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Inside the Marston House: A Library for the Ages
By Robin Lakin
March/April 2026
 The library in the mid-1970s. Velvet armchairs were purchased for the room; a circa-1880s sleepy hollow chair and early English gateleg table, inherited by descendants, were brought from the Marston's Ash Street home. Hundreds of treasured family books fill the shelves, and George's collection of antique maps adorns the walls. Courtesy SDHC |
 Flanking the fireplace are the original velvet chairs. The painting of Mt. Lassen above the fireplace was painted by Lydia Knapp Horton, a close family friend of the Marstons. Early-20th-century pottery and Jarvie candlesticks decorate the mantel. To the right of the fireplace is a 39-volume set of the works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, published in 1890. The room feels as lived in and cozy as it did during the Marston's residency. |
 The Arts & Crafts-style desk, placed in George's preferred location, basks in the amber glow of the Tiffany lamp illuminating an original copy of the January 1, 1916 edition of the San Diego Union featuring the new Spreckels Organ Pavilion. Photographs of George and Anna Lee at the wedding of daughter Harriet, Anna Lee circa 1875, and Booker T. Washington, a special dinner guest of the Marstons, flank the desk. |
 An early Arts and Crafts reclining Morris chair occupies the space once held by George's sleepy hollow chair, below maps of early San Diego; a photograph of the Marston Store sits on the window sill adjacent. Examples of Native American pottery decorate the shelves reflecting the collection of Native baskets, pottery, and metates originally displayed in the room. All current-day photos by Sandé Lollis |
George and Anna Lee Marston’s collaboration with architect Irving J. Gill to design the library in their new Seventh Avenue home gave special consideration to storing the books that would fill the tapered-edge redwood shelving and the built-in compartments for George’s antique maps collection.
The couple purchased a pair of plush velvet armchairs to flank the cozy hearth, and historic photos show an English gate-leg table centered in the room. George’s collection of Native American baskets and pottery dressed some shelves, and a sleepy hollow tufted sling chair in the southwest corner provided an especially comfortable place for quiet reading. These choices illustrated the thoughtful layering of comfort, while reading or chatting, and meaningful display that characterized the room.
Daughter Mary Marston, who lived in the house until her death in 1987, kept the library this way for the rest of her life. When the Marston House Museum opened to the public in 1990, its initial stewards opted for a purist Craftsman style interpretation of the interiors. Within this framework, the library’s velvet armchairs—long part of the room’s lived-in character and still in excellent condition—were removed from public view and placed in attic storage.
Drawing on original photographs, archival sources, and information confirmed by Marston family members, SOHO has reinstated the library’s original Marston ambience, which served the family for over eighty years. The velvet armchairs once again flank the fireplace, while the quarter-sawn oak pedestal table that had stood in the living room now anchors this room until a proper facsimile of the gate-leg table can be found.
The Marston family’s fireplace andirons again support fire wood stacked on the brick hearth, as if ready to make a crackling fire on a chilly day. Still bearing their Marston House Museum archival numbers, the andirons were rescued from a resale shop by an eagle-eyed staff member.
Antique San Diego maps, though not original to the house, adorn the walls retaining their authentic glazed burlap covering. Native American pottery and baskets decorate the redwood shelves, showcasing the visual layering that SOHO has restored. The brass Arts and Crafts Jarvie candlesticks accent the framed oil painting that hangs above the fireplace, depicting Mount Lassen in Northern California, by artist Lydia Knapp Horton, a close friend of the Marstons. A framed, original 1924 Edward Curtis photograph of Diegueno House at Santa Ysabel hangs alongside an original gouache painting of Mount Miguel, in Chula Vista, by noted artist Albert R. Valentien.
Framed family photos showing George and Anna Lee at their daughter Harriet’s 1917 wedding in the garden and young Anna Lee when she arrived in San Diego stand in a place of honor on the shelf adjoining George’s desk. Among these poignant, sentimental reminders of family important to George is a photograph of Booker T. Washington, a renowned African American educator, author, orator, who was a special guest of the Marstons in 1903.
California poppies in an Arts and Crafts era copper bud vase brighten George’s workspace in homage to his favorite flower and color. He believed the color gold represented the essence of California, and, as if on cue, the geometric cut-glass Tiffany lamp casts a golden haze throughout the room.
Standing in the library doorway today, visitors can see how SOHO’s research, returned furnishings, and careful interpretation have brought the library back to life. It is easy to envision George and Anna Lee rising from their comfy armchairs to head out for a garden stroll, engaged in a spirited chat about the excitement over the upcoming Exposition. We believe this is how they would wish their memory to linger on in this special room.
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