Big Canyon, Newport Beach:
homes, streets and what sells.
Big Canyon is a guard-gated community of about 500 homes and townhomes built around the private Big Canyon Country Club golf course, across from Newport Center in Newport Beach. It opened in the early 1970s. Homes on the fairways or with views to the harbour and ocean sell highest, and club membership is separate.
Greg reviews every request and replies with a written valuation.
Homes for sale in Big Canyon, Newport Beach, sit inside a guard-gated community laid out around a private golf course on the hill across from Newport Center and Fashion Island. The course opened in 1971, the homes followed from about 1972, and the community now holds roughly 500 houses and townhomes, as a local agent counted them in 2015. Streets curve along the fairways, and the higher lots look over the course to the harbour and the ocean.
Big Canyon is one of the few gated communities in central Newport Beach rather than on the coast or the islands, which makes it a different purchase from a bayfront home. This guide, under the Newport Beach guide, covers the homes, the sale figures, the club and how Greg Toussieng would price and sell a Big Canyon home.
Big Canyon · July-September 2026 · Source: Redfin Data Center
- Where off San Joaquin Hills Road, across from Newport Center, Newport Beach 92660 (source)
- Gate guard-gated, two entries off San Joaquin Hills Road, as reported by a local agent (source)
- Homes about 500, roughly 274 houses and 225 townhomes, as reported by a local agent (source)
- Opened early 1970s (source)
- Golf course private, 18 holes, par 72, opened 1971 (source)
- Course architect Desmond Muirhead (source)
- Single-family lots about 9,000 to 27,000 square feet, as reported by a local agent (source)
- Club membership separate from home ownership, as reported by a local real estate guide (source)
- Next door the city's Big Canyon Reservoir, 600 acre-feet, built 1958 (source)
- Downstream Big Canyon Nature Park, about 60 acres, draining to Upper Newport Bay (source)
- School district Newport-Mesa Unified (source)
What do homes in Big Canyon look like?
Homes in Big Canyon are mostly traditional in style, with some contemporary and Mediterranean houses, built from the early 1970s onward and many remodelled or rebuilt since. Single-family lots run from about 9,000 to 27,000 square feet by one agent's count, which is large for central Newport Beach, and the townhome enclaves give the community a second, smaller price tier.
The neighbourhoods inside the gate are distinct. Some streets run along the fairways, with back gardens that open onto the course. Others sit higher on the slope, where a lot can look over the course to the harbour, Newport Center's towers and, on clear days, the ocean. The townhomes are grouped in their own enclaves with shared grounds.
Price follows that layout. A large single-family lot with fairway frontage and a long view sits at the top of the range. Interior houses without a view sell lower, and townhomes sell below the houses. Within each group, the age of the remodel and the finish of the house decide the order.
How did Big Canyon begin?
Big Canyon began as a golf course first and a neighbourhood second. Big Canyon Country Club's 18-hole course, designed by Desmond Muirhead, opened in 1971, and the community around it was established about a year later, in the early 1970s, across San Joaquin Hills Road from the new Newport Center.
Muirhead was an English-born golf architect who lived in Newport Beach. In Big Canyon's plan the streets thread between the holes rather than circling the course, so a large share of the homes touch a fairway or look over one.
The canyon itself gives the area its name. Big Canyon Creek runs from the hills down to Upper Newport Bay, and the city-owned Big Canyon Reservoir, built in 1958 and holding 600 acre-feet, sits on the high ground nearby. Farther down the drainage, Big Canyon Nature Park covers about 60 acres between Jamboree Road and the Back Bay.
What do homes for sale in Big Canyon, Newport Beach, cost?
Homes for sale in Big Canyon cost well above the Newport Beach median for single-family houses, with townhomes priced lower, and the card above shows Redfin's latest three-month figures where published. Mixing houses and townhomes in one median makes it a rough guide.
Big Canyon prices fall into two tiers. Single-family houses on the larger lots sell at the top, and the townhome enclaves sell well below them, so any community-wide median shifts with how many of each closed in the period.
Among the houses, three things set the order. Frontage on the golf course is the first, the view over the course toward the harbour and ocean is the second, and the size and state of the house is the third. A remodelled house on a view lot can sell for much more than a larger original one facing an interior street.
The fair benchmark for an owner is the few recent Big Canyon sales most like the home: house against house or townhome against townhome, matched on lot, frontage and view. Greg lays out those comparables in a written analysis and adjusts each for condition and size.
Watch the sale-to-list ratio in the card. When it sits under 100 percent, sellers have been accepting less than asking, often because a listing was priced from a house with a better lot or view.
Which Big Canyon homes are for sale now?
The Big Canyon homes listed for sale right now appear below, from the MLS, with each listing brokerage credited.
What is it like to live in Big Canyon?
Living in Big Canyon means a gated, quiet golf-course neighbourhood a few minutes from the shops and offices of Newport Center. Fashion Island is across San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar's beaches are a short drive south, and John Wayne Airport is north up Jamboree Road.
