A private forest on the ocean, five golf courses, and the most expensive residential ground on the Monterey Peninsula.

What it is

Pebble Beach is not a town. It is the Del Monte Forest, an unincorporated and gated community of some 5,000 acres between Carmel and Pacific Grove, entered through one of several gatehouses and crossed by 17-Mile Drive. There is no downtown — the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the Inn at Spanish Bay serve that function — and no through traffic, because the gates charge non-residents to enter.

Golf is the organising principle. Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill, Cypress Point, Poppy Hills and The Links at Spanish Bay are all inside the forest. The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am comes in February and the Concours d’Elegance in August, and during both the place is transformed.

The housing stock

Enormously varied. There are modest post-war houses on interior forest lots, Spanish revival estates from the 1920s, and ocean-front holdings on the drive that trade privately as often as publicly. The spread in our current listings tells the story better than any description: the range runs from under a million to the high tens of millions, and the median sits well above every other area on this site.

Lots are generally large and heavily wooded. Many houses back onto fairways, which is a virtue or a nuisance depending on your tolerance for early golfers.

What to know before you buy

• The Del Monte Forest has its own rules. Architectural review, tree preservation and design covenants all apply, and they are enforced.
• Golf club membership does not come with the house. The courses and the property market are separate transactions; assume nothing.
• Privacy is the product. Many of the best properties never reach open market, which is where a broker who knows the forest earns their keep.
• It is genuinely quiet. No shops, no schools inside the gates, and everything is a drive away. That suits some buyers completely and others not at all.