The CDP is primarily residential with a few shopping blocks, a middle and elementary school, and several restaurants.

Rancho Santa Fe borders the Fairbanks Ranch gated community to the southeast, Solana Beach to the southwest, and Encinitas to the west.

In 1841, Rancho San Dieguito, as it was originally named, was a Mexican land grant of 8,824 acres (35.71 km2) from Governor Pío Pico of Alta California to Juan Maria Osuna, the first alcalde (mayor) of the Pueblo of San Diego.

[4] In 1906, the Santa Fe Railway, a subsidiary of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, purchased the entire land grant to plant a Blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) tree plantation for use as railroad ties, but the wood proved too soft to hold railroad spikes.

The railroad then formed the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company to develop a planned community of country estates, and 6,200 acres (25 km2) developed from the original Rancho San Dieguito land grant were renamed "Rancho Santa Fe" in 1922.

[citation needed] In 1921, architect Lilian Rice, working under Requa and Jackson, was chosen to develop the community's master plan.

[5] The basics of the original Lilian Rice land plan are in effect to this day, and the resulting low density high green space community is unique in Southern California.

Crosby's golf tournaments, which included Hollywood celebrities matched against professionals, drew great crowds to the area.

[3] In 1996, the religious cult Heaven's Gate began renting a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe which, in March 1997, became the site of the group's mass suicide.

[10] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.8 square miles (18 km2).

[11] The climate of Rancho Santa Fe is, for the most part, typical of the San Diego metropolitan area though its higher elevation and inland location lends itself to larger temperature variations.

Rancho Santa Fe is a stronghold of the Republican Party in San Diego County.

[15] In the 2008 Presidential Election, its voters chose John McCain over Barack Obama with 66.61%, significantly higher than the county-wide average of 43.79%.