Overview
About Old Top of the World
Old Top of the World is the original hilltop pocket at the head of Top of the World Drive, off Alta Laguna Boulevard, taking in Shady Place, Ann's, Tree Top and Sommet du Monde. The city draws it as evacuation zone 15, and at 26 acres it is by a wide margin the smallest of the twenty-two named areas, less than a fortieth the size of the largest. The assessor counts 104 parcels on twelve named streets, and the city zones 99 of its 102 parcels R1.
Nine and a half of the 26 acres are open space preserve, so more than a third of the pocket is protected land, and it touches Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park at its edge. Wilcoxen Park sits on Treetop Lane. Laguna Beach Unified serves the hilltop from four campuses and 2,291 students, with El Morro and Top of the World elementaries feeding Thurston Middle and then Laguna Beach High.
View available homes in Old Top of the WorldHistory
How Old Top of the World was built
This is the first of the hilltop lots, the small original piece of the ridge that everything above the village was later named after. The ridge is Temple Hill, the second highest peak in the San Joaquin Hills at about 1,038 feet, and from it a clear day gives most of Orange County, the Saddleback valley and the ocean.
Joseph S. Thurston gave the hills their name. He was the son of George and Sarah Thurston, who homesteaded 152 acres in Aliso Canyon in 1871 on ground Eugene Salter had claimed and abandoned, and he farmed the family ranch before moving into the village and marrying the schoolteacher Marie Harding. In 1919 he bought the hilltop ground that had belonged to George Rogers and named it Temple Hills, for the inspiration and spiritual strength he found in it. He gave acreage at the top of the hills for a park in 1925, the same year the first tract maps over Temple Hills went on record.
By the Numbers
Old Top of the World by the numbers
Lifestyle
The Old Top of the World lifestyle
Laguna Beach occupies 8.84 square miles with a population of about 23,000 and roughly six million visitors a year on the city's own count, and provides its own police, fire and marine safety protection.
Beaches north of Aliso Creek close between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.; beaches south of the creek close between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.; Thousand Steps Beach closes between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.
The city permits surfing at Agate, Brooks, Rockpile and Thalia Street beaches. Smoking fines on city beaches, parks and trails run $100, then $200, then $500 within twelve months.
Schools
Schools serving Old Top of the World
Laguna Beach Unified serves Old Top of the World along with the rest of the city, from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. Attendance is set by the district and can change, so confirm the current assignment for a specific address with the district before relying on it.
K-5 · 404 students
K-5 · 536 students
6-8 · 524 students
9-12 · 815 students
FAQs
Common questions about Old Top of the World
How big is Old Top of the World?
The city's published boundary encloses 26 acres, drawn as evacuation zone 15, which makes it by a wide margin the smallest of the twenty-two named areas. The assessor counts 104 parcels on twelve named streets at the head of Top of the World Drive, and the city zones 99 of its 102 parcels R1.
How is it different from Top of the World?
It is older on paper and newer on the ground. Both maps covering this pocket were recorded by Frank P. Gowan in 1927 and 1928, three decades before the first tract in the Top of the World neighborhood below. Yet half its houses date to 1974 or later, because building here waited two generations after the lots were drawn.
Which schools serve Old Top of the World?
Laguna Beach Unified serves the whole city from four campuses and 2,291 students on the 2024-25 federal count: El Morro Elementary 404, Top of the World Elementary 536, Thurston Middle 524 and Laguna Beach High 815. Top of the World Elementary is the nearest campus, on Treetop Lane just beyond this boundary. Elementary assignment is set by the district, so confirm the current one for a specific address with the district office.
What does Sommet du Monde mean?
It is French for top of the world, and it is the name of one of the streets platted here on the 1920s maps. Ann's, Shady Place and Tree Top are the others alongside Top of the World Drive and Alta Laguna Boulevard.
How much open space is inside the boundary?
Nine and a half of the 26 acres are open space preserve, more than a third of the pocket, and it touches Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park at its edge. That park covers roughly 4,500 acres with more than thirty miles of trails, and the city notes that the open space beyond Alta Laguna Park closes at sunset.