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Archive for the ‘architecture’ Category

Aaron Kilpatrick home and art studio at 340 Olive painting by William Wendt

There are a lot of interesting little gems in Morro Bay to look at. I don’t know the history of them all… but I do know a bit. I spent this morning wandering around noting places that stand out to me from south of a line I’ve arbitrarily drawn at Olive street and Ridgeway up to Kern. This is by no means an exhaustive survey of all the interesting architecture… it’s just me wandering around and looking. Many of them are rather quiet and don’t jump out at you… but they provide a feeling that makes this place feel like it does. I’ll go street by street to make it easy to follow along. I’m not gonna do all the streets though. I’m also not gonna include photographs of all these places because it felt too intrusive. You can find them on google earth street view if you’re lazy… but best to just get out and take a walk.

Beginning along the lower State Park Road (aka Main Street) at the south end of town:

Maybe start (or finish)with lunch at Bayside cafe. Order the tri tip tostada… I prefer the black beans but the pinto are good too… (or 50/50!) have them add grilled onions because it’s just better that way. Get an Arnold Palmer to go with.

Walk east from there about half way down the marina parking lot and look north towards the camp ground… across State Park Road. Check out the Board and bat and stone restrooms at the state park. Who designed this little building? I know it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. They also did many of the other fixtures around the state park, most notably the gutters along the upper state park road that goes through the golf course known as “park view drive”.

Restrooms at Morro Bay State park built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps

20 State Park Road- Natural History museum at Whites Point. I’m curious who designed this mid century modern building. it’s best viewed from the water or from “windy cove” (the little parking area on the mudflat edge just north of the museum). Walk the little trails around the small little rocky outcropping and above the museum…. Take the stairs up to the top of this rock and check out the Indian bowls carved into the rocks… and the view!

Walk north along state park road on the west side. There’s a trail. Cross past windy cove and the mud flats and look back at the museum. This spot at the mudflats here is where I have spent every King Tide Event at high tide. Back in the seventies the bay crossed the road here once and flooded out into the fairway of the golf course. But since then the road was repaved so now it’s about 2” taller and thus the water hasn’t crossed the road since. I keep waiting… but the water only gets to the west edge of the paving now though. Sandal… the “baykeeper” of Morro Bay used to anchor just at the north end here (google him).

60 State Park Road- the Inn at Morro Bay…. Which to locals will always be known by it’s original name: the Golden Tee. This motel has been highly remodeled with brick pavers and a cottage vibe but was originally a 60’s mid century rat pack sort of place. The main lodge still has a bit of this vibe if you go inside and look at the bar and restaurant. Google “the Golden Tee” and you’ll see lots of period menu’s and postcards etc. They come up on eBay a lot. The buildings were originally designed by local modernist architect John Ross. There was a $920,000 public stock offering offered to fund the build of this place. The folks behind the original corporation were Glenn Kleinhammer, Eugene Morosin, Milton Rohrberg, and Chrome John’s. Architect Ross also designed homes for Kleinhammer and Rohrberg just up the hill a few lots.

Immediately south of the the Inn at Morro Bay is the Heron Rookery on a point known as Fairbanks point. The old Fairbanks house used to be in this spot here long before anything else was in this part of town. Imagine living on this bay front parcel back in the day. The driveway to this house went along the bluff northward up to main street… several thousand feet long… before the motel, and before the condos north of the motel. It entered Main Street just where 199 Main Street is now. The Fairbanks house was a sort of arts and crafts style.

199 Main- cool old brown shingled cottage overlooking the old fuel dock.

225 Main- Gladys’ Castle. Gladys Walton was a silent film star. She covered her house in shells and stones and built both the lighthouse in front of this place and the windmill house across the street.

235 Main- (approx… address) Orval League’s Oyster Cannery. Designed by architect John Badgley. Best views of this building are from the water on a boat. Part of Morro bay’s commercial fishing industry. It’s quite a nice looking mid century design from the water. Hard to see it from the street.

280 Main- Big Sur modernist style redwood concrete and glass home of my dad, architect Gerald (Gerry) Rupp. built early 1950’s. This house marks the southern edge of what was known as “beatnik hill” back in the day. It’s also the southern edge of the artists colony on Cerrito Peak that existed from the 1930’s through the 1970’s.

Take a short side trip up Cypress here… behind 280 Main because in the early 50’s my dad, Gerry Rupp, built 2 other little redwood, glass, concrete and stone modernist houses at 270 and 290 Cypress. SLO Architect Roger Marshal designed a fantastic art studio addition to 290 Cypress on the lot at 280 Cypress but you really can’t see much from the street. A nonagenarian longtime local artist has lived here for approx 70 years. This house began as an A-frame… but then it grew!

