What do you love about Palomar? Are you looking to own property here? You can take your pick of homes, cabins and land for sale plus I usually have some extra keys in my pocket. You’re always invited to come on up for a tour.
How about the views? You see Point Loma out there with the San Diego skyline and islands dotting the Pacific – so close and yet so far away – with the beauty of the Four Seasons! Lots to share with you.
Would you like to join in on our old-fashioned fun? Scroll down to glance through the archives then simply subscribe to be the first to know.
Have a message to go out? Just send it my way. If you don’t see it posted within 24 hours, please reach out to me. Glad to keep the news heading your way about our favorite mountain!
Bonnie Phelps, Palomar Mountain News Editor since 1998
and Palomar Mountain Real Estate since the beginning of the Century!
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing stories of beloved Palomar neighbors, Bill and Grace Leibold. William R. Leibold had the most interesting life, retiring as a Navy Commander. With his lovely wife, Grace, they built a home on the Mountain in the shape of a ship, and enjoyed for 20 years. Their cabin was sold to Ken and Michelle Easton, who have been ‘at the helm’ since 2003.
Bill and Grace were high school sweethearts. He was on a ship at Pearl Harbor during Dec. 7th attack. A year later he was on the most decorated submarine during that time, the USS Tang with 87 officers and men. She sank October 25, 1944.
Grace received that dreaded telegram that told her Bill’s ship was lost at sea and he was presumed dead. For 15 long months she refused to believe the news.
After the war was over, Bill was found in a Japanese Internment Camp. He was one of nine men who survived that fateful night, all night, in the water and then endured the treatment of imprisonment. Because they were submariners, they were looked down upon by the Japanese, so they were given only half rations. Bill came back to America weighing less than 100 pounds. Some of the wives understandably went on with their lives and remarried. But not Grace, she waited for Bill.
They went on to have two sons and a daughter. “He was a loving husband and wonderful father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.” Many happy Fathers Days were celebrated in the Leibold family.
One of their sons, Jim, contacted me a couple weeks ago asking if the sign his father made was still in front of their family cabin. Jim explained that he bought a ranch in Arizona and was hoping to acquire the sign to hang above their driveway. Ken was so impressed with Bill’s military history that they had left the Leibold sign in front of their home to honor Bill’s memory. However, when I connected with Ken and told him of Jim’s request, he didn’t hesitate passing the sign on to Bill’s son.
So, I picked it up today and had the nicest visit with Ken and his daughter, Rose who came up for a quick trip to send the sign on it’s way. A certain cowboy I know will be driving through Az in a few weeks and a meet-up is planned with Jim.
Like to learn more about Jim’s dad? Click on the link below that will lead you to the other stories and lots of fun photos.
Friday we closed escrow on an amazing view home out on the south rim of Crestline. Saturday a new couple came up for the first time to see cabins and just had to put Little Red (now with an adjacent studio, named Foxy Roxy) in escrow. Both this view home and the little red cabin were owned and remodeled by the same family in the past! Some of you might remember Jerry and Betty Johnson. He was retired and enjoyed woodworking. He designed and remodeled both kitchens (and a lot more at those two properties).
The day I listed their first cabin, I came home and told Don about Jerry’s fine craftsmanship. I’d asked him about building a nice little cabinet for a pull-out trash can for our quite tired, then 50 year old kitchen. Don went over to see Jerry’s newest creation and came back home to tell me “Jerry isn’t building us one little cabinet, he is building a whole new kitchen”. And he did! That was about 20 years ago and still looks as good as new. Quality workmanship really pays off. Jerry left very nice signatures for all the projects he did on this mountain.
In going over the history of who owned those two properties in the past, I realized I’ve now sold each property five times in my 26 years!!! It’s always fun to see the changes and updates, bitter-sweet to say goodbye but so nice to welcome the new neighbors.
Why 5 times? Apparently the average for folks buying and then selling and moving on is about every 5 years. Why do people sell? Lots of reasons. On Palomar we do have several folks who keep moving up. One couple bought vacant land, then saw a cabin they had to have, we sold the land, they bought the cabin, a couple years later, saw one of my signs I’d just put up. They followed it to see what home it was and couldn’t resist the view. So, they went back to the sign, called me and said they were standing by the sign so no one else would see it. So funny! Yes, I hung an ‘In Escrow’ rider on that sign real quick. When those little boys that played in the snow at their vacant land, were off to college they did sell their big view home. So many great adventures for happy memories, weren’t they Gene and Cira?
Today we are to close on two acres of vacant land, and then tomorrow another lot should change owners.
Yes, a very busy time with more listings in the works. What is YOUR dream? Thinking of selling your ranch, home, cabin, lot, land or property in the cities or above the clouds? Would you like to own a piece of paradise on our very beautiful Palomar Mountain? Let’s connect, always glad to get your questions answered.
Living on Palomar in the 1970’s, we’d just welcomed our first son into the world. During the past three years Don had a four legged law enforcement partner, Bram. He was very intrigued with this newest little resident on the Mountain. But Bram still made time to chase squirrels and run after tennis balls thrown over and over to retrieve from down in our meadow. His most important and very exciting time of the day was jumping in the Blazer when it was time to go to work.
