Visitors and residents leave the mainland bustle and stress behind.

Formorethan 7,000 years, humans have been enjoyingthe cool breezes, clearblue waterand great fishing of SantaCatalina, one of the eight rockyislands that wreath the coast of Southern California from SantaBarbara to La Jolla.

The Pimungan group of the Gabrielinopeoplewerethe first Southern Californianstoundertakethe 22-mile journey from the mainland to the island, and for thousands of years made their home there, trading fish andsoapstone with other groupsthroughout the region.

The coming of the Spanish explorerJuanCabrillo in 1542 markedthe beginning of the end for their wayoflife, although it would be 60 years beforethe island wasvisited againbyEuropeans, when it wasrediscoveredbythe explorerSebastian Viscaino. He gave the island its currentname, dubbing it Santa CatalinaIsland, and had the first Mass said on its shores.

European diseases and the missionsystemhad devastating effectsonthe Pimungans,and by the mid-1880s they had largely disappeared from the island. It wasnow mostly home to ranchers and passing fishermen,but the land boom on the mainland soon had speculators eyeing Catalina as apotential resortlocation.

The firsttotry hishand at turning Catalina’sscenic coves intoavacation destinationwas George Shatto,who founded the townofAvalon beforefinancial difficulties led him to sell the island to the Banning family.The industrious clan modernized Avalon and its environs,building newroads and utilitiesand creating acomplexofattractions including adance hall, agolf course and an aquarium.

When the Wrigleys of Chicago bought the island in 1919,they doubleddownonthe project be gunbythe Bannings. Hotels were built on the slopes above Avalon’s bay,the ChicagoCubsmoved their springtraining facilities to the islands, and in 1929 Catalina’s most famous building,the Casino, opened.

Catalina becameapopular getawayfor the Hollywood elite, many of whom visited the island for the firsttime for work because the island played locations from Africa to the South Pacific in a numberofearly films. John Wayne, James Cagney and Cecil B. De- Mille were just some of the luminaries who regularly sailedtheir private yachts over from the mainland to getawayfromitall.

Visitors to today’s Catalina are still drawn by the laid-backpace of island life and its scenic beauty, a naturalheritagethat will be protected in perpetuitybyatrust the Wrigleys set up in the 1970sto ensurethe preservation of the island’sopen spaces.

Neighborhood highlights Coastalliving: Boating, fishing, sunbathing, swimming, scuba diving —the list of outdoor activitiesonCatalina is nearly endless.

Rest and relaxation: Afteralong day of boating, thereare plentyof places to kick back with acold one and linger over dinner with your friends and family.

Awayfromitall: Leaveyour worries on the mainland and embrace the small-town pace of life in Avalon.

Neighborhood challenges

An ocean away: The blissful isolation of Catalina cuts both ways.

You can’t just pop down to Target for your daily necessities, so planning ahead for everything is key.

Parched place: Catalina’s water comes from reservoirs, so the area relies on rain. That means water rationing is sometimes a reality for the island community.

Expert insight Limited inventory is typical for the area, according to Earl Schrader, broker and owner of Catalina Realtors, but a rise in rental properties also contributed to the scarcity.

But that could be changing. “Now you need to get a conditional use permit from the city, which costs $3,000 to apply, with no guarantee that one will be issued,” he said. Despite a lack of homes for sale, Schrader describes the current market as “very stable.”

“Just be ready to move quickly,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people who lost places because they didn’t have the cash ready or they weren’t ready to move.”

Market snapshot In April, 24 homes were for sale in the 90704 ZIP Code, with a median list price of $919,000, according to Redfin. That was a 32.2% increase in median price over the same month the previous year.

Report card Part of the Long Beach Unified School District, Avalon has one school campus consisting of Avalon Elementary, Avalon Middle and Avalon High. In 2013, the campus scored 782 out of 1,000 in the Academic Performance Index.

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