Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Paxton adobe house in Escondido threatened
Model home for Longview Acres subdivision
The house was most recently known as Hacienda de Vega restaurant
A decision to tear down the historic adobe Paxton house in Escondido has no plan B. And the city needs the 42 condo units that will take its place.
But the house, most recently known as Hacienda de Vega restaurant, is a landmark to those who begged the city council last week not to approve its demolition.
"When I saw the green tarp around the old Paxton adobe home my heart sank," said Maria Weir Werth, whose family built adobe homes, including one right up the street that the city preserved.
Werth said the Charles H. Paxton house inspired a modified Spanish revival building style that spread from Escondido into Poway, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, and beyond. The area is said to have more adobe homes and structures than anywhere in the country outside of New Mexico.
Paxton house in 1949
"Adobe homes are so precious and no longer built."
The condos proposed by Kitchell Development Co., who bought the nearly two-acre property in 2018, would add needed density to the area, though no ballpark price for the homes has been set. There would be eight, three-story buildings, a mix of California and mediterranean styles with a stucco exterior.
A historical report says the house, built in 1946, was a model home for the nearby Longview Acres subdivision of 25 adobes. It was found to be a significant historic resource, potentially eligible for listing on the city's local register of historic places.
But the house at 2608 S. Escondido Boulevard had a life as a favorite local restaurant, a nursery, a glass shop, and along the way, before Hacienda de Vega closed in 2017, many changes were made.
Due to past remodels, and now a frequent target of vandalism, the building was left with only two of seven "original aspects of integrity," according to a historic structures assessment. The planning commission decided preservation wasn't feasible.
Carol Rea, chairman of the historic preservation commission, said she toured the property in February and it appeared structurally sound, which isn't surprising for adobe.
"Paxton reflects our Hispanic culture, not only by its notable adobe block maker and brick mason, but by its later adaptive re-use by popular Mexican restaurants."
Under Escondido zoning code, a non-emergency demolition permit of a historic resource must be reviewed by the historic preservation commission. A noticed public hearing was held in July in which a motion to approve the permit failed due to a tie vote, but one commissioner recused themselves and two were absent.
Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO), said in a letter that the staff report missed the historical significance of the building, and that the city failed to explore alternatives adequately. Noting the potential for a legal challenge, SOHO called for a full environmental impact report, rather than the initial study and "mitigated negative declaration" that was issued.
"The cultural links represent the continuity of building adobe houses throughout the decades within the entire southwestern region," Coons said. SOHO wants the matter sent back to the historic preservation commission for a second vote "to enable more commissioners to participate."
Marne Bouillon, the developer, said they tried to incorporate the house in the center of the project, but that doing so would leave it inaccessible to the public, defeating the purpose of preservation.
As an alternative, they offered to sell the house at market value to its supporters, possibly to have it moved, but received no offers, he said.
Deputy mayor Consuelo Martinez said she was open to proposals to save the house but hadn't received any.
While some supported the demolition, most were against tearing down an important chapter in the city's history, including Alexa Clausen, who researched the history of the house for the annual adobe home tour.
"Decades of its ownership are rooted in Escondido's rich Latino history, which is very under-represented in the city's historic preservation efforts."
Here's something you might be interested in.
Paxton adobe house in Escondido threatened
Model home for Longview Acres subdivision
Paxton adobe house in Escondido threatened
Model home for Longview Acres subdivision
The house was most recently known as Hacienda de Vega restaurant
A decision to tear down the historic adobe Paxton house in Escondido has no plan B. And the city needs the 42 condo units that will take its place.
But the house, most recently known as Hacienda de Vega restaurant, is a landmark to those who begged the city council last week not to approve its demolition.
"When I saw the green tarp around the old Paxton adobe home my heart sank," said Maria Weir Werth, whose family built adobe homes, including one right up the street that the city preserved.
Werth said the Charles H. Paxton house inspired a modified Spanish revival building style that spread from Escondido into Poway, Encinitas, Rancho Santa Fe, and beyond. The area is said to have more adobe homes and structures than anywhere in the country outside of New Mexico.
Paxton house in 1949
"Adobe homes are so precious and no longer built."
The condos proposed by Kitchell Development Co., who bought the nearly two-acre property in 2018, would add needed density to the area, though no ballpark price for the homes has been set. There would be eight, three-story buildings, a mix of California and mediterranean styles with a stucco exterior.
A historical report says the house, built in 1946, was a model home for the nearby Longview Acres subdivision of 25 adobes. It was found to be a significant historic resource, potentially eligible for listing on the city's local register of historic places.
But the house at 2608 S. Escondido Boulevard had a life as a favorite local restaurant, a nursery, a glass shop, and along the way, before Hacienda de Vega closed in 2017, many changes were made.
Due to past remodels, and now a frequent target of vandalism, the building was left with only two of seven "original aspects of integrity," according to a historic structures assessment. The planning commission decided preservation wasn't feasible.
Carol Rea, chairman of the historic preservation commission, said she toured the property in February and it appeared structurally sound, which isn't surprising for adobe.
"Paxton reflects our Hispanic culture, not only by its notable adobe block maker and brick mason, but by its later adaptive re-use by popular Mexican restaurants."
Under Escondido zoning code, a non-emergency demolition permit of a historic resource must be reviewed by the historic preservation commission. A noticed public hearing was held in July in which a motion to approve the permit failed due to a tie vote, but one commissioner recused themselves and two were absent.
Bruce Coons, executive director of Save Our Heritage Organization (SOHO), said in a letter that the staff report missed the historical significance of the building, and that the city failed to explore alternatives adequately. Noting the potential for a legal challenge, SOHO called for a full environmental impact report, rather than the initial study and "mitigated negative declaration" that was issued.
"The cultural links represent the continuity of building adobe houses throughout the decades within the entire southwestern region," Coons said. SOHO wants the matter sent back to the historic preservation commission for a second vote "to enable more commissioners to participate."
Marne Bouillon, the developer, said they tried to incorporate the house in the center of the project, but that doing so would leave it inaccessible to the public, defeating the purpose of preservation.
As an alternative, they offered to sell the house at market value to its supporters, possibly to have it moved, but received no offers, he said.
Deputy mayor Consuelo Martinez said she was open to proposals to save the house but hadn't received any.
While some supported the demolition, most were against tearing down an important chapter in the city's history, including Alexa Clausen, who researched the history of the house for the annual adobe home tour.
"Decades of its ownership are rooted in Escondido's rich Latino history, which is very under-represented in the city's historic preservation efforts."
Comments