University Heights Architectural Styles: Craftsman

EducationHistoric Preservation
Written By Ginger Weatherford

By Ginger Weatherford Architectural Historian

Founded in 1888, University Heights is one of San Diego’s oldest neighborhoods with several significant historic landmarks including the former Mission Cliff Gardens, Ostrich Farm, Trolley Carbarn, and San Diego Normal School. University Heights also has many older homes, including 170 that are historically designated, that represent a wide variety of architectural styles from Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, Minimal Traditional, Contemporary, Victorian, and Queen Anne Free Classic to Mission Revival.

This is the first in a series of articles that will focus on the architectural features that define some of the most common architectural styles in University Heights. Homes designed in the Craftsman style were built between 1905 and 1930, and represent about 28% of the properties in the 2007 Uptown Historic Resource Survey database for University Heights.

What is the Craftsman Architectural Style?

Architectural style is defined as a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. 

The Craftsman architectural style in Southern California was popularized by the work of Charles and Henry Greene, architects who practiced in Pasadena from 1893 to 1914.  The Greenes had been influenced by the Arts & Crafts movement in England, a movement that placed emphasis on the use of natural materials and fine hand craftsmanship to produce not just architecture, but furniture, fabrics, and decorative arts as well.  

With the rise in popularity of high-style Craftsman homes such as those designed by the Greene brothers, demand for more modest versions grew, and regional architects and builders stepped in with their own versions of the Craftsman style. Eventually, pattern books brought the Craftsman style to the working class and allowed a small and easy-to-construct version, a Craftsman Bungalow, to be delivered to a building site for construction by local builders and homeowners.  

Slide Show of Craftsman Style Architectural Features

Scroll through the slide show of homes in University Heights to view some of the character-defining features of the Craftsman architectural style:

Ginger Weatherford

Ginger Weatherford is an architectural historian with over 20 years of experience in historic preservation.  She is passionate about preserving the architectural history of her hometown of San Diego.  After earning a Master of Preservation Studies from Tulane University’s School of Architecture, in 2003, Ms. Weatherford was on staff with the City of San Diego’s Historical Resources Board.  Here she gained valuable knowledge in the approval process of local landmark nominations and the creation of historic districts.  Since 2014, Ginger has been completing Historical Resource Research Reports (City of San Diego), Determination of Historic Significance Reports (City of Coronado), Historic Site Designation Reports (County of San Diego), and Historic Landmark Nomination Reports (City of La Mesa), as a historic preservation consultant.

Ms. Weatherford meets The Secretary of the Interior’s Historic Professional Qualifications Standards in the disciplines of History and Architectural History.  She has completed historic-era building assessments in Texas, Montana, and throughout California; Section 106 compliance reviews for telecommunications sites and collocation towers; Historic American Buildings Survey documentation; local landmark applications; and design review analysis under The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

 gingerweatherford.com

http://www.gingerweatherford.com
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University Heights Architectural Styles: Spanish Colonial
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Historic Architectural Assessment of Your Older Home or Property