Looking south from Cerrito peak towards 290 Cypress street A-frame approx 1951… before most of the houses in the neighborhood. This house is now in the center of the block buried in trees and almost impossible to see. Note the 1930’s and 1940’s cars
290 Cypress street 1951 or so. Note the big flat roofed south facing cantilevered dormer bedroom upstairs.

301 Main- this mid century house looks right out over the boat launch at the south end of the embarcadero. It’s better to view it from down there. One of the best front decks in town. To get down there walk north to Olive street…turn west.. walk down to the stairs on the bluff and walk south along the embarcadero towards the boat launch.

North of 301 main are several old original cottages between Main Street and the embarcadero that feel same way they did decades ago. Very original Morro Bay feeling here. When you get to Fig street… look at the two red houses across Main and up the hill. Behind these red places…if you look between them… you can just barely see a third red house with white trim. It used to be the only house on this block. It’s a cool old 1930’s crafstman cottage high up on the hill.

Fig street takes off west here for about 150’ and has several original humble cottages that have not changed over the years. Nadine Richards home and art studio are just below the bluff here… at the bottom of Fig…. Accessed by a bridge. But it’s actually on the embarcadero parking lot for the boat launch. She was an artist and a character. She built her house herself down at her parents place south of Fig street… but drug it with a tractor up to where it is now and placed it over her art studio. There’s a ladder between floors. No stairs. Artist Everette Jensen’s art studio and home was the little house behind the hedge on the embarcadero just south of Nadine’s.

340 Olive- Spanish colonial revival. Originally the home of artist Aaron Kilpatrick. He hung out with artist William Wendt… and they both painted all over Cerrito Peak behind here… which they called eagle rock probably because at the top it feels like a big stone eagles nest. … but it’s a volcanic plug. you can access the trail up Cerrito peak from the high point of Cerrito Place just up Olive a tad. Nadine and Aaron and William were all friends and confidants.

370 Olive- known as “the hunting lodge” but I don’t know that story very well. It was also home to artist Charlotte Skinner.

400 Olive- I just like A-frames

Walk up Olive and turn right on Cerrito Place…. Walk up to the bend in the road and look on your right for the “trail” sign between the eucalyptus trees. Hike the short way up to the top. The views are worth it. This is a fantastic small hidden park. Be respectful of neighbors and don’t go near any of the homes. Lots of boulders and cliff… so watch out. Head back down and east on Cerrito to Shasta Left, Olive Right, Piney Way right, and ridgeway Left. Walk up ridgeway.

View from Cerrito Peak by William Wendt.

800 Ridgeway- a classic old cottage

805 ridgeway- Spanish colonial revival (with later additions) and with some great trees

850 ridgeway Spanish colonial revival

880 ridgeway. Interesting old triangular parcel with an old MB home. Wish I knew the story.

900 Ridgeway- home and studio of Artist Arther Harold Knott. Later home to his daughter Harleigh. When she died she gave it to Stanford university and they sold it to a couple from SLO who hope to restore it eventually. Harold Knott was a well known artist like Kilpatrick down on Olive. It’s known as “the house of the seven winds”. It is a cape cod style home designed in 1925 as a summer cottage for Mrs G.A. Martell by architects Miller and Warnecke out of San Francisco. She never lived there as far as I know. Harold Knott added his art studio in the SE corner of the lot just after he bought it in 1929 or so.

Home of artist Arthur Harold Knott on corner of Ridgeway and Kern
900 Ridgeway Main house plan circa 1925
Hand drawn plans
Studio originally was going to have a kitchen, bath, and bedroom off the east side… but this was never built
Harold Knott’s Art studio behind 900 Ridgeway.

Walk south down Kern. Watch for cars because there’s no shoulder and it’s a tad sketchy.

350 Kern- cool art deco house. I don’t know the backstory. It’s old though. One of the first 4 or five in this area. Who know’s the story? one of my favorite houses in town.

320 Kern- this place intrigues me because I think it used to also include 310 Kern… before the house at 310 was there. The house at 320 looks sort of Hawaiian. It has a Hawaiian hip roof. The cottage on the rear of the 310 lot, which you have to really snoop to see, also has this Hawaiian hip roof design and appears to have been a guest house for 320. I dunno for certain but would bet. There’s a fantastic back yard here too…. Check google maps!

300 Kern- Spanish colonial revival home with a lovely courtyard and great details. Another of my favorite houses in town.

