Bay Island, Newport Beach:
23 homes and no cars.
Bay Island is a private island of 23 homes in Newport Harbor, off the Balboa Peninsula, and the only harbour island that bars cars. Residents leave their cars in a shared parking garage and cross a small bridge by foot or golf cart. It began as a gun club in 1904 and is Newport Harbor's only natural island.
Greg reviews every request and replies with a written valuation.
Bay Island Newport Beach homes for sale come up rarely, because the island holds just 23 houses in the harbour off the Balboa Peninsula. No cars are allowed. Owners leave their cars in a shared parking structure, cross a small private bridge behind a gate and get around the island on foot or by golf cart, past gardens, a tennis court and a few small beaches.
It is also the oldest residential island in the harbour and the only natural one. Bay Island was a mud flat with a single small hill when two Los Angeles men bought it in 1904 to start a gun club. This guide, part of the Newport Beach guide, covers the homes, the island's ownership, the history and how Greg Toussieng would price and sell a Bay Island home.
- Where Newport Harbor, off the Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach 92661 (source)
- Homes 23 residences (source)
- Cars none; the only harbour island that bars car traffic (source)
- Bridge small private bridge, wide enough only for golf carts (source)
- Common grounds gardens, lawns and tennis held in common by the owners, as reported in listing records (source)
- Shared grounds gardens, a tennis court and several beaches (source)
- Origin the harbour's only natural island (source)
- Bought 1904, for $350, as a gun club (source)
- First homes by 1907 (source)
- School district Newport-Mesa Unified (source)
What do homes on Bay Island look like?
Homes on Bay Island are individual bayfront and garden houses set among gardens and lawns that the owners hold in common. With no cars, the island has paths instead of driveways, and front doors open onto lawns and planting.
Most homes sit around the island's edge facing the water, and their frontage on the harbour, the view toward the peninsula or the open bay, and the size of the house and garden set them apart from one another. Because the island is so small and its houses rarely trade, each sale is close to unique, and buyers compare a Bay Island home as much against the island's way of life as against other houses.
Changes to homes go through the island's own rules as well as the City of Newport Beach, and work near the water usually also needs a coastal development permit.
How did Bay Island begin?
Bay Island began in 1904, when R. J. Waters and Rufus Sanborn, a vice president of the Citizens National Bank of Los Angeles, bought it for $350. It was then a mud flat with one small hill of dry land. They organised a gun club, Sanborn put up a shack on the hill, and at first hunters could reach the island only at low tide, until a walkway on pilings was built.
By 1907 Sanborn had built a home. Sam Tustin, a son of the founder of Tustin, built another nearby and sold it almost at once to the Polish-born actress Helena Modjeska, who bought it shortly before her death in 1909. The island was briefly renamed in her honour. A club still ties the owners together today.
What do Bay Island Newport Beach homes for sale cost?
Bay Island homes sell at the upper end of the Newport Beach market, and the card above shows Redfin's latest figures if a sale closed in the period. Most quarters have none.
Bay Island prices are set one sale at a time, because only 23 homes exist and they change hands rarely. A three-month median is seldom available, and when one is, it reflects a single house.
Value on the island turns on a few things. Frontage and the view across the harbour come first, then the size of the house and its garden, then the age and condition of the house. The car-free setting cuts both ways: buyers who want it pay for the quiet and the gardens, while buyers who need a driveway and garage at the door rule the island out.
For an owner, a fair price comes from the island's own recent sales, if there are any, plus the closest bayfront sales on Balboa Island, Lido Isle and the peninsula, adjusted for the island's setting. Greg sets those comparables out in a written analysis with each adjustment shown.
When a Bay Island home does list, how it is priced against those comparables matters more than the market's mood that month.
Which Bay Island homes are for sale now?
Any Bay Island homes listed for sale right now appear below, from the MLS, with each listing brokerage credited.
What is it like to live on Bay Island?
Living on Bay Island means leaving the car in the shared garage and walking or carting home over the bridge. The island's gardens, tennis court and small beaches are shared by the owners, and the harbour is in front of most homes.
Across the bridge, the Balboa Peninsula's ocean beaches, the Newport Pier and the restaurants around the harbour are a short walk or bike ride away. The Balboa Island ferry runs from the far end of the peninsula, and Pacific Coast Highway is a short drive up Newport Boulevard.
Over the bridge on foot
Bay Island's only link to the peninsula is a small private bridge, wide enough for a golf cart. Newport Beach homes guide
How would Greg sell a home on Bay Island?
Greg would sell a Bay Island home by explaining the island before the house. Buyers need to understand the parking, the bridge, the club and what the owners hold in common before the view and the house can sell themselves. The listing sets that out plainly, and showings are arranged to walk buyers from the garage across the bridge, the way they would live it.
Pricing comes from a written analysis of the island's rare sales and the closest bayfront comparables in the harbour, adjusted for frontage, house, garden and condition. Greg gathers the club's governing documents, dues and any approval steps for a sale, along with the permit history and flood zone, before the home goes live, so a buyer's lender and attorney have what they need early.
Greg Toussieng is a California real estate broker, DRE #01495415, first licensed in California in 2005, and handles each listing himself from preparation to closing.
