Living in Virginia Country Club: Long Beach's Historic Custom-Home Enclave

Most Long Beach neighborhoods have a main drag. Virginia Country Club has a golf course, and the homes were built around it. It's one of the quietest, most established pockets in the city, and it comes up whenever a buyer says they want a custom home with real character and some breathing room.

I'm Diana Galvez, a REALTOR® with HomeSmart Realty Group's Homeverse Team, and I want to walk through what makes this neighborhood different, what the homes look like, and what to know about pricing before you start looking.

Where It Is and How It's Defined

Virginia Country Club sits in north Long Beach near Bixby Knolls and is generally treated as part of the larger Los Cerritos area, so locals and listing sites often use the names interchangeably. The neighborhood is small, with roughly 700 homes by most counts, which is a big part of why it feels so tucked away. A few blocks around the club are marketed under the Virginia Country Club name specifically, and a small gated section on La Linda Drive adds another layer of exclusivity.

A Club With Deep Roots

The club itself is the anchor. Its history traces back to 1909, with the first nine-hole layout opening in 1910 on land that was once part of the Bixby ranch. The current 18-hole course took shape over the following decades, with A.W. Tillinghast among the architects credited with the design, and the club hosted the Long Beach Open in the late 1920s. Whether or not you ever play a round, that history is part of why the neighborhood has held its character for a century.

The Homes

Most homes here were custom built between roughly 1920 and 1940, and you can tell. Expect Spanish Revival, Mediterranean, Tudor, and Craftsman styles, with plenty of one-of-a-kind floor plans instead of repeated tract designs. Lot sizes vary, with smaller lots toward the southern end and larger lots, in some cases 12,000 square feet or more, closer to the club. Many homes have been thoughtfully updated, and some have been rebuilt as modern custom estates.

The Lifestyle

This is a quiet, tree-lined, mostly residential area, with the feel of a private community while still being a short drive from Bixby Knolls shops and restaurants, Los Cerritos, and the freeways. Streets are calm, yards are generous, and the neighbors tend to stay put for a long time. It isn't a walk-to-everything neighborhood like Belmont Shore or Retro Row. It's a come-home-and-exhale neighborhood, and that's exactly what its buyers are looking for.

What Homes Cost

Virginia Country Club is one of the most expensive pockets of Long Beach, but published numbers vary a lot by source and by the mix of homes that happen to be listed. Recent listing snapshots have shown median asking prices in the $1.6 million range at the lower end, while larger, updated, and newly built estates regularly list well above $2 million and can reach into the $3 million range. Because there are so few sales each year and every home is different, the headline median matters less than the comps for the specific street and lot. I'm happy to pull those for you.

Who This Neighborhood Fits

Virginia Country Club tends to attract move-up buyers who want a custom home with history, golf enthusiasts who want to live near the club, and long-term owners who value privacy and lot size over walkability. If you want a quiet street, a home with real architectural personality, and a neighborhood that has looked the way it does for generations, it belongs on your short list.

If you're curious what's available or what your own home in this area might be worth, I can pull the real numbers for your street.

You can reach me at (323) 807-4184 or casasbydianag@gmail.com. Let's find the right fit for how you actually want to live.

Diana Galvez, REALTOR®
Homeverse Team, HomeSmart Realty Group | DRE #02040313
Serving Long Beach, and the greater Los Angeles & Orange County area