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Long Beach, California · Neighborhood guide

California Heights

Long Beach's largest historic district: nearly 1,500 homes, most of them Spanish Colonial Revival, on streets with vintage lampposts

Orange and yellow lantana flowers in front of a white stucco cottage with a red tile roof, teal shutters and a red arched door
Photo: Jack Prommel, Unsplash License
Median askingCalifornia Heights$870K14 for sale
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California Heights, in short.

California Heights, or Cal Heights, is a neighborhood in north Long Beach, ZIP 90807, and the city's largest historic district, with nearly 1,500 homes between Wardlow Road and Bixby Road from Lime Avenue to Gardenia Avenue. The Bixby family's company subdivided the old ranch land after the 1921 Signal Hill oil boom, and most houses are 1920s and 1930s Spanish Colonial Revival, with Tudor, Norman Revival and Craftsman homes mixed in. It became a historic district in 1990, so exterior work needs city approval. As of September 2026, the two houses listed asked $1.1 million and $1.25 million, and condos about $340,000 to $450,000.

California Heights by the numbers.

  • 11,883Population
  • 39%Bachelor's degree or higherage 25+
  • $91,155Median household income
  • 44.4Median age
  • 1921Oil boomSignal Hill strike led to the tract
  • 90807ZIP codeUptown Long Beach

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year 2019–2023; neighborhood facts compiled by The Slava House.

Long Beach's largest historic district

Nearly 1,500 period homes, protected since 1990.

California Heights, called Cal Heights by nearly everyone, is the largest historic district in Long Beach, with nearly 1,500 homes. The city lists its boundaries as Wardlow Road, Bixby Road, Lime Avenue and Gardenia Avenue, just south of Bixby Knolls and east of Atlantic Avenue. The city's neighborhood map is a bit larger, running from Long Beach Boulevard to Cherry Avenue and down to the 405.

Spanish Colonial Revival houses, stucco with red tile roofs and arched windows, fill most blocks, mixed with Tudor Revival, Norman Revival, Neo-Traditional and California bungalows. The city counts the streetscape as part of the district too: the vintage streetlights and the large, mature street trees.

The neighbors are organized. Residents pushed for the historic designation, and the California Heights Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit, has supported restoring the vintage lampposts. For coffee, dinner and shopping, people walk or bike to Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls, just north of Bixby Road.

Because it's a designated historic district, any exterior change, even work that wouldn't normally need a building permit, needs a city Certificate of Appropriateness. Many homes also qualify for Mills Act property tax savings.

White stucco Spanish Revival bungalow with a red tile roof, an arched front window, iron window grilles and a green front lawn
A Spanish Revival bungalow in Los Angeles, the style California Heights is known forPhoto: ubeyonroad, Unsplash License
Live from the MLS

California Heights compared with all of Long Beach.

California Heights asks 3% less than Long Beach as a whole.

A square foot in California Heights costs 6% less than across Long Beach.

Listings in California Heights have been on the market 3 days longer than across Long Beach.

What’s for sale

36% of the homes for sale in California Heights are single-family houses.

  • Single-family36%5 homes
  • Condo29%4 homes
  • Multi-unit21%3 homes
  • Townhouse7%1 home
  • Other7%1 home

Homes for sale in California Heights are 16% smaller than across Long Beach.

Each card sets the median in California Heights against all of Long Beach. The arrow on a card lists every Long Beach neighborhood we cover. Asking prices for homes on the market right now inside each mapped area, not sale prices. Updated October 3, 2026, 5:00 PM PT

Homes for sale in California Heights

14 active listings in the mapped area

See California Heights homes on the live map

Slava Ploshkin, Realtor

Still deciding? Ask me.

I’m a Realtor right here in Long Beach and I know California Heights inside out. Buying or selling, tell me what you’re after and I’ll help you get there.

Call (424) 400-9003

Slava Ploshkin · DRE #02323623English and Russian · How I work in Long Beach

Where to eat, shop, and explore in California Heights

The restaurants, cafes, shops, parks, and landmarks that give California Heights its everyday character, most within a short walk.

8 places

Pick one and I’ll show you where it is.

  1. Landmark10 min walk

    Long Beach's largest historic district: nearly 1,500 homes between Wardlow and Bixby roads, mostly Spanish Colonial Revival, with vintage streetlights the neighbors have restored.

  2. Restaurant10 min walk

    A long-running coffee shop and pie bakery at 3697 Atlantic Avenue, where locals line up for the pies.

  3. Restaurant5 min walk

    A neighborhood cafe at 3405 Orange Avenue, near Wardlow Road.

