Cove on a coffee table

Once used as a movie set and now a state park, Crystal Cove has now

been immortalized in a book. Filled with historic photos and

paintings, “Crystal Cove Cottages,” debuted in July and made the Los

Angeles Times’ regional list of bestselling books shortly thereafter.

The book’s three authors will hold a book signing Sunday at the park.

The idea formed when journalist Karen Steen, who now lives in New

York but who spent summers at Crystal Cove as a child, was writing an

article about residents moving out of the cottages in 2001. The

book’s five chapters cover significant eras in Crystal Cove history

-- from its early days as a Native American camp site and a vista for

plein-air painters to its rebirth as a state park today.

The authors collected oral histories from former cottage dwellers,

dug up old photos and read the dozens of news articles that have been

written about the place.

“It was kind of like peeling back the onion,” said Laura Davick, a

co-author whose family lived at Crystal Cove. “We ended up with this

massive amount of information.”

For instance, most of the palm trees at Crystal Cove were planted

by Hollywood types who used it as a place to shoot silent movies set

on tropical isles. The waters off Crystal Cove were the first place

people observed the birthing behavior of dolphins in the wild, Steen

said.

Davick is the founder of the Crystal Cove Alliance, a nonprofit

group that has raised about $1.2 million to benefit the development

of the park’s historic district. Half the proceeds from any books

sold at the event or through the Crystal Cove Alliance will go to

historic cottage restoration efforts.

Steen said the area’s plein-air painters donated their work to

appear in the book, and people were generous about sharing their

stories of Crystal Cove, which is in keeping with the spirit of the

place.

“That’s what Crystal Cove was -- it was a community of people that

kind of all came together and made this a place unlike any other,”

she said.

The free book signing event is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday

with a tour of the cottages at 4 p.m. Crystal Cove State Park is on

Coast Highway between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach, with parking

available in the Los Trancos lot. For information or to purchase a

book, visit o7www.crystalcove alliance.orgf7.