The Soledad Avenue home was designated historic in San Diego for its retention of East Asian influences, over the objections of its owners.
Despite the vociferous objections of its owners, the “House of Dreams” at 1428 Soledad Ave in La Jolla earned historic designation July 23 at the San Diego Historic Resources Board meeting.
The home was originally constructed as a one-story, Craftsman-style bungalow in 1911, remodeled in 1916 as the three-story, Craftsman-style bungalow with East Asian-inspired influences that stands today.
Image via Berskshire Hathaway
“The House of Dreams is truly a one and only,” La Jolla Historical Society historian Carol Olten said at the meeting. Exotic and lovely, the home “shivers with history [and] its own architectural significance.”
The House of Dreams qualifies for designation under HRB Criterion C (embodying distinctive characteristics of style, type, period or method of construction or is a valuable example of the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship) for its retention of “character defining features of the Craftsman style with East Asian-inspired influences,” according to the city of San Diego staff report, retaining integrity from its 1916 period of significance.
The home’s low-pitched roofs, widely overhanging eaves, latticework, unenclosed rafters, porches, wood shingle siding, divided-lite and leaded wood windows and divided-lite French doors, as well as East Asian-inspired influences that include stepped massing, gable-on-hip roofs, peaked/flared rooflines, sweeping roofs and upturned rafter tails contribute to the designation, which excludes the detached, two-story residential/garage structure.
A comparison of the property’s historical and current design shows its distinctive features are intact, San Diego staff member Alvin Lin said at the HRB meeting.
The red areas indicate where the home underwent alterations to its enclosed porch areas/Image courtesy of city of San Diego
Further, though the house has undergone alterations over the decades, most notably to the porches and enclosures, the modifications “do not significantly impair the property’s ability” to qualify for designation,” Lin said.
House of Dreams … or nightmares?
However, the home’s current owners, Marilyn Orr and Beverly Helm, who grew up in the home and inherited the property from their grandmother, objected to the designation.
“I oppose involuntary designation of this property as historic,” Orr said, as much of the house has been changed since 1916.
“While the facade of this property is highly visible, and it looks similar to how it looked decades ago, the entire house has to be taken into account,” she added. “The shake shingle roof is gone. Porches are enclosed. … The ethereal aesthetics have evaporated.”
Indeed, the residence does not “retain sufficient integrity to be eligible for designation under any HRB criteria,” said Alec Whitson of BFSA Environmental Services, who presented his own report on behalf of Helm and Orr.
The long list of modifications undertaken between 1916 and 2024 “have been extensive and resulted in a very broad loss of integrity,” Whitson said.
Image courtesy of city of San Diego
Porch enclosures, the addition of windows and doors and the removal of certain Asian-inspired features have netted a 33% increase to the square footage of the residence, he said.
The House of Dreams “now only possesses integrity of location,” he said.
“In some cases, designation is acceptable despite a loss of integrity,” he conceded, though only in specific circumstances unmet in this case.
“Designation is intended to preserve authenticity,” Helm said. “In this case, the authenticity no longer exists.”
Both the original exteriors and interiors are intact, Olten argued, including the Asian-style roof line, spiral staircase of exotic woods, tatami mats as wall and ceiling coverings and original botanical paintings.
“If any property is worthy of historic designation in La Jolla, it should be the House of Dreams,” she said.
Image via Berskshire Hathaway
The home “became a well-known landmark and visitor destination that contributed to the cultural identity and public image of early La Jolla,” said local preservationist David Goldberg.
Other notable San Diego and La Jolla historians added their voices to the discussion, clamoring for designation.
Amid the HRB members’ lengthy discussions of the home’s significance, however, Helm and Orr continued to voice objections.
Image via Berskshire Hathaway
“It’s a nightmare. It’s a ‘House of Nightmares!’” Helm exclaimed from her seat, returning to the podium with Orr to offer impassioned pleas to consider the costs of historic designation as the house has fallen into disrepair.
“Nothing in that house is worth anything at all,” Helm said. “It literally is a mess.”
HRB Chair Kristi Byers directed Helm and Orr to stop yelling and retake their seats, reclaiming the discussion for the board members.
HRB supports designation
“While I feel [the owners’] plight, … we have to follow the criteria that is before us,” HRB member Joy Miller said.
“I don’t think the [modifications’] effects are cumulative enough for the home not to be designated historic,” Byers said.
The home is “an intact masterpiece,” board member Michael Provence said.
“If this property is not considered historic, then frankly, I don’t know what would be,” board member David McCullough said.
A motion to designate the House of Dreams as historic, with the exception of the garage, passed 6-3.