Greg prepares a written valuation from recent sales near you. Start with the address.
What should a buyer check before an offer on Bay Island?
A Bay Island buyer should read the club's governing documents first, then check parking, financing, the house and the flood zone. The documents show what the owners hold jointly, what the dues pay for and whether a sale needs any approval.
Confirm the parking space or spaces that come with the home in the owners' garage. Ask your lender early whether the island's ownership structure affects the loan, and have the house inspected with its age in mind. Look up the lot on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center, get insurance quotes, and talk to the City of Newport Beach before planning any rebuild near the water.
Which communities near Bay Island should you compare?
Buyers who consider Bay Island usually compare it with Balboa Island across the harbour and with Harbor Island in the Lower Bay.
Balboa Island is a much larger island with streets, cars, the Marine Avenue shops and the ferry. Harbor Island is a gated island of about thirty large homes, each with its own dock. See the Newport Beach homes guide for the city and the luxury homes guide for the waterfront tier across Orange County.
Own a home on Bay Island?
Get a written value from the island's own sales and the nearest bayfront comparables. Get a written home value
Selling on Bay Island? Ask Greg for a private valuation.
Who can finance a home in Bay Island?
Esther Buede at Choice Home Mortgage can arrange the loan, timed to Greg's work on the purchase.
Financing a home in Bay Island? Esther Buede at Choice Home Mortgage
Esther works with Greg on the loan side of a purchase, from conforming loans to jumbo loans on the coast. Choice Home Mortgage, NMLS #2629064, has a page on buying and financing in Newport Beach.
Newport Beach home loans with Esther Buede
Gregory James Group and Choice Home Mortgage are trade names of the same California company, Montana Real Estate Inc (CA DRE #01822046, NMLS #2629064), which Greg Toussieng owns. If we represent you in a purchase or sale and you also arrange your loan through Choice Home Mortgage, the company is paid for both services. You are not required to use Choice Home Mortgage to work with Gregory James Group, and you are free to compare loans from any other lender. When we refer you, we give you a written disclosure of this relationship and the estimated charges, and when we act as both your agent and your loan broker we confirm both roles in writing within 24 hours.
Common questions
Can you drive onto Bay Island?
Bay Island does not allow cars; it is the only island in Newport Harbor that bars them. A small private bridge from the Balboa Peninsula is wide enough only for walkers and golf carts. Residents keep their cars in the owners' shared parking structure and move themselves, groceries and luggage across by cart.
How many homes are on Bay Island?
Bay Island has 23 residences, according to published histories and current listing descriptions. The island also has gardens, a tennis court and several small beaches. With so few houses and long ownership, a Bay Island home may not come up for sale for a year or more at a time.
Is Bay Island open to the public?
Bay Island is private, and its bridge is behind a gate, so the public cannot reach it by land. California's constitution protects public access to navigable waters, and the shore below the mean high tide line is generally public, so boaters can use the water around it. The island's land, gardens and beaches above that line are private.
How is Bay Island owned?
Bay Island homeowners own their houses, and the gardens, lawns, tennis court and other shared grounds are held in common ownership by the homeowners, as current listings describe it. A buyer should read the club's governing documents to see exactly what is owned, what the dues cover and what approvals a sale needs.
What is the history of Bay Island?
Bay Island's history starts in 1904, when R. J. Waters and banker Rufus Sanborn bought what was then a mud flat with one small hill for $350 and organised a gun club. Homes followed by 1907, and the actress Helena Modjeska bought one shortly before her death in 1909; the island was briefly renamed in her honour.
How much is a Bay Island home worth?
A Bay Island home's value depends on its position on the island and its frontage on the bay, the size of the house and garden, and its age and condition. Greg Toussieng, a California real estate broker, prepares a written comparative market analysis from Bay Island's rare sales and the nearest bayfront comparables in Newport Harbor.
Is Bay Island a natural island?
Bay Island is Newport Harbor's only natural island. When it was bought in 1904 it was a mud flat with one small hill of dry land, and hunters could reach it only at low tide until a walkway on pilings was built. The harbour's other residential islands, such as Harbor Island and Lido Isle, were built up from dredged material.
- Bay Island (Newport Beach): 23 residences, no cars, golf-cart bridge, 1904 purchase for $350, gun club, Sanborn home 1907, Modjeska, only natural harbour island · checked 2026-10-28
- As reported in listing records (Compass, 22 Bay Island): enclave of twenty-three residences, common ownership of gardens, lawns and tennis, garage parking structure, caretaker's cottage, sandy beach · checked 2026-10-28
- Orange County Business Journal: rare Bay Island offering returns to market · checked 2026-10-28
- Listing record, 21 Bay Island, Newport Beach 92661 · checked 2026-10-28
- California Constitution, Article X, Section 4: access to navigable waters · checked 2026-10-28
- California Coastal Commission: Newport Beach Local Coastal Program certified (2017); city issues coastal development permits · checked 2026-10-28
- Newport-Mesa Unified School District · checked 2026-10-28
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center · checked 2026-10-28
- California DRE licence lookup · checked 2026-10-28
Start with the address. Greg does the rest.
A written valuation from recent sales near you, prepared by a licensed broker. Or call (949) 868-8820.