How To Enjoy Malibu, California: Without Spending a Fortune

Malibu was originally part of a Spanish land grant known as Rancho Malibu. In 1892, the 13,000 plus acres were purchased by Frederick Rindge and his wife May, with the dream of turning it into a private hacienda and beachfront playground. He did indeed build a ranch house, and raised cattle and grains. The house burned in a fire in 1903. In 1905, Frederick Rindge died, leaving the estate to his wife to manage.

Malibu. 22 miles of coastline and they owned all of it. Imagine that, if you can.

Next walk down to the Malibu Pier, which you can see from the house.

Malibu Pier

Malibu Pier was originally built in 1905 to service the Adamson’s beach house. It’s been the site of many surf movies, TV shows, and was a World War II lookout post. Later, it became a fishing pier, and we did see lots of people fishing there.

Malibu Pier stands in stark contrast to most piers in southern California.

It’s a nice place for a conversation and a stroll without all the crowds and noise and chaos of, say, Santa Monica Pier. You can walk to the end of the pier and gaze at an unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean. That’s not easy to find, and it costs nothing.

There’s a trendy restaurant called Malibu Farm, and a gift shop that markets the Malibu lifestyle. Everything there is great quality and very well done. And expensive. But you don’t need money to browse. Do not miss the black and white photograph of Malibu from the 1940s.