It goes without saying that San Diego is one of Americas most desirable, most livable cities. We are nicely situated along the beautiful Pacific Ocean and year-round enjoy one of the best climates in the world.
There are dozens more reasons people love this city. That’s why it continues to be one of the top vacation and convention destinations in the nation – and the world. When people visit San Diego, they typically fall in love with it. Many first-time visitors are lured by our city’s beauty and quality of life into retiring in San Diego or owning a second home here. For many others, it’s love at first sight, and relocating here is simply a must.
As a realtor, I have had the opportunity to help many individuals through the years relocate to San Diego. All of them have loved making this beautiful city their new home.
Richard and Sonya Harris retired and moved to San Diego from Cambridge, Mass. in 2006. They fell in love with the California Craftsman bungalow style of home design. While living in Cambridge, they had totally renovated a Queen Anne Victorian house, built in 1865. So, the couple was very familiar with the quirks of old houses and the importance of historic preservation. In 2007, they purchased a tiny 720-sq. ft. bungalow-style house on Herbert Street in Marston Hills, a sub-division of Hillcrest. Their intent was to totally restore the old house while adding 800 square feet of new construction and apply for a historic designation with the City of San Diego.
The Herbert Street bungalow was built in 1925. Helen Schnepp initially owned the property, and contracted with James Slaughter to build the house. Schnepp was a prominent member of the San Diego Club, an organization that promoted the social, moral and intellectual improvement of members and others in the community. She is listed in the 1921-22 Who’s Who, Among Women in California.
Slaughter built his first house in San Diego in 1920 in the same neighborhood. During the next 30 years, he built numerous houses in Point Loma and all over the metropolitan area. He also built the local Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Balboa Park, which is still in use today.
This original one-story Herbert Street bungalow is highly representative of the Craftsman style, featuring a prominent front-facing, low-pitched gable roof with wide overhanging eaves and exposed rafter tails. It also has a partial front porch with tapered wood columns and a vertical slat grill, horizontal wood lap-siding and a concrete ribbon-style driveway, which are all characteristic features that define the Craftsman style, and to a certain extent, the time period in which they were built.
As new Craftsman homeowers the Harris family knew they needed to preserve those features when designing and building their addition. They contracted with architect Carl Strona of Mission Hills to design the addition. They and their architect carefully worked with the City of San Diego Planning Dept.’s Historical Resources staff through the planning stages in order to ensure the final design would be consistent with the (U.S.) Secretary of Interiors’ Standards for Rehabilitation, which requires that new construction be sympathetic, but not identical to the original structure. The addition was constructed along the north side of the property and at the rear. It is set back from the original house and is distinguished from the original by its wide lap-siding above the window sill and shingles below.
Because the rear of the property is not visible from the street, the owners had more freedom in terms of design options. They knew they would be spending a lot of leisure time outdoors and wanted a large deck plus drought-tolerant plantings and room for a vegetable garden. They hired landscape designer, South Park-based Raymond Shaw to draw up the plans.
It took three-and-a-half years to complete the major remodel, with most of the work done by the owners themselves (except for major electrical and plumbing). The Harris’ request for historical designation for their carefully restored and expanded California Craftsman bungalow was granted in 2010.
We have it all in San Diego: You can be in the mountains, the desert, at the seaside, or at sea in an hour or less from almost anywhere in the city. We have one of the most beautiful downtowns in the world. Add to that the fact that downtown San Diego is surrounded by the San Diego Bay and the world-famous, 1400-acre Balboa Park, and it almost seems too good to be true.
In addition, we have a rich history in San Diego, and are considered to be the birthplace of California. In fact, Old Town San Diego is the oldest documented settlement in the state.
Of course, San Diego has one of the best climates in the world year round.
With all those qualities available in one spot, it was not hard for Sonya and Richard Harris to make the decision to relocate to San Diego. Now they have a beautifully restored home in an excellent location that they will be able to enjoy for many years to come.
Trent St. Louis is a licensed Real Estate Agent and a member of the National, California and San Diego Association of Realtors. You can reach Trent at trent@tns.net or at his office in Hillcrest, The Metropolitan Group. DRE#01273643.