246 Kern… looks older than the nearby houses. Don’t know the story. I like it.

140 Kern- Bud Anderson home. He is a famous local. He started the Galley restaurant among other things. Sort of a 60’s or late 50’s slumpstone fake Adobe post and beam rancher. Garage on east end was filled in with bedrooms I think. Sneaky not so secret path to the golf club is behind (east) of this home.

130 Kern- mid century modern designed by Don Smith. South facing courtyard.

101 Bradley- directly across Kern from 130 Kern. This house was home to the “donut lady”. She owned the little donut shop on the waterfront where the beef jerky place is… next to the kite shop at the end of Beach. She sold coffee and donuts to the fishermen and surfers. The Formica countertop was worn completely through next to her cash register where she slid probably 20 million in coins across the counter to buy 25 cent donuts. For some reason there were never more than about 20 donuts in the case. Her name was Ramona… but I forget her last name. She owned a LOT of commercial real estate in MB. Donuts… who knew?

That’s it for this walk… there’s plenty more. Now you have to walk back to your car at the marina. Sorry. Best not to use the golf course. Makes the golfers cranky.

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montereybikebridge

I have a crazy bike bridge idea…. one that I pitched to some Cal Poly architecture students (and also some planning students) a few years ago.    I have recently suggested it to the City of SLO.

THE BACKSTORY:  SLO has been planning and building a long class one (off street) bike path that is known as the Railroad Safety Trail for many years now.   It extends from Orcutt road in the south up to the Railroad station… and from Cal Poly in the north down to the 101 freeway along California Blvd.    The section that is missing is between the 101 freeway and the Railroad station.  The City has been attempting to negotiate with the Railroad for an easement… but the Railroad has basically just said NO.

So the City of SLO public works dept has been working on various solutions that would make a safe connecting route for bikes across this middle section of town to each of the already completed sections of the RR safety trail.  So far it looks pretty good… except that a portion of the route will be on Pepper st… which includes a relatively steep section between Monterey street and Mill St.  Too steep for kids and anyone on a single speed or cruiser type bike.

The idea… is to span the small valley of Monterey st with a 1000 foot long bike bridge… which spans from Higuera st.  all the way up to Mill St…. most of which is actually just the roof of two skinny buildings built on half of what is now the east side of Pepper street.  Only a short section of this 1000 foot length would be an actual bike bridge…directly over Monterey st… the rest would be built on the roof of commercial space combined with maybe a small apartment or two… whatever.  It is a tad difficult to grasp at first… you have to imagine two buildings… one on either side of Monterey st… built on half the width of Pepper street… the roofs of which are at the level of the green line in the photo above… and then the bike path on top of those roofs.  The remainder of Pepper becomes an alley of sorts.  It is really low traffic usage now.  The new bridge would turn the steep hill… into a manageable 4% grade.  The new buildings would not block any views that the current railroad track already blocks.

The City would have to either partner up, sell or lease the land to a developer that would then build the buildings and the bike path. There would be an easement for the bike path across the buildings… and some sort of long term maintenance agreement.  It would be a tricky negotiation… but in the end it would eliminate the steep section of this portion of the RR safety trail across town.

From the south end of this bridge…  the path would continue as per the existing bicycle master plan which I don’t have space enough to go into here as it is fairly complicated… but it is already a plan and it will work.  Same goes for the northerly connection… but that section is quicker to describe.  Basically to the north.. Pepper continues as a bicycle blvd for two blocks… where there would be a new bike bridge over the RR tracks and the path then continues over to the south corner of the Highway Patrol building property on California… and then northerly between that Highway Patrol building and the RR tracks but on Highway Patrol Property.  From the Highway patrol property… the path becomes a “protected two way bike lane actually built on the west side of California blvd.   This section is protected by a barrier from the automobile traffic… and it continues across the existing wide automobile bridge over the 101 and connects with the existing RR safety trail just beyond the 101.

Interesting, yes… is it feasible… I dunno… but it would sure be fun to explore.

 

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I’ll admit it… I am usually not a big fan of can lighting. But I take exception in this case.  This is an old coffee can… opened on both ends and then spray painted blue.  It is screwed to the wood… surrounding a galvanized exterior light socket.  The astute amongst you will have noted that the wiring is actually speaker wire.  ( I don’t recommend this)  This lamp was built circa 1967 by a Cal Poly Architecture student named Todd Stoutenborough.  (now he designs colleges and office parks… I wonder if he misses building lights out of scrap).  I’m gonna call this style “hippie minimalist”.  Most hippie architecture is just scrappy… but this particular piece was actually pretty cool back in the day.  Now however… 44 years later… it is looking a tad saggy and rusty around the edges.  Probably time to get a new can at least.. and maybe some regular wire.

