|
Top Gun Cottage
November/December 2024
 |
This Victorian-era cottage was first listed on SOHO's Most Endangered List in 2000, when it faced demolition due to a large hotel development proposed by Manchester Resort Hotels and the City of Oceanside.
The seaside cottage, built in 1887 by Dr. Henry Graves as a vacation home, is one of the last surviving remnants from Oceanside's founding during the 1880s building boom. It not only represents the origins of Oceanside as a vacation and tourist destination but also holds cultural significance in pop culture history. Featured as the home of Tom Cruise's love interest in the 1986 blockbuster movie Top Gun, the house has been known as the "Top Gun Cottage" ever since.
Thanks to SOHO and local community partners, including John Daley and the Oceanside Historical Society, and the councilwoman who is now Mayor Esther Sanchez. years of advocacy produced a preservation solution. In 2019, the cottage was saved and granted a new lease on life through a collaboration with a new developer, Jeremy Cohen of S.D. Malkin Properties, Inc., and the City of Oceanside.
Today, the Top Gun Cottage stands as a charismatic preserved symbol of Oceanside’s early history. With its exterior restored, the building is the centerpiece of a new oceanfront resort. The house's interior has been repurposed as a pie shop, called HIGH-pie. The story of this cottage is a triumph of preservation efforts, blending historical significance with modern adaptive reuse, and it illustrates the power of collaboration between SOHO, the community, and developers.
Back to San Diego Places Once on SOHO's Endangered List Now Flourish
|
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
|
