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San Diego Historical Resources: Designations and Board Reports
By Ann Jarmusch
January/February 2026
At its last meeting of 2025, the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board heard preservationists’ appeal for a full board hearing on the La Jolla home of an early Yellowstone National Park official that’s slated for demolition. They voted down, after much discussion, the nomination of an early building designed by the influential partners Lloyd Ruocco and Homer Delawie. They also designated six houses—one of which is a notable 1911 design by Master Architect Irving J. Gill, and two are the work of Master Builder Benjamin Torgerson.
During the public comment period, La Jolla preservationists urged the board to examine the historical merits of the home built in 1914 at 1424 Olivet Lane by Harry Child, who developed Yellowstone National Park’s hotel system and broadened public access and infrastructure. They said a flawed nomination report and limited analysis by the city’s Historic Preservation Planning section in 2023 failed to convey Child’s importance and the park work he did at the house in a separate office. If the house is demolished, as planned, the city would lose “a distinctive La Jolla residence” and “a tangible link to the visionaries who helped shape the experience of America’s first national park,” said Seonaid McArthur, chair of the La Jolla Historical Society Landmarks Committee.
And SOHO board member Janet O’Dea questioned whether HRB chair Kristi Byers accurately represented the board’s diverse opinions and questions about the City’s Preservation and Progress Package A when she appeared before the Planning Commission on November 6, 2025. The HRB did not recommend approval of the proposed changes to the preservation ordinance, which would weaken protections for historic properties. Regardless, Package A is expected to go to the City Council in February 2026.
O’Dea said, “As a result [of Byers’s remarks to the Planning Commission], the board’s collective voice appeared diminished, and interpretations were presented that many members may not have offered had they been consulted. The statements made likely influenced the Planning Commission’s unanimous decision to advance Package A without acknowledgment of the concerns raised by HRB board members.” Read more about the board’s vote and the Planning Commission meeting online in the following:
Here are descriptions of the six residences the HRB designated on consent:
 3729 Eighth Avenue in Hillcrest was designed by Irving J. Gill, San Diego’s pioneering Early Modernist architect. Cossitt Cottage #1/Irving Gill House (1911) was commissioned by Frederick and Mary Cossitt along with three other rental cottages along the avenue. It meets HRB Criteria C and D, for architecture and master architect, respectively, for designation. The cottage embodies the Early Modern style that Gill is known for: rectangular massing with clean lines; a lack of applied ornamentation; light sand stucco exterior; repeated arches, including the arched entry; wood-framed casement windows, and stucco chimney. It is an excellent example of Gill’s distinctive Early Modern works, which include a cubist influence and his hallmarks, such as a repeating arch motif, unique window arrangements, and absence of ornamentation. The house expresses the quality of design seen in his other known works and retains an excellent level of integrity. The designation excludes the garage. |
 306 Sea Lane in La Jolla is a Spanish Colonial Revival style home named La Estrella del Mar that retains integrity from its 1925-1928 period of significance. Designated under HRB Criterion C, for architecture, it reflects the style with its U-shaped floor plan surrounding a courtyard; asymmetrical facade; stucco exterior; low-pitched red tile roof in shed, gable, and flat forms with little eave overhang; recessed windows and doors; arched windows; wood loggia; and wood-framed casement windows. The designation excludes the garage, the 2005 second-story addition, and the kitchen and stair additions on the north facade. |
 4192 Rochester Road in the Kensington-Talmadge community is a 1927 Spanish Eclectic style home named the Elmo and Angeline Crabtree Spec House #3. It meets HRB Criterion C for its architectural style, which retains integrity. Character-defining features include the asymmetrical facade, stucco cladding, varied roof forms with tile roofing and little eave overhang, an arched focal window, a central tower, a stucco chimney, an arched wooden entry door, and fenestration consisting mainly of wood-framed windows in various light patterns and operations. The designation excludes the detached ADU (accessory dwelling unit) due to substantial alterations to the garage structure. |
 3575 Alabama Street in North Park is the Benjamin and Lois Torgerson/Benjamin Torgerson Spec House #1, a Craftsman style home built in 1927. It is designated under HRB Criteria C, for architecture, and D, for Torgerson, a master builder. It embodies the Craftsman style with its medium-pitched, jerkinhead front-gabled roof with wide unenclosed eaves; a partial-width front porch covered with its own jerkinhead front-gabled roof and square, battered wood columns; exposed rafter tails; horizontal wood clapboard siding; an asymmetrical primary facade; a brick chimney; and fenestration consisting of wood-framed single-light double-hung windows in singles and pairs. Torgerson was a prominent and accomplished building contractor responsible for the construction of many quality houses in San Diego. This home is an early and rare example of his work in the Craftsman style and continues to convey his skill as a builder through its quality construction and craftsmanship. A small, single-family home, it also represents Torgerson’s early career, before he progressed to larger homes, multifamily projects, and large commercial buildings. The designation excludes the 1957 and 2014 rear additions. |
 2651 Jonquil Drive in Point Loma is another home by Master Builder Benjamin Torgerson, which was designed for John and Mattie White. This Spanish Colonial Revival home from 1930 is designated for its architecture (HRB Criterion C) and its master builder (Criterion D). Distinctive characteristics of the style include an asymmetrical primary facade; varied roof forms; a tile roof with little eave overhang; decorative, smooth stucco exterior; a second-story balcony, a battered stucco chimney; wood-framed fenestration consisting of casements and single-light fixed windows; and a front courtyard with a stucco site wall. The home exemplifies Torgerson's custom work through massing with stepped wings and varied roof forms to emphasize the building’s scale and prominence on a corner lot. He integrated distinctive Spanish Colonial Revival hallmarks into this design, including second-story balconies, both projecting and recessed; heavy corbels; and decorative stucco details. The designation excludes the 1984 rear addition. |
 2954 Chatsworth Boulevard in Point Loma is a two-story home built in the Dutch Colonial Revival style in 1941. Designated under HRB Criterion C, the Otto and Netha Kiessig House embodies distinctive characteristics of the style and retains integrity. Among these architectural elements: a principal cross-gambrel roof, gabled dormer windows, accentuated front entry with fluted flat pilasters and panel details, symmetrically balanced windows, double-hung divided-light wood sash windows, and bay windows. The designation excludes the 1960 addition, the 1972 addition, and the 1972 pool. |
All photos are from the California Historical Resources Inventory Database (CHRID), except where noted otherwise. The above designations were reviewed and approved by the City of San Diego Historical Resources Board (HRB), the County of San Diego Historic Site Board (HSB), or the Coronado Historic Resources Commission.
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