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NORTH PARK--Historic (and mah-vously revamped inside) Claire de Lune's Sunset Lodge, Kansas and University Aves. is the site of SOHO's annual People in Preservation Awards, June 6, 2014. |

SOHO is partnering with the
North Park Historical Society (NPHS) to present some of North Park's finest
historic architecture, including five early 20th-century homes in variations of
the Arts & Crafts, Mission Revival, and Prairie styles.
Kicking off the weekend's
activities on Friday, June 6 is SOHO's 32nd People in Preservation Awards, an
annual salute to outstanding local preservationists. The three-hour program
begins at 6pm with a wine and craft beer reception at the historic Sunset Temple
on University Avenue.
This year's jury selected 12 winners who
upheld preservation standards in settings as varied as North Park, Balboa Park,
San Diego's Bayfront and La Jolla. Tickets are $55 ($45 for SOHO and NPHS
members) and may be purchased only in advance.
The next day, Saturday,
June 7, North Park Historical Society members will guide three architectural
walking tours.
SOHO's Historic Home Tour,
which is considered one of the region's finest and most reliable resources for
preservationists and casual visitors alike, will be held Sunday, June 9 from
11am to 4pm.
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Photo: Pillar to Post blog |
2014 SOHO Historic Home Tour Weekend
People In Preservation Awards
Friday, June 6 · 6pm-9pm
Tickets by advance purchase only
SOHO & NPHS members $45
Non-members $55
Walking Tours
Saturday, June 7 · 9am, 11am & 1pm
SOHO & NPHS members $10
Non-members $15
Historic Home Tour
Featuring the Community of North Park
Sunday, June 8 · 11am-4pm
SOHO & NPHS members $30
Non-members $35
Tickets on day of the event $50 (no
discounts)
One reason SOHO chose to
showcase this urban neighborhood is its growing, active support of historic
preservation as a means of revitalizing and stabilizing the community. A marked
transformation during the past 15 years has attracted regional kudos and new
patrons to shops, restaurants, and nightclubs.
"Today, North Park is a thriving place to
live, work, and enjoy international fare, micro-brewed thirst quenchers and a
rich diet of arts and entertainment offerings," said Alana Coons, SOHO's
director of education and communications. "Much of this renewal has come
about thanks to urban pioneers like Claire Magner, with her Claire De Lune
Coffee Lounge and Sunset Temple venue, and the late Bud Fischer, who stepped up
to restore the North Park Theatre decades after it closed.
"In addition, North
Park's well established Main Street program has spurred many lasting
improvements and the North Park Planning Group and North Park Project Area
Committee are among San Diego's best informed community boards. They understand
what makes a neighborhood great and they act accordingly," Coons added.
North Park first came alive
around the time of the 1915-16 Exposition, which sparked one of San Diego's
greatest building booms. More than four million visitors from around the world
flocked to Balboa Park's fanciful new complex of ornate buildings, plazas and
gardens inspired by historic Spanish and Mexican design. Some of these tourists
couldn't resist San Diego's charms and climate. Nor did they have to venture
very far from the exposition grounds to buy barren lots, early homes, and
commercial real estate in North Park, which was already humming with streetcar
lines to central and greater San Diego.
Now a dense, mostly
residential area with large swaths of original buildings and landscaping still
intact, North Park is home to many people seeking a vintage home with character
close to Balboa Park and downtown. The North Park Historical Society is the
community's historic preservation group and go-to source for its history.
On June 8, visitors will
see the results of this passion of homeowners and historical society in the
five historic homes taking part in the Home Tour; from 11am to 4pm. Discount
tickets are available now for only $35 ($30 for SOHO and NPHS members). On the
day of the tour, tickets will cost considerably more at $50 (no discounts). For
advance discount tickets, visit SOHOsandiego.org or call (619) 297-9327. As a
courtesy to guests a $1 flat fee for parking on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday,
June 8 will be given at the North Park Parking garage. Attendees will need to
present their tickets upon leaving to receive the discount.
These homes are the
products of established local builders. In size and architectural detail, most
of the homes reflect the prosperity of their first owners. Three face onto 28th
Street, one of North Park's most coveted addresses because of its concentration
of handsome, century-old architecture. Of these three, two are grand homes on
double lots along Balboa Park's eastern boundary. A successful Mexican
businessman and bank president, for example, built one, in 1916 and its
significance goes beyond its architecture. This house stands as an early and
resounding rebuke to a racist color barrier that discouraged or barred
"non-Caucasians" from living in a "first class residence."
Its original owner, Miguel
Gonzales, commissioned builder Edward F. Bryans to produce a Prairie-style home
with Mission Revival influences on a commanding double lot opposite Balboa Golf
Course. Elsewhere, the work of builder Alexander Schreiber is seen in an
asymmetrical Arts & Crafts bungalow with Prairie Style influences (1919).
Schreiber's signature wood detailing, small rectangular corbel blocks, appears
throughout the interior. An impressive contribution by the unidentified builder
is a rambling, U-shaped home that blends Spanish Revival and Mission Revival
styles and retains many of its original interior details.
The most prominent builder
featured on this North Park tour is David O. Dryden, known for finely crafted
homes that are still highly prized and lovingly inhabited. Dryden also figures
into this year's SOHO Historic Home Tour Weekend in other ways.
Much of the tour will take
place within the Dryden Historic District, which NPHS researched, plotted and
evaluated for several years. This attractive, walkable residential district
includes 20 Dryden homes amid dozens of other houses built by his
contemporaries.

NPHS, which has grown in
size and accomplishments, is nearing completion of a history of North Park to
be published in the photo-rich Arcadia series. This book may be pre-purchased
during the SOHO weekend.
To buy tickets or learn
more about SOHO's Historic Home Tour Weekend, log on to SOHOsandiego.org or
call (619) 297-9327. Join SOHO or NPHS today for discounted tickets.
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