I spent some time last week in the oceanside town of Laguna Beach, California so I was particularly interested to see this property for sale. Laguna Beach is a town full of hills and canyons which lends itself to homes with truly amazing vistas of the sea. The LA Times Hot Property column reports that today's estate belongs to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer. Palmer's home is a four-bedroom Mediterranean perched on a hilltop with beautiful views out over the ocean, the town and an open canyon. Like many hillside homes, this one has a bunch of levels. The top level has an entry deck, oceanview front office and a two-car garage. The home also includes a gourmet kitchen, formal dining room, living room, a full-floor master bedroom suite which has a cedar-lined walk-in closet, an office, sitting area and master bath. The lowest level has two two bedrooms with a large balcony. Big Time Listings reports that Palmer also owns a home in Del Mar, California and a five-bedroom home in Cincinnati. This home is listed at $2.949 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

This week in the LA Times Hot Property, Ann Brenoff digs up a small yet lovely home with a rather astounding price. The home in question in the Emerald Bay area of Laguna Beach, California and belongs to Mossimo Giannulli and his wife actress Lori Laughlin who is set to star on the new 90210 show this fall. Mossimo is best known by his first name as a popular designer for Target. This small three-bedroom home (it's around 2,000 square feet) home is decorated in a bright beachy style. No pool, just a small year courtyard but you are a short walk from the beach. It's cute, really cute, but is it $12.995 million worth of cute? Only if you are very smitten with lovely Emerald Bay.

One of the great things about playing around on the Realtor.com website is the handy dandy estimated mortgage payments feature. Your monthly on the beauty shown here would be an astounding $148,556. This castle-like home is in the Orange County, California enclave of Laguna Beach. This castle-like home is approximately 10,000 square feet with six bedrooms.  It looks older but it is actually new construction and sits on 2.2 acres. The Craftsman style home has direct access to a private beach. Other details include three kitchens, a movie theater, wine cellar, pool, guest quarters and a cabana area. The listing only has one interior listing but it's enough to give a sense of the scale of this home. At $31.5 million it is currently the most expensive home listed in the area.

Just because Valentine's Day is over, that doesn't mean the exotic trips and fancy hotel packages have to end. The Montage Resort and Spa in Laguna Beach is offering a luxury package that includes food, wine and  a brief tour through some of California's loveliest spots. Their epicurean adventure includes three nights in an oceanfront suite, a private wine tasting with a featured winemaker and Montage’s wine director Christopher Coon, a private yacht tour to Catalina Island complete with lunch and wine tastings and a day jaunt to Napa that includes a wine country luncheon and winds up with a multi-course farewell dinner. The package, which is available until April 30, starts at $25,000 for a one bedroom ocean front suite.