The private club, with golf, dining, pools and tennis for members, sits at the centre of the community. For walking outside the gate, the trails of Upper Newport Bay and Big Canyon Nature Park are just west, along Back Bay Drive.
Streets along the fairways
Big Canyon's houses and townhomes are laid out between the holes of a 1971 Desmond Muirhead course. Newport Beach homes guide
How would Greg sell a home in Big Canyon?
Greg would sell a Big Canyon home by pricing it against the right tier of the community's own sales and showing buyers what the lot gives them: the fairway, the view and the privacy of the gate. For a house on the course, the photography leads with the garden and the line down the fairway at the quiet end of the day. For a view lot, it leads with the outlook toward the harbour and ocean.
The listing explains plainly that club membership is separate, because buyers from outside Newport Beach often assume it comes with the house. Pricing comes from a written analysis of the closest Big Canyon sales, adjusted for frontage, view, lot and condition, and Greg prepares the association documents and permit history before the home goes live.
Greg Toussieng is a California real estate broker, DRE #01495415, first licensed in California in 2005, and handles every listing personally from pricing to closing.
Greg prepares a written valuation from recent sales near you. Start with the address.
What should a buyer check before an offer in Big Canyon?
A Big Canyon buyer should check the association documents, the golf-course frontage, the permit history and the house's age. The master and neighbourhood association documents set dues, gate rules and architectural review, and the budgets show whether assessments are planned.
For a home on the course, ask about errant golf balls, any netting or easements along the fairway, and the rules on fencing and planting. Many houses date from the 1970s, so have the plumbing, roof, electrical panel and any slope drainage inspected, and pull the City of Newport Beach permit history for past remodels. Confirm the current school assignment with Newport-Mesa Unified.
Which communities near Big Canyon should you compare?
Buyers considering Big Canyon often compare it with Harbor Ridge in the hills above Corona del Mar and with Dover Shores on the Back Bay.
Harbor Ridge is another guard-gated hillside community, with larger estates and ocean views on the ridge. Dover Shores is an older, non-gated neighbourhood of mid-century houses on the bluffs of Upper Newport Bay. See the Newport Beach homes guide for the rest of the city and the luxury homes guide for gated communities across the county.
Own a home in Big Canyon?
Find out what it would sell for from Big Canyon's own sales, house or townhome. Get a written home value
Selling in Big Canyon? Ask Greg for the community's recent sales.
Who can finance a home in Big Canyon?
Esther Buede at Choice Home Mortgage can arrange the loan, timed to Greg's work on the purchase.
Financing a home in Big Canyon? 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
Is Big Canyon guard-gated?
Big Canyon is a guard-gated community with two entrances off San Joaquin Hills Road, according to a local agent's published guide. Every street, both the single-family neighbourhoods and the townhome enclaves, sits inside the gates. Guest and contractor procedures are set by the associations, so read the current rules for any home before closing.
Does buying in Big Canyon include country club membership?
Buying a home in Big Canyon does not include membership in Big Canyon Country Club. The club is private, with its own application, initiation and dues, and membership is separate from home ownership. Ask the club about current membership categories and any waiting list before treating access to the course as part of a purchase.
How many homes are in Big Canyon?
Big Canyon has approximately 500 homes, about 274 single-family houses and 225 townhomes, as reported in a 2015 guide by a local agent in the Newport Beach Independent. Those homes are grouped into smaller neighbourhoods, each with its own streets and character, inside one guard-gated community around the golf course.
Who designed the Big Canyon golf course?
Big Canyon Country Club's 18-hole, par-72 course was designed by Desmond Muirhead and opened in 1971. Muirhead was an English-born golf course architect who lived in Newport Beach. The homes followed the course, with the community established around 1972, which is why so many streets are laid out along the fairways.
What school district serves Big Canyon?
Big Canyon is in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, which serves the City of Newport Beach and Costa Mesa. School assignment depends on the exact address and can change with district boundary decisions, so confirm the current schools for any home with the district before you rely on them.
How much is a Big Canyon home worth?
A Big Canyon home's value depends on whether it is a house or a townhome, the lot, any frontage on the golf course, the view and the condition of the house. Greg Toussieng, a California real estate broker, prepares a written comparative market analysis from Big Canyon's own sales, with each adjustment shown.
- Good Planning: Village of Big Canyon, gated golf community across from Newport Center, opened early 1970s · checked 2026-10-28
- GolfN: Big Canyon Country Club, private, 18 holes, par 72, Desmond Muirhead, opened 1971 · checked 2026-10-28
- As reported by a local agent (Natalie Raney, Newport Beach Independent, Nov 2015): about 500 homes, two gated entries off San Joaquin Hills Road, established 1972, lot sizes, separate club membership · checked 2026-10-28
- Desmond Muirhead: golf course architect, lived in Newport Beach · checked 2026-10-28
- City of Newport Beach: Big Canyon Reservoir, 600 acre-feet, built 1958 · checked 2026-10-28
- Newport Bay Conservancy: Big Canyon Nature Park, about 60 acres, creek draining to Upper Newport Bay · checked 2026-10-28
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife: Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve · checked 2026-10-28
- Newport-Mesa Unified School District · 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.