Sign up for our eNewsletterBy Michael Good
If it seems to you that Modern architecture is having a moment, you’re not imagining things. In certain parts of town — particularly in those places covered by San Diego Uptown News — just about every new or dubiously improved building, from a Downtown skyscraper to a Talmadge ranch house, is Modern with a capital M. Or at least aspires to be.
Read MoreBy Mission Hills Heritage
Mission Hills Heritage will be holding its 13th annual Historic Home Tour on Saturday, Sept. 23, with eight homes on view instead of the usual six.
Visitors will be able to explore both interior and exterior features, and docents will provide historical details.
Read MoreBy Ken Williams | Editor
Jim Bishop calls himself a “plantaholic.” His friends will toast him — maybe even teasingly roast him — for that.
Over the past six years, Bishop has served as president of the San Diego Horticultural Society. He will step down from his leadership role following his talk about “My Life with Plants: Confessions of a Plantaholic” at the Aug. 14 meeting of the society.
Read MoreBy Michael Good | HouseCalls Think you need to destroy your old house to save it? Put down that sledgehammer. Maybe you need a preservation architect. Open your eyes. Look around. Everything you see — the newspaper in your hand, the chair you’re sitting in, the room you occupy — has been designed.
Read MoreBy Michael Good | House Calls
There’s little in Louise Mary Severin’s background that would suggest she’d someday become one of San Diego’s more prolific pre-war builders. Her father was a barber. Her mother was a homemaker. No one in her family had a background as a builder, architect or carpenter. And she married a car salesman — from a family of car salesmen.
Read MoreSuccess came with a price in early 20th century
By Michael Good | House Calls
Long before any female presidential candidate banged her head against the highest and hardest glass ceiling in the land, a sisterhood of California women were swinging their lady-grip hammers at another transparent barrier — the entrance to the boys club known as architecture.
Read MoreWho designed our homes and shaped our neighborhoods? By Michael Good | House Calls They say you will know a man by his works. If that were true, we should know a lot more than we do about the architects who designed our early 20th-century houses. These shadowy figures put their stamp on the plans that produced our houses and then departed the scene. A few left behind plans and news clippings, a few left behind […]
Read MoreCultural institutions join forces to introduce the world to architect By Michael Good | HouseCalls Like many a fledgling hooligan growing up in 1950s Oceanside, California, Milford Wayne Donaldson was introduced to the architecture of Irving J. Gill after running afoul of the law. “I was with five or six of my buddies — we were out surfing. At that time you weren’t supposed to shoot the pier on a Saturday,” he said.
Read More10 Plants with beautiful fall color for San Diego By Gary Jones Can’t tell by the look of your garden when fall arrives? You must be missing those important trees and shrubs that provide gorgeous fall color in San Diego. As Southern Californians, we need to look beyond the classic maples and deciduous oaks that other climates revel in each autumn, since most don’t grow well here.
Read MoreThe under-appreciated Irving Gill gets another shot at respect By Michael Good | House Calls No man’s a prophet in his hometown. I learned that at a young age while sitting in the hard wooden pews of Brooklyn Heights Presbyterian Church, at 30th and Fir streets. Gazing at the stained glass windows, listening to the choir and pondering the anecdote-laden sermons of the pastor, the Rev. Ellis Shaw, I learned about art and architecture, music and […]
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