Alonzo Horton's Home

The Father of San Diego built his mansion in 1885 during the "Boom of the Eighties," the period of his greatest prosperity. His first house, an 1869 Gothic cottage, was torn down that same year.

Designed for the San Diego climate, the house was built to catch the ocean breezes and was naturally cooled with a clerestory atrium in the center of the house. Constructed of all first-growth redwood and Douglas fir, a quality of wood that is not available today at any price. These irreplaceable resources were wasted and relegated to the landfill.

Photo courtesy Coons collection

Northeast corner of 1st Avenue and Fir Street. Bulldozed in 1956 for an office building, which has been replaced by yet another office building.

Photo by Bruce Coons