Catalina Island From Space
The rest of the island is a vivid, living reminder that the natural world provides us with incomparable beauty. Catalina's mountain tops have not been leveled for high-end developments, its canyons have not been transformed into condominium complexes and wild creatures, such as diminutive Island Foxes, majestic bald eagles and massive bison still make their homes here.The rest of the island also echoes with history; the echoes of pounding hooves and whinnying horses, of spies training for deployment in far off places and of native Islanders, their voices calling across canyons that were once home for a hundred generations.

1886 Avalon Parcel Map
Real estate as we know it began in Avalon with a price tag of $150. In the late 1880s, George Shatto, who at that time owned Catalina Island, began subdividing and selling lots in what would become the city of Avalon. Those lots, depending on location, ranged from $150 to $2,000.

Thirty years later, Catalina Island’s biggest real estate transaction took place, when in 1919 chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. bought the entire Island, lock, stock and barrel, for $2 million. Although $2 million was a lot more money in those days, Wrigley’s investment has appreciated in more ways than one. These days, condominiums in Avalon start at $400,000 and a modest single-family home can sell for $900,000.