Basis of Presentation (Details) Debt (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended								3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011 Northstar	Sep. 30, 2011 Northstar Credit Agreement [Member]	Sep. 30, 2011 Northstar Credit Agreement [Member] ING Capital, LLC	Sep. 30, 2011 Northstar Construction Loans	Sep. 30, 2011 Northstar Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility	Sep. 30, 2011 PICO Credit Agreement [Member] ING Capital, LLC	May 31, 2011 Scenario, Plan Standby Purchase Agreement ING Capital, LLC	Sep. 30, 2011 Credit Agreement [Member] ING Capital, LLC	Jun. 30, 2011 Credit Agreement [Member] ING Capital, LLC	Sep. 30, 2011 Construction Loans years	Sep. 30, 2011 Standby Purchase Agreement ING Capital, LLC
Line of Credit Facility
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity					$ 89,500,000	$ 10,500,000		$ 50,000,000	$ 100,000,000			$ 16,700,000
Line of Credit Facility, Assigned to Third Party												10,000,000
Long-term Debt, Percentage Bearing Variable Interest, Percentage Rate		5.00%
Line of Credit Facility, Amount Outstanding				17,000,000			2,800,000
Significant Financial Covenants:
Debt to Adjusted Capitalization Ratio			0.6
Maximum Development Expenses Allowed for Compliance			8,400,000
Debt Service Coverage Ratio			1.75
Minimum Net Worth Required for Compliance			60,000,000
Line of Credit Facility, Syndicated Amount										83,300,000
Debt Instrument, Amortization Period											5
Construction Cost Overruns, Projected	$ 0