After years of searching for a location where he could build his dream of an ideal surfside city, Ole purchased 2000 acres of ocean front exactly 66 miles from Los Angeles and 66 miles from San Diego. Ole wrote:

“I envision a place where people can live together more pleasantly than any other place in America. I am going to build a beautiful city on the ocean where the whole city will be a park; the architecture will be of one type, and the houses will be located on sites where nearly everyone will have his view preserved forever. The whole picture is very clear before me. I can see hundreds of white walled homes bonneted with red tile, with trees, shrubs, hedges of hybiscus, palms and geraniums lining the drives and a profusion of flowers illuminating patios and gardens…I want plazas, playgrounds, schools, clubs, swimming pools, a golf course, a fishing pier and a beach enlivened with people getting a healthy joy out of life.
“I want people to have more than a piece of land. I want them to have location, environment and development…This will be a place where a man can breathe! I have a clean canvas and I am determined to paint a clean picture. Think of it as a canvas five miles long and a half a mile wide.”

At that time, no southern California coastal community like Ole envisioned existed. Now of course, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have all followed the pattern of plazas, playgrounds, pools, and piers he first designed. There were many skeptics who didn’t believe Ole could pull off his concept or that anyone would be interested in investing in it even if he could build it.

He had renamed the city, San Clemente, on November 23rd, 1925, after what a Spanish merchant had dubbed it 323 years before. First ground was broken two days later when construction began on Avenida Del Mar.

It is estimated that 1000 people showed up that December 6th to hear Ole pitch his development. In summary, Ole said, “San Clemente will be building, building, building long after you have all passed on. Ocean frontage, sandy beaches, sun kissed hills, with a plan shot with beauty, must win in California.”

At the end of the day, the Los Angeles Times wrote that $125,000 worth of property had been purchased by investors who listened to what Ole had to say and believed in his vision enough to become a part of it. The rest, as they say, is history.

[Excerpts courtesy of The San Clemente Historical Society, "The San Clemente Story"]