Getting Your Dose of Culture and Art at Shady Canyon Homes


If you want to be far from the hustle and bustle of the city but still want to be close enough to experience culture and art whenever you feel like it, living in shady canyon homes affords you that luxury. Whether you fancy a dance show, a theatrical presentation or a comedic performance (which is culture in itself), there is always something nearby to engage your need for culture and art.

Just a short drive away from shady canyon homes, within the University of California
Irvine Campus, is the Bren Events Center. It hosts musical performances, sporting events, art exhibitions and public events. Another venue inside the University of California Irvine Campus is the Irvine Barclay Theatre. Aside from being a place where renowned researchers and lecturers regularly hold their lectures, this theatre also hosts student dances, music recitals as well as other performing arts presentations.

At the Irvine Valley College Performing Arts Center at the corner of Jeffrey Road, you can get your dose of dance, music and theatrical programs. These are usually presentations from students of Irvine Valley College as well as visiting artists. For fun theatre presentations that the whole family will enjoy, the Musical Theatre Village located in 36-C Mauchly near the Irvine Spectrum area is another center worth checking out.

The Irvine Fine Arts Center on Yale Avenue is a place to enjoy displays of art and contemporary photography. Should you decide to take your appreciation to the next level, you can also enroll in its painting, drawing, photography and even ceramics classes offered by the center. For fans of California Impressionism, The Irvine Museum on Von Karman Avenue holds excellent displays of the genre, specifically of artwork from the period 1890 to 1930. One thing that makes this museum unique from other museums is that it does not only display these masterpieces, it also does its share in educating the public about conserving and preserving the beauty of the California environment. This is art appreciation and environmental preservation thrown into one.

If you want technology and art rolled into one, the UCI Beall Center for Art +Technology in
the UCI Campus featuring video and interactive art exhibitions by artists from different parts of the globe is certainly a unique place to visit. Where live concerts and musical performances are concerned, the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in the Irvine Center Drive is also a prime outdoor location. For those who would like to get a good laugh during dinnertime, the Irvine Improve Comedy Club and Restaurant on Fortune Drive is the premier destination. All these museums and cultural centers are close to shady canyon homes. You can definitely experience your dose of culture and art whenever you feel like it when you live here. For the artfully-inclined, this is the best advantage of taking up residence at shady canyon homes.

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Shady Canyon Golf Course: The Centerpiece of Shady Canyon Homes


Players who love the game of golf always dream of living in a place where 18 holes of
championship golf are just a walk away from their front door. Nothing beats being able to feast your eyes on the rolling greens and picturesque combinations of sand traps and water hazards-and relishing the challenge of getting your ball from a deeply-buried lie. Well, if you’re a resident of shady canyon homes, you get the chance to do exactly that.

The Shady Canyon Golf Course is the centerpiece of shady canyon homes and it’s everything you would expect in a Tom Fazio-designed golf course. Imagine a course that follows the natural contours of the land, winding through canyons, hills and sycamore groves, following the place’s natural elevation changes and passing through rock outcroppings. Even creek beds are artfully incorporated into the overall plan, making the 300-acre golf course a challenging yet exhilarating course to play in every time.

The 18 holes of championship golf that players will have to conquer can fade into narrow, steep valleys or move up into higher ground. Measuring 7,012 yards from the back tees, the Shady Canyon Golf Course is certainly a course that players of all skill levels will love.

The first hole that features a cascading stream from green to tee and a stream that narrows the area in front of the green necessitates an accurate approach shot. Hole 5 is the only uphill par 3 on this golf course. With bunkers short and left guarding the greens, every shot must be made from the correct section of the tee. The old sycamore trees that guard the 11th hole make for a dramatic playing environment. The flowing waterfall that one passes through in the 14th hole belies the accuracy that is needed in this hole. Bunkers in the front and back defend the greens here.

As you near the final hole, accuracy takes on even greater importance. The 16th hole is dogleg right that crosses the bluffs. Only precise second shots are rewarded here. Lined with sycamores, the 17th hole is a medium length par three hole. Don’t be fooled by the large putting green—it narrows at the back and is guarded by bunkers on the right. The 18th hole doglegs left, although you need to get past challenging bunkers and trees to finish a round triumphantly.

The Shady Canyon Golf Course is indeed a golfer’s paradise. Well, what else could you expect from a course designed by Tom Fazio? With more than 120 courses to his name, he holds the distinction of making golf courses that harmonize with the natural environment.

For the true golfer at heart, having the opportunity to play in a golf course designed by someone who has received the Best Modern Day Golf Course Architect award from Golf Digest Magazine thrice anytime of the week is the biggest perk of living in shady canyon homes.

