Thanks to all...

... who made our First Annual Landmarked Homes of Kensington tour a great success!

Wondering what you missed?  Besides a very warm day with plenty of sunshine, five very wonderful and historic homes were opened by their very generous owners for all to enjoy.  Come on in and see!

It all started with the cheerful and efficient ticket sales staff, even if we did catch them with their mouths full.  Linda Canada from San Diego Historical Society and Heart of Kensington's own Celia Conover manned the sales booth at the Kensington Community Church.

The church was also the site of some great deals from several premium vendors.  It was great to have our Mission Hills friends, Janet O'Dea and Allen Hazard from Hazard Decorative Arts, bring some of their stellar collection of antiques for show and sale.  More than one of us took home a really great piece of Arts & Crafts era furniture.

Classic Tile & Mosaic and Persimmon brought samples of beautiful Malibu-style ceramic tile, while Thompson Building Products showed off clay pavers and saltillo tile.

Celia even brought one-of-a-kind custom strike offs from her own collection.

At 11 AM, historian Ron V. May of Legacy106 delivered a talk on the history of Kensington. Ron covered the development of the various subdivisions of Kensington, including Kensington Manor, Kensington Heights and Talmadge Park, with information on the major developers of the eras, including Davis-Baker, builders George Forbes, Pear Pearson, and Louise Mary Severin, and architect Richard Requa and his design committee.

Ron's talk was held in the backyard patio of the Forbes-Requa Model Home.  It was standing room only!  Margaret and Rex Downing arrived early to get a front row seat.

Special guest was noted Requa expert, Parker Jackson, who provided more insite on Requa and Kensington, as well as narrated historical videos, some from Richard Requa's home movies!  Parker was lucky enough to have found a seat in the shade during Ron's talk, right near the lemondade stand.

At 1 PM, preservation architect David Marshall, AIA, President & Senior Principal of Heritage Architecture & Planning, gave a talk on Richard Requa and his contributions to the architecture of Balboa Park. As an architect, David Marshall has been involved in the restoration and reconstruction of many of Balboa Park's Exposition buildings, and utilizing his extensive collection of historic postcards he has created an illustrated history that showcases the many buildings in Balboa Park that were designed by Requa, who also designed many fine homes in Kensington, including the Forbes-Requa Model Home.

David Marshall's talk was held at event headquarters at the Kensington Community Church, 4773 Marlborough Drive, at the corner of Alder Drive.

Throughout the day, enthusiastic and friendly docents greeted the visitors and provided architectural, historical and design information about each house, and the architects, builders and former occupants.

Visitors could be seen all over Kensington, coming and going, some from as far away as Pasadena!

The end result was unanimous - everyone was thrilled at the rare opportunity to enjoy the invitation to come inside, look around, hear all about the history of the people and the place, meet and talk with others who enjoy a similar appreciation for historic preservation and generally enjoy this place we call home.

Come back again next year and continue to be a part of our history!

For a more detailed view of what you missed, click on the Tour the Homes link on the left.

The Landmarked Homes of Kensington Tour was sponsored by:

Kensington is a great place to walk, dine and shop!

The Heart of Kensington (HoK) promotes appropriate development on Adams Avenue in the Kensington commercial district by focusing on urban planning and development that conforms to the small-scale, historic, pedestrian friendly guidelines of the Mid-City Communities Plan. HoK represents the concerns of over one thousand Kensington residents to City planners, elected officials and developers to ensure that the existing community character drives the graceful and sensitive renewal of the commercial district.

Behind San Diego is a romance of love, chivalry and struggling pioneers. - Davis Baker Company advertisement, San Diego Union, 21 February 1926

For more information regarding our events, please send an email to Info@HeartofKensington.org