You can build this yourself…The can is free… the wire you can swipe from something else probably…. and the galvanized bits are probably less than 12 bucks at the hardware store.  Spray paint is around 6 bucks.  I can visualize this project in an old issue of popular mechanics back in the day… but today I suppose it would be in “make” magazine.

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Below is a short story I wrote in 2000 about living in Montecito CA (Santa Barbara area)… where we lived for a few years in the 1990’s.  We left in 2001 and moved back home to downtown San Luis Obispo, CA.

—–

On living in Montecito…
Despite what you might think… well… Montecito is just a pretty odd place to actually live.  There are houses here and there… usually on at least 2 acres… but I somehow don’t have any neighbors really.   I know, I know… what about Oprah and all the movie producers etc etc.  Well,  it is not exactly as it seems.

 I was one of the lucky ones… or so everyone thought anyway… I looked lucky after all… I had sold my company… I had lots of funny cool shoes from Europe and had a new Audi wagon and a cool small 50’s modern house with a nice view and old oak trees.  My wife and I were young… in our thirties… we had nice bookcases with interesting books and we had some nice paintings.

But nobody really lives in Montecito as it turns out.  This was somewhat disconcerting at first.  You’d really never know it for all the activity going on.

Anyway…

I was walking across San Ysidro Rd. one day… at the corner of East Valley… on my way over to Pierre’s (the deli) when I noticed that all four cars at the intersection were Range Rovers… probably all Realtors…all talking on separate cell phones… and even the passenger of one of the Range Rover’s was talking on a cell phone… (that’s 5 phone calls at a 4 way stop). I had to hurry so as not to get run over by one of them (no doubt discussing the proper spelling of “Palladian” with her assistant).

So I was pondering about realtors and real estate as I walked over into the parking lot at Pierre’s.  It was a normal day… I noticed nobody noticing Christopher Lloyd having coffee.  Nobody noticed Sandra Bullock either… I’m pretty sure it was her… I was trying hard to be cool and not to gawk.

I got my coffee and I began ruminating on the fact that the house next to mine has been remodeled three times in the last five years… and all the while it has never been lived in.  It sold for 1.2 about three years ago… then 2.2 about a two years ago… and now I expect it will be 6 to 7 as the most recent remodel involved scraping the entire old structure (a somewhat odd but fine old house) and building a new 5500 square foot palladian (there’s that word… see) villa. Basically this house has been more of a business for developers than a home.

It is one of 5 houses in my neighborhood that have recently become palladian villas.  In fact I would say that most of the houses in the area have been going through some sort of Tuscanization process of one sort or another constantly since we moved here. (save three that are owned by people who are so old that they still keep horses on the property)

The house two over was leveled and got built into a 10,000 foot mansion a few years back.  It sold just over a year ago for around 8.  The new owners are adding on… they needed another 1000 feet.  I have yet to see them… no sign of them anywhere.   Up the hill a bit is another.  It was modern…now it’s been hispanificated and sold… then sold again.  Another sold on the first day at 9.9.  One magazine article from LA calls these houses “white piles”… the subcontractors call them “big dick” houses.

The house across the street sold to a corporation before anyone knew it was for sale.  It’s now the latest in the “scrape it and build a huge mansion on it” category.  Montecito ABR reviewed it and declared it will be beautiful enough (preserving the character you know).  New landscaping will replace existing landscaping.

I have never hired a building contractor but I know all of them some how… Paul… Doug… Rick…. Mark… Mike.  Always a four-letter name.  Anyone who actually lives here knows them too.  You see them all the time… over various fences…  they are quite similar to neighbors actually.

Montecito may not be a place people really live I guess… it is just the impression of a beautific enclave… a well disguised business for Realtors, gardeners, and home builders… except maybe on Sundays… but during the week it is major earthmoving equipment of one sort or another… with a light topping of leaf blowers and chainsaws… punctuated by the din of “tres million watt” Mexican radio stations (the guys building all the walls around the houses nobody lives in).

