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A rural shelf of one-to-four-acre parcels above Zuma Beach, where the city's high school and its avocado groves share the same streets.
About the Neighborhood
Malibu Park is the residential shelf directly inland of Zuma Beach, bounded by Pacific Coast Highway to the south, the Zuma and Trancas parkland of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to the north, Trancas Creek and its wetlands to the west, and the slopes toward Kanan Dume Road to the east. The City of Malibu's own neighborhood description sets about three quarters of the area at roughly 350 feet in elevation, which is why the streets feel level while the ocean sits below them. Buyers looking at Malibu Park homes for sale are usually buying land first and a house second.
The parcels are the point. City descriptions put lots at anywhere from a quarter acre to twelve acres, with most falling between one and four, and the area is single-family throughout with no multifamily development. The character the city records is explicitly rural: low ranch-style houses, large lots, agricultural uses including orchid ranches and avocado groves, equestrian properties, and what the plan calls the virtual absence of sidewalks and curbs. Houses built between the 1950s and 1970s generally ran from about 1,500 to 5,000 square feet; construction after the city incorporated has included far larger houses, sometimes on smaller lots, a tension the city itself has noted.
The neighborhood is also Malibu's school campus. Malibu High School stands at 30215 Morning View Drive on a 35-acre site bounded by Merritt Drive, Via Cabrillo Street and Harvester Road, one block inland of Zuma. The site was carved out of Juan Cabrillo Elementary in 1963 as Malibu Park Junior High and converted to a high school in 1992; Malibu Middle School shares the campus complex today. That is a genuine differentiator on this coast, where school runs otherwise mean a drive along Pacific Coast Highway, and it is a large part of why Malibu Park draws families rather than only weekenders.
Fire and evacuation shape everything here. The November 2018 Woolsey fire destroyed 473 single-family homes inside Malibu city limits and Malibu Park was among the areas affected; rebuilding across the city has been measured in years rather than months, and lots carrying approved plans still change hands. The whole area lies in a Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone with limited routes out, so brush clearance, ignition-resistant construction and defensible space are permanent obligations rather than one-time items. Buyers should read the parcel's fire history and secure binding insurance quotes inside the contingency period rather than after closing.
Practically, this is a coastal zone neighborhood, and process governs it. New construction and substantial remodels require a coastal development permit under the city's Local Coastal Program, certified in 2002, along with geotechnical, drainage and biological review and an onsite wastewater design. Septic capacity in particular can cap bedroom counts and additions, so it belongs in diligence beside the survey. Day to day, life runs on Pacific Coast Highway: Zuma Beach is directly across, though Malibu Park itself has no direct beach frontage, the shopping center at Busch Drive and PCH covers small errands, and Trancas Country Market to the west handles the rest. Trailheads into the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area open directly off the neighborhood's upper streets.
Life Here
City records describe parcels from a quarter acre to twelve, most between one and four, with orchid ranches, avocado groves and equestrian uses among the neighbors. No sidewalks, no curbs, no multifamily.
Malibu High School occupies a 35-acre campus on Morning View Drive, one block inland of Zuma, on a site created in 1963 as Malibu Park Junior High. Malibu Middle School shares the complex.
The Zuma and Trancas canyons parkland of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area begins at the top of the neighborhood, with trail access from the upper streets and the Backbone Trail crossing the high ground.
Education
Malibu's public campuses belong to Santa Monica-Malibu Unified while agreements approved in December 2025 move toward a separate Malibu district, a process that still requires action by the Legislature or the State Board of Education; assignment follows the individual parcel, so confirm any address with the district and confirm admissions directly with private schools.
Common Questions
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Work With Ben
Malibu Park turns on land, water and permits more than on finishes. Tell Ben what you want and he will watch the shelf street by street, including parcels that trade off market, with local guidance on septic capacity, coastal permits and insurance.
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