Quiet Enclave Shattered -- Deaths Darken Rancho Santa Fe, A Haven For Rich, Well-Known Californians

SAN DIEGO - Nestled in hills 30 miles north of downtown San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe is a swank enclave sprinkled with polo fields, country clubs and multimillion-dollar estates.

It's a community where new and old money mix, where celebrities can get their privacy inside gated estates and where residents can go long stretches without seeing neighbors.

Yesterday, it became the site of one of the worst mass suicides in modern history, with 39 young men and women found dead in a mansion on an estate lined with palm trees.

"It's an extraordinary place," said San Diego Padres owner John Moores, a Rancho Santa Fe resident, who heard about the suicides on his car radio. "There's very, very low crime, I mean, it's like a small town.

"The last big story in Rancho Santa Fe was that some kids stole a garbage can. Really, you read the crime reports out there and it's stuff like that. A barking dog at night. Silly stuff."

The seaside Del Mar racetrack, popularized by Bing Crosby in the late 1930s, is nearby. Crosby also once held his celebrity golf tournament there.

At the end of the main street is the exclusive Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, with a neatly manicured croquet green and fragrant eucalyptus groves around it.

Pete Rozelle, who craved privacy after he retired as commissioner of the National Football League in 1989, found it in Rancho Santa Fe. He lived quietly there with his wife until he died of brain cancer in December.

Other residents have included diet guru Jenny Craig; Joan Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc; Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; and John Neal Reagan, former President Reagan's only brother, who died last December.

The town has a population of slightly more than 12,000 living in homes priced from $1 million to around $3 million.

Greta Suydam, editor of the Rancho Santa Fe Review newspaper, told KCBS-TV that the Rancho Santa Fe area was the second-most-expensive area by ZIP code after Beverly Hills.

There's no home mail delivery, because most of the lots are so big. There are no street lights, and a covenant allows only two styles of houses - Spanish Mediterranean and ranch.

"It's a very close-knit community, but also very private," said Walt Ekard, who recently completed nine years as Rancho Santa Fe's town manager. "If you don't know your neighbors, it's not unusual. One of the reasons people move here is that they don't want to be flashy. They want to live in peace."

The sprawling 9,200-square-foot mansion at 18241 Colina Norte, where the bodies of 39 people were discovered yesterday, is typical of the area.

Set on several acres, it is at least 100 yards from its nearest neighbor. The two-story, palm-hedged house with a red-tile roof is set up from the street behind shrubbery. Its amenities include a swimming pool, tennis court, putting green and elevator.

The last time Rancho Santa Fe was in the news was in 1992, when the wife and three children of purported British spy Ian Spiro were found shot to death in their posh home. Spiro was found dead in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park three days later. No suspects were ever apprehended.