NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Carnival rides, expensive beach bungalows and frozen bananas. Today, Balboa Island and the Newport Peninsula are a popular vacation destination, but prior to 1899 were a barren mudflat property developer W.S. Collins had plans for.
“In a real estate gamble, he created a manmade island off the shores of old California,” said Balboa Island Museum board member Bruce Cook.
Collins bought about 1,000 acres of land around Newport Bay for $50,000 and spent the next 15 years dredging out the shallow waters to create an island, a grand pavilion and fishing pier. Unfortunately, his investment didn’t pan out for him.
“No, he lost everything and went broke,” said Cook.
Eventually, the City of Newport Beach took over the island and over time Hollywood elites like John Wayne, Shirley Temple and Humphrey Bogart fell in love with the island and built a home there.
“Many, many of his (Bogart's) films partly were shot on Balboa Island or in Newport general,” said Cook.
Filmmaking on the island dates back to 1917 but one of the most popular TV shows filmed there was Gilligan’s Island.
“When the boat leaves the shore and they're singing they're going off on a three-hour tour, they leave from here,” said Cook.
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More recently, the cult classic Netflix show Arrested Development regularly shot here highlighting Balboa Island's famous frozen banana shops. Today, there are a number of frozen banana shops but Mia Houck works for Sugar 'n' Spice, the first company to start selling the Balboa Island treat.
“Don Cook created in 1945 with his dad. They decided to put some bananas in the freezer, got some chocolate. It was melted, dipped it in, put some peanuts on it, called it a day,” said Houck.
A trip to Balboa Island wouldn’t be complete without a ride on the ferry, which has been family-owned since 1919. It’s the fastest route from the island to the Newport Peninsula and Fun Zone Amusement Park where several scenes of the hit early-2000s TV show The O.C. were filmed.
Hollywood loves to work and vacation on Balboa Island and that’s one reason it’s so hard to find a property here. Of the 500 or so homes on Balboa Island, most are tiny one or two-bedroom cottages, and they are expensive.
“The least expensive home here is probably under $4 million,” said Cook.
It may be expensive to live there, but luckily for tourists it's free to explore the island and a frozen banana won’t break the bank.
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