SOHO Welcomes the New Board of Directors

Members of the Board formulate short and long-range goals of the organization, and plan and implement projects that support the mission of SOHO. This year is particularly important as we take over the stewardship of the Whaley House Complex and co-host the CPF Conference, while ever continuing the battle to save our heritage.

Read the profiles below and note the diverse and impressive backgrounds of these dedicated volunteers.

Bruce D. Coons, President, is serving his second term. Bruce's interest in history began as a child when, at the ripe old age of ten, he became a member of the San Diego Historical Society in 1964. His first archeological dig was a year later at the Royal Presidio Excavations and fourteen years later was foreman of volunteers. Bruce served on the San Diego County Historic Site Board from 1989 until their disbandment. He has received three SOHO PIP awards in 1991, '94 and '98. Bruce wrote and secured the ISTEA Grant for 1.4 million dollars culminating fifteen years of effort to save and restore the California Southern Santa Fe Transcontinental Terminus Depot. Bruce's wide range of expertise encompasses general California history from Spanish explorations through the turn of the century. Known for his period restorations, Bruce utilizes his innate talent to interpret historic photographs in his work as historic consultant.

Erik Hanson, Vice President, lives with his with wife Ingrid and daughter Delpha in their 1906 Craftsman house in South Park which appeared in two popular books by Paul Duchscherer: Inside the Bungalow and was the cover of Outside the Bungalow, Arts and Crafts Period Gardens. He has served on the board of Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee since 1989. Erik holds a BA in Theatre Design from SDSU with twenty years in theatre prop construction. He is creator of many home tours including SOHO's popular Uptown Irving Gill Tour. An authority on Gill, Erik handcrafts reproductions of Irving Gill furniture designs and has an excellent website on Irving Gill that can be found at www.irvinggill.com.

Jessica McGee, Treasurer Prior to her retirement two years ago, Jessica worked for over 17 years for AT&T in San Francisco and Orlando, Florida. She was responsible for their Western Region Treasury Operations offices and wrote employee financial instructions. She was also a co-owner of several retail stores in San Francisco. She was a board member of both the Orlando Landmark Defense, a local preservation group, and her neighborhood association as well as the Treasurer of the Central Florida Chapter of the American Hibiscus Society. She is currently Program Chairperson for Quail Botanical Gardens and a board member of the Normal Heights Planning Committee.

David Swarens, Ex Officio, is a staunch preservationist, longtime SOHO Board Member and two-term president. David and his partner Vykki are the owners of the 1923 Austin Bungalow in the Sherman Heights Historic District featured in "The Bungalow" and "Inside the Bungalow". As a member of Los Californios, he is involved in interpreting early California history with California music of the 19th Century at historic sites throughout the state. He serves on his community planning group, Enterprise Community Governance Board, and the Sherman Heights Revitalization Team, and considers himself lucky when he gets a night home in his historic bungalow.

Barry E. Hager is an attorney-at-law and partner with the San Diego firm of Treitler & Hager, LLP. He practices law in the areas of business, real estate and construction law, including litigation and transactional work, with over twelve years of experience. He is a graduate of U.C.S.D., with a degree in management science and the U.S.D. School of Law. Barry, with his wife Hillary and their two sons, live in a 1913 Craftsman foursquare home in Mission Hills. The couple also owns several other pre-WWII residential properties.

Alana Coons, a third generation antiques dealer, specializes in estate liquidation services and pre 1900 Americana. She has published hundreds of articles on San Diego South Bay history displaying her philosophy of historic preservation through education. Alana's love of the cultural landscape along with husband Bruce's passion for the built environment has created a balanced partnership for preservation and period restorations. Together they own several historic properties and run a historic design consulting company.

Kathleen Flanigan has a B.A. in Latin American History and Spanish from San Diego State University, and an M.A. in Architectural History from U.S.D. One of San Diego's foremost historians and preservation advocates, Kathy has assisted SOHO and other historical societies and individuals around the county with research on significant buildings from her extensive personal archives. She has written many National Register nominations for several buildings in San Diego County, including the Bishop-Burnham house in Rancho Santa Fe, and the County Administration Building. Kathy is author and co author of numerous publications and historic surveys.

