A Museum Shop to Watch

A Museum Shop to Watch
January/February 2018
By Dean Glass

Some exciting changes are in the works for the Whaley House Museum Shop, located in the historic Verna House in Old Town San Diego. The shop will be closed January and February, with museum admissions being sold next door on the Whaley House front porch while the work is being done. We'll unveil the new store in March, so be sure to watch for an invitation to the grand reopening.

Originally located downtown at 319 W. Ash Street, the Second Empire style Verna House dates from about 1870 and is named for its owners, San Diego restaurateur Cesare Verna and his wife Maddalena. It is one of the best remaining examples of a small, working class home, but it appears much larger due to the height and steep slopes of its mansard roof. Other hallmarks of this style include dormer windows that project from the roof, and cornices at the top and base of the patterned roof. On the Verna House, the pattern is made of wood shingles painted in bold stripes.

The cast iron cresting on top of the roof was reproduced from a piece of the original, which was discovered beneath the house when it was moved to Old Town in 1965. The mansard roof fashion was not merely grandiose, but also practical, as the nearly perpendicular roofs transformed cramped attics into livable space.

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Mailing - PO Box 80788 · San Diego CA 92138 | Offices - 3525 Seventh Avenue · San Diego CA 92103
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