“When you own a stock or a bond, is it something you can actually touch or feel? Is it something you can share? That’s why owning land is such a different experience.” — Clint Eastwood, The Land Report, November 2017

It was love at first sight the moment Clint Eastwood set eyes on the Monterey Peninsula. Then again, there was another element to the relationship worth mentioning: Uncle Sam had made the 20-year-old Bay Area boy an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“I was drafted in the Army in 1951 and was stationed at Fort Ord [an Army base overlooking Monterey Bay]. I always liked Carmel. I thought if I could ever afford to or figure out how to make a living there, I might like to make a living there.”
Eastwood never did figure out how to make a living in Carmel (although he did serve as mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea). Instead, he made his fortune by starring in and directing films in far-flung locales. But his heart remained firmly planted along the Pacific Coast.
“People like me are looking for a place where they can have a quiet life and yet still be close to things. Me? I like elbow room.”