It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places encompassing 12.3 acres (50,000 m2) along the Southern California coast.

[2] These cottages are perfect examples of Southern California coastal development in the early 20th century and were preserved by the Crystal Cove Conservancy Alliance.

The Crystal Cove Conservancy is now working on restoring the North Beach cottages.

A resident of the cottages, Martha Padve, was highly involved in a long-running case to list Crystal Cove on the National Register and to fight the State of California over tenancy matters.

[4] The cottages at Crystal Cove were first built by the Irvine Company and were owned by movie directors and producers.