26998 El Retiro. Mission Viejo, California.
A single-story ranch on a quiet cul-de-sac, carried forward with a new roof, new systems, and a paved courtyard built for California.
26998 El Retiro is a 1976 ranch that has been carried forward carefully. A new roof in 2023. A new driveway. A new tankless water heater. A new HVAC. One of the two baths taken down and redone. Fresh paint throughout. The bones are original California; the systems are new.
“The bones are original California. The systems are new.”
This is a two-bedroom, two-bath single-story residence on a quiet Mission Viejo street. The front elevation is warm stucco under a terracotta tile roof, the driveway is freshly laid paver, and the entry walks you through a drought-tolerant courtyard that has clearly been tended by someone who cared.
Inside, vaulted ceilings open the living area and carry the eye through to the kitchen, where a wood-cabinet palette and tiled floor have been kept honest rather than flipped. One bathroom has been taken down to the studs and rebuilt. The other is original and tidy, waiting on its next hand.
The back of the lot opens to a covered pergola that shades a paved patio, with a hillside of mature foliage climbing the fence line. The result is a house that reads smaller than its square footage in photographs and larger than it in person, with the kind of outdoor room that turns a weeknight dinner into a Friday.
The major systems are new: roof 2023, tankless water heater, HVAC. The major questions are answered. What remains is the next family.
The entire terracotta field was replaced in 2023. The next owner inherits decades of coverage.
One of the two baths has been tastefully upgraded. Stone tile, fresh fixtures, quiet palette.
Front and back gardens are planted for California. Gravel, agave, citrus, pergola shade.
The full terracotta tile field was replaced in 2023. This is the single line item that most buyers in this price bracket quietly pray for. Here it is already done.
The living and bedroom areas carry vaulted ceilings that make a 1,256 sqft plan live well past its footprint. Natural light falls the way mid-century California intended.
The backyard is anchored by a wood pergola that runs the width of the rear facade, shading a paved patio against a green hillside of mature landscaping.
New tankless water heater. New HVAC. The parts of a house you never see have already been handled. The next owner walks into a post-renovation maintenance cycle.
Mission Viejo membership with low monthly dues. Access to the lake, the trails, the pools, the parks. None of the surprise assessments that make headlines in the neighboring counties.
Walk 26998 El Retiro before the open house.
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26998 El Retiro sits in the southern arc of Mission Viejo, minutes from Lake Mission Viejo and the trail network that winds through the hills.
The 5 and the 73 are a short drive. Toll roads reach Newport and the South Orange County coast in under twenty. Shopping and dining cluster at Mission Viejo Mall and along Crown Valley Parkway. Saddleback Valley Unified schools serve the neighborhood.
This is Mission Viejo at its quietest: a cul-de-sac street, low traffic, mature street trees, neighbors who have been here a while.
Leave a line and a number. The listing agent will reach out within the day to arrange a private walk-through at a time that suits you.
Keller Williams Realty
949.443.8715 · Direct line
CRMLS · MLS CV26065038 · Mission Viejo, California