The New Luxury Might Be Knowing Your Neighbors

When Ron and I first started looking in Cerritos Beach, we were not setting out to build a development.

We were looking for a place we wanted to be part of.

We had already fallen in love with this stretch of Baja. The Pacific, the raw beauty, the whales, the surf, the dusty roads, the way life here feels both simpler and more alive. We looked around at different communities, different homes, different opportunities. Some were beautiful. Some made sense on paper. But nothing felt exactly like what we were searching for.

We wanted oceanfront, yes.

But we also wanted something more.

We wanted a place that encouraged the kind of life we actually wanted to live. A place where people moved their bodies, spent time outside, shared meals, cared about the land, and knew their neighbors by name. A place that felt private, but not isolated. Refined, but not showy. Beautiful, but with substance underneath it.

Eventually we realized that if we could not find it, maybe we had to build it.

That is how Contigo Cerritos began.

The phrase “intentional community” gets used a lot now, and it can mean different things to different people. For us, it really comes down to shared values. Not everyone thinking the same way or living the same life, but people choosing a similar rhythm. People who want connection. People who understand that where you live shapes how you live.

That is the part I think we underestimate.

You can buy a gorgeous home and still feel disconnected. You can have the view, the finishes, the pool, the perfect kitchen, and still be missing the thing that makes life feel full.

Community is not something you add at the end with a clubhouse and a few lounge chairs. It has to be designed into the experience from the beginning.

That is why Contigo has shared spaces. A vitality center. Fitness. Sauna. A lap pool. Places to gather. Places to move. Places to be outside. Places where you naturally run into people and end up having the kind of conversation you did not know you needed.

Years before we found this land, Ron and I were inspired by Dan Buettner’s work on the Blue Zones. He studied the places in the world where people live the longest and found that it was not one magic thing. It was a way of life. Natural movement. Nourishment. Community. Stewardship. Purpose. Those five ideas became the foundation for Contigo.

What I love is that Cerritos and Pescadero already have so many of those ingredients.

People walk more here. They surf. They garden. They gather outside. They watch the sunset like it is an actual event, because here it is. They know when the whales are back. They know when the roads are rough. They know when someone needs help. Life is more connected to the elements, and I think that is part of why people are so drawn to it.

Of course, in Baja, stewardship is not just a nice word for a brochure. It is practical. It is real.

Water matters here. Power matters. Wastewater matters. How we build matters.

That is why we made the decision to include on-site water generation, solar for the common areas, and municipal-grade wastewater treatment. Not because those things are trendy, but because you cannot build responsibly in a place like this and ignore the realities of the land.

To me, that is where luxury is headed.

It is not just imported marble and dramatic renderings. It is infrastructure. It is thoughtfulness. It is knowing that the community you live in was designed for long-term resilience, not just short-term sales.

The other piece is cultural. We are guests in this country. We live here full time, and we love it deeply, but part of stewardship is remembering that we are part of something that existed long before we arrived. Treading lightly matters. Respect matters. Contribution matters.

I think the reason intentional communities are becoming more attractive, especially after Covid, is that people are asking different questions now.

They are not only asking, “What can I afford?”

They are asking, “How do I actually want to live?”

Who do I want around me?
What do I want my mornings to feel like?
Do I want to be healthier?
Do I want more connection?
Do I want to be part of something, instead of just owning something?

That shift is real.

We just had a couple from Chicago tour the property for Contigo, and when we started describing the life here, their faces changed. They understood it immediately. They were not just looking for a beautiful house on the ocean. They were looking for a life that felt more aligned.

That is what this is really about.

Intentional community is not for everyone, and I say that honestly. If you never want to see your neighbors, Contigo probably is not the right fit. But for the people who do want that sense of belonging, who want beauty and privacy but also connection and purpose, it can be incredibly powerful.

Ron and I are building Contigo because this is the life we want, too.

We are not creating it from a boardroom somewhere else. We are building the place we want to live, with the values we want around us, in a part of Baja that already feels like its own version of a Blue Zone.

And maybe that is the new definition of luxury.

Not just having the most beautiful home.

But waking up in a place that quietly helps you become the person you actually want to be.