Peter L.P. Janopaul, III has lived in the San Diego community since 1992, is a native of San Francisco, and a seventh generation Californian. He is a partner in The J. Peter Block Companies, which is primarily interested in the preservation of historic properties. With his longtime partner Anthony Block, he also focuses on affordable and market-rate multi-family housing. Peter has a degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley, and has attended other colleges in Washington, D.C., Colorado, Virginia, and Oxford, England. He is active in all levels of politics, and is an inflexible advocate for issues of importance to the historic community. Immediate future plans include building a new gay community center; a new center for non-profits where smaller organizations can maintain a community of offices; a new high-profile street front stand alone center for San Diego Hospice; restoration of the historic Egyptian Theatre and the Temple Beth Israel.

MarÍa E. Castillo de Curry has a degree in Architectural Engineering from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, an M.A. in Restoration of Monuments from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and is a Ph.D. candidate in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University. Currently she is a researcher and professor in El Colegio de la Frontera Norte in Baja California, México. María is a representative of the International Council of Monuments and Sites ICOMOS in Baja California and a member of the Council on Preservation of the Cultural Patrimony in Baja California. She is serving her third term for SOHO as our energetic binational liason to Baja California. María was instrumental in working with the Mexican government to have the S.S. Catalina donated for preservation.

Kathleen Kelley-Markham is a partner in Kelley-Markham Architecture and Planning of San Diego. A native of Coronado, her family has been in the San Diego region for over 80 years. She is a co-founder of Friends of Gill and a past board member of the Old San Diego Planned District Review Board. She is also a past president of SOHO and lives in the historic neighborhood of Bankers Hill and in the community of Borrego Springs.

David Marshall is an Architect and Project Manager for the highly respected preservation firm of Architect Milford Wayne Donaldson, FAIA in San Diego. He has worked on many significant San Diego buildings, including: exterior improvements to the Villa Montezuma, exterior repairs of the Organ Pavilion. As Project Architect for The House of Hospitality Historic Reconstruction, David spent thousands of hours in the park documenting the building and supervising its reconstruction. It is the only building in San Diego to have won a National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award. David has lived in San Diego County since 1967 and currently resides in La Mesa with his wife and 5 year old son.

Joan Seigfried has a BA from Tufts University with further study at Harvard and University of London. While at the University of Edinborough, she wrote her thesis on the 18th century architect Robert Adam. She was assistant curator for the Manchester Museum of Art in England and interned at the Victoria Albert in London. Joan has worked in the decorative arts for twenty-three years and her parallel career has been historic set design. For fifteen years, Joan has owned and operated Retreads, a successful antique business. In 1998 she was recognized with the Twin Award For Women In Business, and then in 1999, with The SBA's Women Entrepreneur Of The Year Award. Presently in the graduate program for Public History and Historic Preservation at UCSD, Joan will be interning for SOHO in the spring. She also volunteers and lectures for several other organizations.

Corey Jon Braun was born in San Diego, a ninth generation San Diegan. His family first came to San Diego with Junipero Serra in 1769. He has degrees in History and Anthropology from San Diego State University. Corey worked as an archivist for five years, first at the Center for Regional History at San Diego State University, then at the Research archives for the San Diego Historical Society. He operated the Junipero Serra Museum in Presidio Park on Sundays for twelve years. For fourteen years Corey worked as a planner for the City of San Diego, primarily in historic preservation and development in the city's historic districts and older neighborhoods. He is chair & co founder of Descendants of Early San Diego Pioneers in 1984. He was a docent in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park 1982 and 1988, on the Committee for the Preservation of Mission San Diego de Alcala, and member of Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society, as well as the Archaeological Institute of America since 1985 and has served three terms over the years as SOHO board member.

2000 - Volume 31, Issue 2

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

President's Message

The Raising of the S.S. Catalina

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