Overview
About The Oaks
The Oaks covers 33.5 acres and holds 164 homes on thirteen streets, with a median lot of 5,420 square feet. The city's land use layer records 5.6 acres of low density residential inside the boundary, 2.8 acres of open space and half an acre of low-medium density, while the zoning layer classes ten acres as high density residential.
The city's pool layer counts eight backyard pools inside the boundary, twelve solar installations and five spas, and no shared pool. Irvine Ranch Water District supplies the water, street sweeping runs Wednesday morning, and children go to Rancho Canada Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High.
View available homes in The OaksHistory
How The Oaks was built
The Oaks sits on ground granted in 1842 as Rancho Canada de los Alisos, 10,668 acres that Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado gave to Jose Antonio Serrano and Pio Pico enlarged in 1846. Serrano ran cattle for hides and tallow. The drought that began in 1863 killed the herds and forced the rancho into foreclosure to a Los Angeles banker.
Dwight Whiting of Boston bought most of it in 1884 and set about building an English village called Aliso City. He brought rail access, subdivided the land, and planted olives, grape vines and about 400 acres of eucalyptus near Serrano Creek as a lumber crop meant to draw settlers. The farming failed on dry ground and thin soil. What remained was a eucalyptus forest, and when Occidental Petroleum built houses among the grown out trees in the late 1960s and dug two artificial lakes, the forest and the lakes gave the city the name it took at incorporation on 20 December 1991. The build year layer puts The Oaks itself in the 1970s.
By the Numbers
The Oaks by the numbers
Lifestyle
The The Oaks lifestyle
Lake Forest keeps 31 parks open from dawn to dusk. The Lake Forest Sports Park and Recreation Center opened in November 2014 on 86 acres, with 57 of them given over to sports fields, and the city runs the largest free skatepark in Orange County at Etnies Skatepark.
Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park holds 1,575 acres of county open space against the north edge of the city, and the city's trail map carries 49 named trails.
Across the whole city the general plan sets 3,756 acres to residential use and 3,065 acres to open space and parks, which is why so much of Lake Forest reads as green from the ridgelines.
Schools
Schools serving The Oaks
The City of Lake Forest property record names Rancho Canada Elementary for all 199 addresses in the Oaks, with Serrano Intermediate for middle school and El Toro High for high school. There is no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
9-12 · 1,902 students
7-8 · 868 students
K-6 · 633 students
FAQs
Common questions about The Oaks
How big is the Oaks?
The community covers 33.5 acres on the city's published boundary and holds 164 homes on 199 parcels across thirteen streets. The median parcel measures 5,420 square feet.
Who developed the Oaks?
The owner's certificates on the recorded maps name Aetna Capital Company, a California corporation, as the subdivider, signed by senior vice president Allan J. Long. First American Title Insurance Company appears as trustee on the same certificates.
When was the Oaks laid out?
Five subdivision maps were recorded between May 22, 1975 and June 11, 1976, all surveyed by William J. Frost of Raub, Bein, Frost and Associates. Tract 8813 records 47 lots on 8.015 acres, tract 8815 records 39 lots on 6.687 acres and tract 7316 records 44 lots on 8.391 acres.
Which schools serve the Oaks?
The city's property record names Rancho Canada Elementary, Serrano Intermediate and El Toro High for all 199 addresses inside the boundary, with no split at any level. All three are Saddleback Valley Unified campuses.
Is there a community pool?
No. The city's pool layer records eight pools inside the boundary and every one is a private backyard pool, alongside five spas and twelve solar installations.