So meanwhile back at Pierre’s some LA producer type drives up in his new Aston Martin.  He’s probably here to look at some houses.  He’s not staying at the Miramar mind you because despite whatever Schrager’s Gucci wearing team of PR people are telling Wallpaper… there doesn’t seem to be much construction going on.  He’s probably staying at one of the “Beanie” hotels owned by Ty Warner (Beanie Baby fortune… why does that sound so goofy)

Anyway… he gets out of the car and it’s horn beeps as he locks it…  never mind that the only other cars in the lot are a whole slew of BMW’s, a Mercedes 600CL, a Turbo Porsche with ceramic brakes, four or five Mercedes wagons (the Montecito Taurus), the aforementioned RRR (Realtor in a Range Rover) and an Audi wagon (the dot com influence you know)… and the only people sitting there that would possibly steal anything from his $200,000 car are six or seven old timers and a smattering of young retired entrepreneurs in huaraches, old shorts and scrappy t-shirts quietly arguing about how the cinnamon rolls used to taste better.

So… after my coffee I walk to my car in my huarraches… and yes… it is the Audi… parked at Pierre’s even though I went to the Pharmacy (hey I did buy a coffee and I would have bought a cinnamon roll except… well you know)  I drive over to the Post Office and park in front of Tecolote book store, quietly kicking myself for buying that last book on Amazon.

On the way home I drive by an open house (It’s Wednesday… caravan day for the RRR’s)  It’s a decent older modern house with a terrific view of the mountains.   I’m told it “might have been designed by somebody famous”.  Most agents are calling it a scraper.  It’s priced at 3.5 on 2 1/2 acres.

Later that evening my wife and I go to “the Ranch”… to the Plow and Angel restaurant… because it is only about 1500 feet from our house.   Bill Gates and his wife were eating dinner at the table two over.  The last time we went to the Plow and Angel Oprah was there… although at that time I didn’t know that she was buying the Bacon Estate.

I do suppose all this construction will have to die down a bit someday.  It can’t go on ad infinitum.  Harry Dent says the Boomer earnings peak is between now and 2007 or so… So I ponder my future… and meanwhile it is a great place to live… especially on Sundays.

I feel compelled to mention we bought an older house downtown in San Luis Obispo, CA… We don’t live there now of course… it just sits empty.  I pay gardeners to keep it up.  We’ll move back there eventually I suppose.  After a remodel.

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I am a big fan of special architectural details.  This sidewalk is a perfect example.  It takes just a bit more work… but it is so much more fun in the end.    Don’t just do something like it has always been done… make it something special.    Every aspect of building can be made special in some way… and the more special details you have… the better you will love what you build.  This sidewalk took a bit of form work… and some extra acid washing… but just look at it!  It is awesome.

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There is a quality of patina… that is impossible to describe.  The effects of weather, of chairs sliding on the floor, of cracks in the concrete, edges worn by use, stains from the wine bottle, and the worn area on a threshold from thousands of visitors footsteps.  I love this quality.

It is often difficult to convince people of this beauty.  But this quality took decades to acquire.  It can easily be erased with a careless restoration.  What is lost is truly the soul of a thing.  While a new restoration creates a facsimile of the old structure… all the experiences and acquired character are lost if you rebuild the patinated areas with new. The story of a place is in its flaws.  You remember the time that the wine spilled… the day your brother crashed his bike into the wall… and the day your dad scribed your height onto the closet doorjamb writing your name and the date next to the pencil line.  Can you imagine painting over all those height marks… from your youth?

Be careful when you restore things.  Try your best to notice what is damage… and what is life and history and soul.    The difference between an historic design… and a brand new design… is only the character of time that has been imprinted on something.  If you eliminate this character of time… you have destroyed the context of the thing.

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I saw this on the side of the road for sale… in Moss Landing, CA.   It is the wheelhouse from an old fishing boat. Now it is haunting me… it wants me to buy it and make it into something fun.  I could stick it into the roof of something perhaps… or build it into a shed in an ocean of long grass…

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This is a napkin drawing idea I have for a steep “tv dinner tray” type hillside home…  a simple white modernist box on powdercoated orange steel stilts… with huge powdercoated steel webbed feet on the bottom of each stilt, orange painted deck out front and two round blue glass windows.  It could be called birdHaus, duckhaus or maybe quackMod.  I have to build this someday… just to make people smile.  I call this style “storybook modern”.

Don’t worry… I’m not actually gonna build it…

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I like the look of this old storybook house in Cambria CA… mostly because of the really long green stained shingles.  It sure would be fun to restore.

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Here’s a few more spanish colonial revival details from downtown Carmel by the Sea.  Notice the haphazardness of the roof tiles in the first shot… coupled with the same roof tiles being used under the eave as arched details… also notice that the bricks are set at an angle under the eaves… for a tad more detail

 

The drain scupper off the upstairs balcony… is a single upside down roof tile.  Nice plaster work under that scupper too.  Beautifully stacked bricks make the balcony railing detail

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