The home on Whitefield Place came under scrutiny for paint color and other features at the San Diego Historical Resources Board.
A home at 7747 Whitefield Pl is not historic, the San Diego Historical Resources Board determined July 24, on a split vote that centered on whether exterior painting compromised the design’s integrity, among other features.
Brought forth in a historical resource research report prepared by BFSA Environmental Services, the nomination asserts the home is historic under HRB Criteria C (“embodies distinctive characteristics of style, type, period or method of construction”) and D (is representative of the notable work of a master builder, designer, architect, engineer, landscape architect, interior designer, artist or craftsman”).
City of San Diego staff disagrees, associate planner Alvin Lin said, further stating the home is found not to adhere to any adopted HRB criteria.
The La Jolla house
The property consists of a single-family residence with an attached garage set on a sloping lot, constructed in 1979 for original owners Richard and Anne Hibbard by local architect James Rodney Youngson.
The building resembles an “organic geometric style” of architecture, Lin said, with an elongated, flattened, U-shaped floor plan, minimal eave overhang, step facades and wood shingle siding.
Prominent features of this building include an inward oriented patio area with floor-to-ceiling doors as well as a steeply-pitched metal roof, he said.
But since 1979, the home has undergone many alterations, Lin said, including a garage door replacement, as well as the painting of the previously-exposed wood shingle siding, all occurring between 2019 and 2022.
A detached shed was also constructed.
Discussion of Criterion C
City staff found that the property “lacks primary character-defining features of the proposed organic geometric style,” Lin said, such as exposed structure materials and square, diamond or polygon design motifs.
Further, “the painting of the previously exposed wood shingle siding has significantly impaired the building’s integrity” under the proposed architectural style, altering the color and texture.
The report also fails to demonstrate that this painting of the original exterior wood shingles is an “acceptable loss” of the primary character defining components, Lin added.
“The exterior of the building still reflects the appearance of a building constructed using natural materials,” said applicant representative Jenni Stropes of BFSA Environmental Services, showing examples of historic homes in San Diego that are organic geometric buildings painted after building completion, such as 887 Golden Park Ave and 439 La Crescentia Dr.
The painted shingles are “both reversible and non structural,” applicant Michael Miller said, adding many historically-designated resources have undergone similar surface alterations and remained eligible.
The city’s interpretation of the research report “undervalues how organic geometric homes manifest in practice,” he said.
In fact, the Whitefield house is “the only known post modern interpretation of organic geometric architecture in San Diego,” Miller said.
Discussion of Criterion D
With regard to Criterion D, “although Youngson meets some of the aspects to be established as a master architect,” Lin said, the property “does not exhibit key features of the organic geometric style, and also does not retain integrity,” which results in the home not representing a Youngson-notable work.
The house reflects Youngson’s “evolution as a designer,” Miller argued, incorporating earlier Youngson details with “a more sculptural, expressive vision.”
Further, the home is Youngson’s “last known organic geometric design in San Diego, making it historically significant within his career,” Miller said.
Lin reiterated that “a property is not eligible under Criterion D simply because it was designed by a prominent architect or builder, but must be a work of a master,” signifying Youngson has not yet achieved master status.
San Diego Historic Resources Board conclusion
HRB member Michael Provence noted that painting the shingles is a type of preservation technique that will extend the life of the wood used on the home; HRB’s second Vice Chair Rammy Cortez agreed.
“When this house was built, it was a different color that it started with,” Cortez said, a common situation with bungalows in La Jolla given “the proximity to salt water.”
The board has designated other examples where wood siding and shingles have been replaced due to fire insurance requirements, he added.
Cortez then moved to historically designate 7747 Whitefield Pl under Criterion C.
After lengthy discussion of Youngson’s other works and whether certain aspects of the property demonstrate original, historic integrity, however, and despite HRB’s receipt of 12 written public comments in support of designation, the board failed to approve Cortez’s motion, with only four in support (Cortez, HRB Chair Kristi Byers, Joy Miller and Melissa Sofia).
Six votes are needed to approve.
There was no subsequent motion brought forth to approve the residence under Criterion D.
