HOME IMPROVEMENT San Diego Uptown News


Oct. 28-Nov. 10, 2011


21


Windemere’s staircase, with its square spindles and other Irving Gill touches. (Photo by John Eisenhart)


FROM PAGE 20 WINDEMERE


Falkenhan, Moomjian says, and therefore there’s no telling who really designed it. As for Winde- mere’s lack of “integrity”? “That’s based on a misread-


ing of a historic resource,” says Dan Soderberg, of the Neigh- borhood Preservation Coalition. “They say the windows were moved and a portion was added. Look at the permit. It was pulled by the firm of Falkenhan & Gill, one year after the first permit. Those additions were done early on and by Irving Gill. The addition was to accommodate the writer, Beatrice Harraden. Moomjian claimed the building had lost its integrity because the leaded glass windows had been removed over the years, but according to newspaper reports, the only windows that were removed were the two sidelights, which were stolen 30 years ago. The other windows were removed this year by the current owners. Photographs of the house from the period be- fore the present owners bought it show the windows intact.” Soderberg, a Normal Heights


resident whose organization is made up of a number of historic and neighborhood groups, has another beef: Although the board is not supposed to consid- er the wishes of the homeowner, one board member admitted he did just that. “He stated publicly that he would never vote for a project that wasn’t supported by the owner. He just wouldn’t vote for it if the owner were against it. That’s pretty unfortunate. He should be disqualified. The per- son who should disqualify him is Mayor Sanders,” Soderberg said. Reading the Board’s minutes


and Report No. HRB-11-052, you might get the impression that a majority of the Board voted against historic designation for Windemere, but that’s not actual- ly the case. The majority voted for historic designation. But because the board has some vacant seats and because there were some absences on the day of the vote, a simple majority was not sufficient to pass muster. There had to be a “super” majority, meaning five votes, and there were only four votes in favor of historic designa- tion for Windemere.


Does this mean the end for historic designation in San Diego? After all, if Windermere isn’t historic, than what is? “No,” says Erik Hanson.


“It’s certainly possible to get a house designated when the house is worthy and the own- ers are in favor of it.” In the August 25 meeting, the Board


designated five houses and turned down two.


So what’s next for Winde-


mere? The La Jolla Historical Society plans to appeal. In the meantime, there’s really noth- ing to stop the owner from con- tinuing to demolish the house piece by piece, or he can wait for a demolition permit and do it in a matter of hours. It’s not unheard of for a homeowner to just skip the permit process and start knocking a build- ing down. The City can force him to stop, but by the time the building department gets word, it’s usually too late. No matter what the City decides, or says, or does, once the


Irving Gill’s 1895 beach cottage, showing the now-destroyed roof brackets, circa 1996. (Photo by Erik Hanson)


bulldozers begin to roll, no one will ever be able to put Winde- mere back together again.


To read Legacy 106’s report,


go to www.legacy106.com. To read the Board’s decision, see


www.sandiego.gov/planning/pro- grams/historical/pdf/reports/ hrb11052mtng110825.pdfu


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