player​

• Bud Black, manager of Colorado Rockies, major league pitcher from 1981–1995, manager of San Diego Padres 2007–2015

• Drew Brees, NFL quarterback, lived in Rancho Santa Fe between 2003 and 2012

• Tom Chino, farmer

• John H. Cox, businessman and politician

• Jenny Craig, founder of Jenny Craig Inc.

• Steve Finley, former major league baseball player

• Taylor Fritz, professional tennis player

• Bill Gates, entrepreneur, software executive, philanthropist and former chairman of Microsoft

• Jonathan Goldsmith, actor

• Gordon Hayward, professional basketball player, lived in Rancho Santa Fe between 2015 and 2020

• Charley Hoffman, professional golfer, San Diego native

• Trevor Hoffman, former professional baseball player

• Robert Herring owner of Herring Networks

• Travis Lee, former professional baseball player

• Quentin Jammer, former professional football player

• Jelena Janković, Serbian professional tennis player

• Kawhi Leonard, professional basketball player

• Mike Love, Beach Boys singer and songwriter

• Jamie Lovemark, professional golfer

• Phil Mickelson, professional golfer

• John Moores, philanthropist, former owner of San Diego Padres, former regent of University of California

• Bill Murray, actor

• Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran

• Philip Rivers, professional football player

• Ace Frehley, former Kiss guitarist

• Andrew Viterbi, Communication engineer, Qualcomm founder

• CoCo Vandeweghe, women's tennis player.

• Troy Polamalu, former professional football player

• Arnold Schwarzenegger, former professional body builder, actor and governor of California (vacation home)

• Richard Simmons, actor and weight loss guru

• Tiger Woods, professional golfer (vacation home)

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Sources: Wikipedia