A few weeks ago we had a call from the Sheriff’s Department asking for photos. They realized it had been fifty years ago since Bram worked his last shift. Here is a video tribute they did of that beautiful German Shephard, credited with saving his two-legged partner’s life:
Most of you know that we sold the house a couple years later and bought it back in 1998. The day we came up to see it and make it ours again, we found ourselves standing under the big oak tree. Don had his arm around my shoulder and was was using his boot, moving the leaves around a bit, thinking about ‘Bram-O-Boy’. It was pretty heart-warming to see an old yellow tennis ball surface from under those leaves after all these years.
Some of you remember my dad. He often wrote poems for us. Here is one about Bram:
Would you like to take advantage of a pretty impressive price reduction for these charming two cabins for sale? Tucked away in the woods, sparkling clean, furnished as vacation rentals, you could move right in! Or we can put the Airbnbs in your name, block your dates to enjoy the mountain then let travelers make your house payment…
Come one, come ALL! Bring your family and meet your neighbors at the annual Pancake Breakfast followed by the PMPO Meeting.
Saturday, May 23rd at the Fire Station
Breakfast is served with smiles from 8 am to 10 or until all gobbled up. $3.00 per adults, $1.00 per child
Pancakes, sausage, strawberries, OJ and coffee.
Palomar Mountain Planning Organization – PMPO meeting will follow.
After the PMPO Meeting any left over sausage and strawberries will be available for purchase.
Volunteers will be at the Fire Department bright and early at 6:30 am – they won’t turn away any set up help. If you can stay later, to help clean up, fold chairs and load the tables for the next event, that would be wonderful. All help is much appreciated.
Cecelia Borland has been in charge of this event for many years. Many thanks for her and all the other volunteers that provide extra fun for us on this beautiful mountain.
It’s pretty exciting to live on the Highway to the Stars and have our World Famous Observatory here at the very top of our favorite mountain. Looking forward to meeting some of you locals when we take our next friends over for an Observatory Tour!
Check out their webpage for more info and the application. Be sure get it in by May 23. We’ll be watching for YOU!
What is even more fun than owning one cabin on Palomar? How about TWO?
Very much loved over the years as full time homes and now successful vacation rentals. Who could resist this charming setting in the woods? Both cabins have so many recent upgrades. Will you join us year round? Oh, maybe you could one out to help pay your mortgage? Yes, those lovely furnishings are optional. A lot to think about… Very private and peaceful on nearly an acre. Click to see inside then let’s connect for a tour!
The Fire Safe Council will be providing a dumpster for community use on Saturday May 16th from 8 to 4 (or until full) at Robert Carlyle’s property on Bailey Meadow Rd.
Take State Park Road to Bailey Meadow, first driveway on the right.
The usual rules apply: No paint, tires, HAZMAT, ewaste, Lg appliances, chemicals. It generally fills fairly quickly so come early.
Donations appreciated. Do your ‘Spring Cleaning Out’ and bring it over.
Dumpster Day – It’s the place to be to see all your neighbors and friends.
In just about two weeks, get up bright and early for the very yummy, Pancake Breakfast at 8 am at the Fire Station. It is followed by the PMPO Annual Meeting at 10. Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Labor Day Weekend is a little later this year. The Hoedown was moved up a week because of the availability of the County Park for the lunch. So, we’ll be looking for you on Saturday, August 29, 2026. That is the weekend before Labor Day Weekend. The Hoedown is an all day event with a great BBQ. raffle prizes, community booths, live music – hope to see you there!
The FIRST Saturday (not Sunday) of September will be the day for the PMCFA. What is the PMCFA? In the past it was known as the PMVFD, or the Palomar Mountain Volunteer Fire Department. Since CalFire is here now, the organization has a new name: Palomar Mountain Community Fire Association. Everyone is welcome and will meet Labor Day Weekend on Saturday, September 6, 2026 at 9 am in the Community Center, next to the Fire Station.
After 26 years in Real Estate, attending most all inspections, these inspections today were pretty sad to see. Two pre-marketing septic inspections for Vacation Rentals are needing leach field replacements. How can YOU avoid that costly repair? Keep reading for Tips to avoid Septic Woes.
When a septic tank lid is uncovered, what you normally see kind of looks like mud. Not today! It was almost white inside! Oh no….. I’d seen this in the past. Some people rinse their cooking pans off in the sink and pour their bacon grease or cooking oil down the drain. It gets cold in those tanks, the grease rises to the top and forms a very think layer that doesn’t break down, clogs the system and is a very pricy to resolve.
Even if you have a garbage disposal, after meals you might consider scraping all your dishes and cookware into the trash before washing them. After what I saw today, wiping them out with a paper towel is a good idea, too.
What about those “flushable” makeup or baby wipes? They flush but they don’t break down at all in a septic system. They clump together and it takes so much longer to pump. (So your service bill goes up!) Today I was blown away with what I saw in the tank – all different colors of plastic – pink, yellow, bright blue. I thought there were a few writing pens floating around – nope, they were syringes. All that stuff doesn’t break down either. For a healthy septic system, flush NOTHING but TP.
My buddy at ChatGPT made these little signs you might want to post.
Palomar Mountain News 