  4. Coffee20 min walk

    A coffee bar at SteelCraft, 3768 Long Beach Boulevard at Bixby Road. The same roaster has shops on Wardlow Road and East Broadway.

  5. Nightlife5 min walk

    A neighborhood bar at 1115 East Wardlow Road, on the district's southern edge.

  6. Nightlife · Nearby20 min walk

    A brewery and taproom at 4019 Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls, a short walk north of the district.

  7. Park · Nearby25 min walk

    An 8-acre city park at Country Club Drive and Bixby Road in the Los Cerritos neighborhood, with lighted tennis courts and a playground.

  8. Restaurant · Nearby20 min walk

    A German-style kitchen and beer garden at 4020 Atlantic Avenue, just north of the district, on the stretch of Atlantic the local business association calls Brewery Knolls.

From Bixby grazing land to a protected district

Neighbors fought a zoning change, then got the district designated in 1990.

Until the early 1920s this was grazing land on the Bixby ranch, part of the old Rancho Los Cerritos. In 1919 barnstormer Earl Daugherty opened a 20-acre flying field and flight school at Bixby Road and Long Beach Boulevard, on the western edge, and the name he gave it, Chateau Thierry, still gets used for the western blocks of Cal Heights and Bixby Knolls.

The 1921 oil strike on Signal Hill, just to the south, set off a land boom, and the Jotham Bixby Company subdivided and sold the California Heights tract. Most of the houses went up in the late 1920s and 1930s, and some California bungalows were moved in from other neighborhoods, including Signal Hill.

Later the neighborhood was zoned R-2, allowing two units per lot, and residents saw it bringing in demolitions and out-of-scale buildings. They petitioned to down-zone back to R-1, then pushed for historic protection. California Heights became the city's fourth historic district in 1990, and an expansion ordinance was adopted on August 29, 2000.

Two story white Spanish Revival house with tile roofs, three arches, a wooden balcony and a dry garden in warm low light
Warm light on a Spanish Revival house with an arched porch in Los AngelesPhoto: Moses Malik Roldan, Unsplash License
  • Earl Daugherty's Chateau Thierry flying field opened on the edge in 1919
  • The 1921 Signal Hill oil boom led to the subdivision
  • Down-zoned to R-1, designated a historic district in 1990, expanded in 2000

Spanish revival, with a lot of original detail

One of the most complete sets of interwar houses in the region.

Spanish Colonial Revival is the signature: one-story and story-and-a-half stucco houses with red tile roofs, arched windows and entries, wrought iron and courtyards. Mixed in are storybook Tudor and Norman Revival houses with steep roofs, California bungalows, and Neo-Traditional homes.

Lots are modest, but the houses keep a lot of original detail, like hardwood floors, coved ceilings, arched doorways, tile and built-ins. With the mature trees and the old streetlights, the interior blocks look much the way they did when they were built.

There's a cheaper way in. In September 2026, condos in a 1973 complex on Linden Avenue, on the west side of the neighborhood map, asked about $340,000 to $450,000, and duplexes asked about $900,000 to $1.45 million.

Jacaranda trees covered in purple flowers over a green park lawn scattered with fallen petals, with pines and picnic tables behind
Jacarandas bloom over the lawns of El Dorado Park in east Long BeachPhoto: Tracie Hall (Flickr: tracie7779), CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Spanish Colonial Revival is the dominant style
  • Also Tudor, Norman Revival, Neo-Traditional and California bungalows
  • Condos in a 1973 complex on Linden Avenue

Historic district approvals and the Mills Act

Even a window swap needs a city sign-off here.

The historic designation matters most. In California Heights, any exterior change needs a city Certificate of Appropriateness, including work that doesn't need a building permit, and projects are reviewed under the district's own ordinance and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. Small projects are handled by staff; second stories and additions over 250 square feet go to the Cultural Heritage Commission. Ask what work a seller did and whether it was approved.

The tax side can help. Houses in a historic district can apply for a Mills Act contract, and the city says new owners usually see property tax reductions of 30% to 50%. Contracts run a rolling 10 years. The 2026 window closed on March 20; the next opens in early January 2027, and applicants must attend a workshop first.

A 1920s or 1930s house may still have its original foundation, old wiring and plumbing, and an addition of uneven quality. Get the structure, roof, sewer line and systems inspected. LBUSD's Longfellow Elementary on Olive Avenue and Hughes Middle School on California Avenue are close by, but assignments go by address. Small planes headed to and from Long Beach Airport fly over parts of Cal Heights, and the east side is closest to the airport, so spend a weekday afternoon on the block before you commit.

