Encinitas: Our History and People

THE CHARLEY
MARVIN FAMILY
T H E L E U C A D I A
B E A C H I N N A N D
T H E G O L D
C O A S T P L A Z A
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Below and Bottom: The Leucadia
Beach Inn c. 2005 and today.
Kirsten and Charley Marvin have been
married for 35 years. They first met on a blind
date and their routes prior to initially getting
together were quite diverse.
Kirsten was born and raised in Denmark.
She then lived in Canada where her two
children, Sean and Lisa, were born. She moved
to the Los Angeles area before coming to San
Diego County.
Charley was born and raised in Woodbridge,
Connecticut. After attending Amherst College,
he became an Air Intelligence Officer in the
United States Navy. Then he was an instructor
at The Advanced Air Intelligence Training
Center at NAS Alameda. He left the Navy to
attend law school at the University of
California, Berkeley and then joined a large
downtown Los Angeles law firm prior to
becoming a partner in a large San Diego law
firm, in the early 1970s.
Charley bought a home in Leucadia when he
first arrived in 1971. He brought up his two
daughters, Natasha and Tara, in that beach home.
Charley later formed his own law firm in
Rancho Santa Fe. He then returned to Encinitas
and Cardiff-by-the-Sea where he practiced real
estate and business law from 1984 until his
retirement in 2005.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, Charley invested
in commercial real estate along the Coast
Highway in Leucadia and downtown Encinitas.
In 1976 Charley purchased the Gold Coast
Plaza, when it was the Manor Motel. In 1990
Kirsten and Charley changed the use of the
property to a boutique shopping center. At the
same time, Kirsten began laying the foundation
for the wonderful gardens that exist on the
north side of the property, directly across the
street from the Pannikin. The gardens, which
are open to the public, include a gazebo, a
flowing stream, and a Koi pond. Their longterm
tenants include the Cielo Hair Salon, the
Fully Loaded Juicery, and, in the back, on La
Veta, Indigo Dragon, a wellness center.
Gold Coast is managed by Kirsten and
Charley’s daughter, Lisa.
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