Save Our Heritage Organisation
Magazine
Winter 2007 - Volume 38, Issue 1
The Sherman-Gilbert House
By Alana CoonsSaved from demolition in 1969 when concerned citizens formed Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) and gained a reprieve to raise funds and find a location to move the house from its original location in Bankers Hill. The Sherman-Gilbert was the first historic structure saved by SOHO. We knew that our first save should be the first cover girl of the newly designed publication!
Sherman-Gilbert House, in the process of being relocated to Old Town in 1969.
The County Board of Supervisors provided the park space and budgeted $1.2 million to be used over a 10-year period to aid in moving and renovating threatened homes. In the 1960s this was a huge success; it was commonplace in the founding years of the historic preservation movement in America to relocate buildings in order to save them. While today this is no longer considered appropriate treatment of historic resources, these beautiful and important buildings that now make up Heritage Park, which includes the oldest Jewish temple (c. 1887) in San Diego, would no longer be here if not for SOHO utilizing the tools they had at hand.
John Sherman a 19th century boom period developer and cousin of General William Tecumseh Sherman built the house. From 1892-1965 Bess and Gertrude Gilbert were the owners, two sisters who were very important in the San Diego's arts and music society scene as patrons.
What is a Victorian?
- Victorian is not a style! It is a structure built in the time period of Queen Victoria's reign from 1840 to 1901. There were many architectural styles within the Victorian period
- The Sherman-Gilbert is a Stick Eastlake style built during the Victorian period
- The Stick Eastlake style is an architectural aesthetic that emerged in the 1870s & 80's in which the structural system was expressed on the exterior by abundant millwork, or "stick-work"
- The term "Eastlake," often applied to the style is an American attribution to the work of British tastemaker Charles Eastlake
More from this issue
- From the Editor
A new look with an old name
By Alana Coons- Most Endangered
By Bruce Coons- A Brief History of Rancho Guejito
By Bruce Coons- Another Part of the Story
By Bruce Coons- The Threat
By Bruce Coons- What you can do to help
- The Beauty of our State Parks in Peril
By Bruce Coons- The Cultural Landscape Connection to Historic Preservation
By Alana Coons- What is a Cultural Landscape?
By Alana Coons- The Historic Home Landscape and Gardens
By Alana Coons- A Short Landscape Glossary
- Importance of the Garden in Home Planning
By Richard Requa- When was Modern New?
By Todd Pitman- Every Bungalow Represents our History
By Allen Hazard- History Repeating
Restoring the Whaley House
By Dean Glass- The Sherman-Glbert House
By Alana Coons- 150th Anniversary of the Jackass Mail
By Bruce Coons- Lost San Diego
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