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Reasons Why Shady Canyon Residents Should Protect the Irvine Ranch


An exclusive community nestled among the rugged canyons and oak trees and bordered by Quail Hill and Bommer Canyon on both sides, shady canyon homes are among the premier communities in Irvine. In its Mediterranean-inspired architecture, vast open spaces and extensive biking and hiking trails, shady canyon homes speak of quiet luxury at every turn.

Part of the appeal that shady canyon homes hold is the vast spaces of Irvine Ranch that allow residents to go hiking, mountain biking or bird-watching all throughout the week. While its designation of being a National Natural Landmark only gives the idea that it is meant to be preserved, few actually understand what exactly needs to be protected in the Irvine Ranch. The Irvine Ranch Conservancy is a non-profit organization established in 2005 specifically with the purpose of caring for these wildlands. And if you’re still wondering what is so special about it, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy gives us an idea:

1. Coastal California, where the wildlands and parks of the Irvine Ranch are located, is only one of the five areas of the world that experience the Mediterranean climate. Because this is one of the most desirable climates for living and agriculture, places that harbor it have fast been converted into residential and agricultural areas. Protecting these habitats, then, become imperative in ensuring that they remain as is so that the Mediterranean climate and the rich ecosystems that thrive in it will continue to be enjoyed by future generations.

2. The Irvine Ranch Conservancy estimates that the catalogued 48,000 vascular plant
species comprise 20 percent of the known flora all over the world. And because
Mediterranean plants such as those found in this Southern California region are either
endemic or number only a few, there is a great need to strengthen conservation and
protection efforts.

3. Unique plant and animal species are found in Mediterranean ecosystems which are placed in the global conservation priority list. For example, only ten percent of coastal sage
scrub and one percent of native grasslands remain.

4. Losing these habitats also mean endangering various species that live in them. The most common species include the California gnatcatcher that nests only in coastal sage scrub, the coastal cactus wren, the pacific pocket mouse and the thread-leaved brodiaea.

5. The wildlands are home to mountain lions, coyotes, golden eagles and bobcats. These
predators ensure that the ecosystem is healthy and balanced. This is one of the reasons
why the Irvine Nature Conservancy considers the Irvine Ranch wildlands as one of
the “top 50 priority conservation landscapes in the State of California.”

Residents of shady canyon homes are lucky to live right smack in these open spaces. However, because of the need to ensure that these ecosystems remain as they should be, everyone using them is encouraged to join in all efforts to conserve these wildlands.

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Experiencing Irvine’s Open Space Preserve at Shady Canyon Homes


One of the perks of living in shady canyon homes is that it puts you close to one of the best of nature’s open spaces: The City of Irvine’s Open Space Preserve. These protected open spaces and wildlands is comprised of diverse habitats. These include wetlands, oak woodlands and coastal sage scrub habitats—an extremely rare class of flora found only in this part of the country. Through these preserved spaces, residents of shady canyon homes get a glimpse of California before it became the urban center that it is now. Irvine’s trails and spaces also allow for hiking, mountain biking and equestrian activities. Self-guided tours are possible in these trails. If you’d like to learn more about these trails and wildlands, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy provides free naturalist-guided tours.

Irvine’s Open Space Preserve can be enjoyed in many different ways by residents of shady canyon homes and the surrounding Irvine villages. Some spaces like those of the Quail Hill Preserve are open everyday from early mornings to late afternoons. This is the only space in the preserve where you can bring your four-legged friend with you and take a self-guided audio tour via your cellphone.

Since other places in the preserve—Bommer Canyon being one of these— necessitate more vigilant management because of the sensitivity flora and fauna present, access to them is only through guided tours. Aside from docent-led tours requiring reservations, there are also bird-watching tours and night walks that can also be arranged. A list of programs and schedules can be found in the website of the City of Irvine should you want to explore these exceptionally-preserved trails.

There are close to 40,000 acres of open space that encompass historic Irvine Ranch. This
holds the distinction of being a National Natural Landmark because of the unique and diverse biological and geographical features that are valuable not only to the residents of Southern California but to the entire nation as well. Given by the State of California and the Department of the Interior, the Irvine Ranch is among the few selected sites—numbering only 600— around the nation to receive this honor.

All these efforts at conservation make certain that shady canyon homes are protected for a long time to come. To ensure that these remain in their natural condition, a concerted effort has been made to care for these precious landmarks. Aside from the government of the City of Irvine and its public agencies, private landowners, non-profit organizations also do their share to protect and preserve these wildlands and open spaces.

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