HISTORICAL NOMINATION of the Robert and Climena O'Brien House 3920 Adams Avenue - Normal Heights Neighborhood San Diego, California Ronald V. May, RPA Kiley Wallace Legacy 106, Inc. P.O. Box 15967 San Diego, CA 92175 (619) 269-3924 www.legacy106.com March 2016 1 HISTORIC HOUSE RESEARCH Ronald V. May, RPA, President and Principal Investigator Kiley Wallace, Vice President and Architectural Historian P.O. Box 15967 • San Diego, CA 92175 Phone (619) 269-3924 • http://www.legacy106.com 2 3 State of California – The Resources Agency Primary # ___________________________________ DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ______________________________________ PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial __________________________________ NRHP Status Code 3S Other Listings ___________________________________________________________ Review Code _____ Reviewer ____________________________ Date __________ Page 3 of 24 *Resource Name or #: The Robert and Climena O'Brien House P1. Other Identifier: 3920 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116 *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County: San Diego and (P2b and P2c or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b. USGS 7.5' Quad: La Mesa Date: 1997 Maptech, Inc.T ; R ; ¼ of ¼ of Sec ; M.D. B.M. c. Address: 3920 Adams Avenue City: San Diego Zip: 92116 d. UTM: Zone: 11 ; mE/ mN (G.P.S.) e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc.) Elevation: 380 feet Legal Description: Villa Lot One Hundred Ninety-four (194) of Normal Heights according to map thereof No. 985, filed in the office of the County Recorder of said San Diego County May 9, 1906. *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries). This home, built in 1926, is an excellent and rare example of the Mission Revival architectural style utilizing native canyon cobblestones. The home also displays Spanish colonial influences. It is a single-family residence in the Normal Heights community of San Diego. The south (front) elevation faces Adams Ave. The house displays an unusual flat and stepped up shaped parapet with clay tile shed roof covering the flat portion with concrete capped corner crenulations. This home's less common flat and stepped up shaped parapet is different than the curvilinear parapet usually seen on Mission style homes. The home features a balanced front façade with two extending wings and a central inset half walled front porch sheltered by a clay tile shed roof. A large arched focal window grouping is seen on the end of the western wing extension. This large arched window grouping utilizes a central fixed window flaked by matching 14 part original wooden arched window groupings (See Continuation Sheet.) *P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) (HP2) Single family property *P4. Resources Present: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District P5b. Description of Photo: (View, date, accession #) View of south (front) elevation. Photo by Dan Soderberg, February 2016. *P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources: Historic Prehistoric Both No Notice of Completion was found. No original water or sewer records were found. County Lot and Block Book first assessed in 1926. First directory occupant listings in 1927. Residential Building Record, estimated date 1926. *P7. Owner and Address: Bill Godsey and Richard Seghers 3920 Adams Ave. San Diego, CA 92116 *P8. Recorded by: (Name, affiliation, and address) Ronald V. May, RPA, and Kiley Wallace, Legacy 106, Inc., P.O. Box 15967, San Diego, CA 92175 *P9. Date Recorded: March 2016 *P10. Survey Type: (Describe) Intensive *P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.") Historical Nomination of the Robert and Climena O'Brien House, San Diego, California for the City of San Diego, Historical Resources Board, by Ronald V. May, RPA and Kiley Wallace, Legacy 106, Inc., March 2016. Legacy 106, Inc. is indebted to Alexandra Wallace and Dan Soderberg for extensive research, and other assistance with the preparation of this report. *Attachments: NONE Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List): DPR 523A *Required Information 4 State of California The Resources Agency Primary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI# CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial Page 4 of 24 *Resource Name or #: The Robert and Climena O'Brien House *Recorded by: Ronald V. May, RPA and Kiley Wallace *Date: March 2016 Continuation Update *P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries) (Continued): (See Attachment D, Photographs) The most dominant features of the subject home are the exposed natural exterior cobblestone walls and the flat and stepped decorative parapet. Although the home can be seen as a fanciful mixture of Spanish and mission styles the unique step up shaped parapet is an important and dominant feature which classifies the home as Mission style with Spanish colonial influences. The home at 3920 Adams Ave. is a single-story example of the Mission Revival style with a balanced dual wing symmetrical front façade and large triple arch window grouping. The home, built in 1926, utilizes a distinctive natural cobblestone exterior wall material which showcases the use of this natural indigenous material. The use of these natural elements as the visible primary wall material makes this home significant for its method of construction and rare use of stone craftsmanship as well as its eclectic and unique architectural style. The house features the character defining features indicative of the Mission Revival style. The home utilizes a flat roof with stepped corner shaped parapet and red clay tile shed roof covering. The home has other identifying features of the Mission style, including the repeating red pan clay tiles supporting the entry porch and also seen along the upper parapet edge. Although a break from the more traditional Mission style with curving parapet, seen in Santa Fe train depots and elsewhere, the home is grounded in the Mission style vocabulary much in the same way many Irvin Gill structures are classified as mission revival although they also lack the more typical curvilinear shaped parapet. San Diego HRB Site #843, the David E. and Jennie McCracken House, is another comparative example. The McCracken House at 3694 Pershing Ave. in North Park utilizes an uncommon for the style brick surfacing, however the home was also clearly influenced and derived from the Mission style. Finally, the three part arched focal window grouping also reflects the home's Mission and Spanish design influences. The triple arched main front focal window on the subject home creates a repeating arched colonnade-like rhythm on the front façade with a large arched central fixed wood window flanked by original smaller arched 14 pane true divided light windows which are all enclosed in an overarching cobblestone framework design. All windows are inset with deep wooden reveal due to the thick stone wall design. Matching arched cobblestone work is seen on the garage opening, matching cobblestone chimney and use of larger stones at the corners creating a quoin like wall affect. The home has a forward facing U-shaped plan design. The central inset covered entry porch utilizes a single 15 light wooden French access door with matching 10 light sidelights on both sides. The raised front concrete porch is partiality enclosed with matching thick cobblestone half walls caped with flat concrete tops. Downward angled round clay tile attic vents are seen in a triangular configuration just below the parapet. The home's setting is an early streetcar suburban residential street along Adams Ave. The home is in excellent condition and features the original unpainted cobblestone exterior wall surfacing throughout with ocher red painted wood windows and detailing throughout. This is an excellent surviving example of a Mission Revival home utilizing a unique cobblestone wall material design which exemplifies the eclectic 1920's design period. 5 State of California The Resources Agency Primary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI# CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial Page 5 of 24 *Resource Name or #: The Robert and Climena O'Brien House *Recorded by: Ronald V. May, RPA and Kiley Wallace *Date: March 2016 Continuation Update *P3a. Description (continued): Mission (Revival) Style. The Mission Revival architectural style reflected a reinterpretation and loose adaptation of features found on old California Spanish Colonial Mission buildings. The style began in California and the American Southwest but would eventually spread east and was utilized across America and eventually even outside of the U.S. Some historians describe the style as the western counterpart to the eastern Colonial Revival style. The style was seen as both original and traditional and did not start becoming popular until the late 1880 and 1890's. It would grow to have even wider acceptance and influence in the early 1900's as the style spread through national building and architectural magazines. The basic simplicity of the Mission Revival style lent itself to many uses and was adopted commercially nationwide for the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railway station, depots and hotels. The style is characterized firstly by curvilinear roof parapets usually