Green Craftsman bungalow with deep eaves, exposed rafters and a wide front porch behind a sunny lawn and flower beds
A Craftsman bungalow in Los Angeles, a style also found in California HeightsPhoto: Laëtitia Zysberg, CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Any exterior change needs a Certificate of Appropriateness, even non-permit work
  • Mills Act: new owners often save 30% to 50%; next window January 2027
  • Old houses need full inspections; some blocks get airport noise

How the California Heights market works

A protected district that still costs less than the coast.

The buyers here want an original 1920s or 1930s house on a protected street they can walk, often for less than a similar house near the beach. Few houses are for sale at any one time: in September 2026, only two were listed in our map, asking $1.1 million and $1.25 million.

A restored showpiece and a project house are different products. What separates them is style and condition, how original the detail is, the lot, the level of restoration, and whether there's already a Mills Act contract. Compare a house to sales of houses in the same shape, not to the neighborhood average.

White stucco entry under a tile roof edge with a dark door, terracotta steps with patterned tile risers and a dog resting in the sun
A Spanish Revival entry with tiled steps in Long BeachPhoto: Jazmin Wong, Unsplash License
  • Only two houses were listed in September 2026, at $1.1M and $1.25M
  • Style, originality, restoration and Mills Act status drive price
  • Condos and duplexes on the west side keep an entry point open

Close to the freeways and the A Line

The interior streets are quiet and easy to park on, and Atlantic Avenue is a short walk north.

Parking on the interior streets is easy. Scherer Park, with its lake and courts, is the nearest large park, north of Bixby Road.

Atlantic Avenue and Long Beach Boulevard run north to south, the 405 is just south, and the 710 is a short drive west. The Metro A Line's Wardlow station on Long Beach Boulevard is a few blocks west of the district and runs to Downtown Long Beach and up to Los Angeles. Long Beach Airport is a few minutes east.

A white Streamline Moderne terminal with a control tower and Long Beach Airport lettering, a yellow taxi at the curb and palms on the right
Long Beach Airport's 1941 terminal, a few minutes' drive east of California HeightsPhoto: Ms ArtGeek (English Wikipedia), CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Atlantic Avenue is a short walk north; parking is easy
  • The 405, the 710 and the Metro A Line's Wardlow station are close
  • Long Beach Airport is a few minutes east

More California Heights facts

  • 1920s–1930sHome build eraMostly Spanish Colonial Revival
  • ~1,500Homes in districtThe city's largest historic district
  • 1990Historic districtThe city's fourth
  • 2000District expandedOrdinance adopted Aug 29, 2000

Rentals in California Heights

3 active rentals in the mapped area

See California Heights rentals on the live map

Renting in California Heights

Yes, but most people here own. Rentals come up in duplexes, townhomes and the condo and apartment buildings on the west side, and now and then in a house.

Compare California Heights

Compare California Heights with another neighborhood
Bixby Knolls vs California HeightsBixby Knolls or California Heights: which is better to live in?See the comparison ›California Heights vs Los CerritosSee the comparison ›California Heights vs Downtown Long BeachSee the comparison ›California Heights vs Alamitos BeachSee the comparison ›

Questions & answers

Yes, if you love older houses. It's the city's largest historic district, nearly 1,500 homes on quiet streets, with Atlantic Avenue's restaurants and breweries a short walk away and prices below the coast. You live with the district's rules on exterior changes, and with the upkeep of a house from the 1920s or 1930s.

Explore near California Heights

1.3 mi awayBixby KnollsNorth Long Beach's uptown: 1920s to 1940s houses under big trees, with the breweries on Atlantic a walk awayRead the guide ›1.3 mi awayLos CerritosAbout 700 large homes on wide streets around the Virginia Country Club and the 1844 Rancho Los Cerritos adobeRead the guide ›3.7 mi awayDowntown Long BeachWhere Long Beach started: apartment towers and old storefronts, with the harbor at the foot of Pine AvenueRead the guide ›3.8 mi awayAlamitos BeachOld apartment blocks east of Downtown, with Broadway through the middle and the sand at the end of the streetRead the guide ›4.0 mi awayPark EstatesCustom mid-century and traditional houses, started in 1948, on curving streets between Recreation Park and Cal State Long BeachRead the guide ›4.1 mi awayBluff ParkA 1982 historic district of big pre-war houses on the ocean bluff, facing a 13-acre strip of lawn above the beachRead the guide ›

Written by Slava Ploshkin, Realtor ·

Where we check the facts

The facts in this guide (districts, zones, rules) come from the official records below. We re-check them before property tours.

Show all 11 sourcesShow fewer
Photo credits (7)