Introduction   Encinitas (part 1)   Encinitas (part 2)   Leucadia   Cardiff-by-the-Sea

Encinitas (part 2)

12. The Petrie House (842 Second Street) When Mr. Petrie neared completion of his concrete block, Tudor-Cotswold Revival dwelling, he embedded colored pebbles in the mold reading "1931" and used the block in constructing the chimney. The house's design is unique within the context of local architecture. “Dad made a mold and then cast each cement block by hand, one by one. It took a long time to build our house”. - Natalie Petrie Oyen

13. The Self Realization Fellowship Temple (939 Second Street) This serene mission-style building once rested on the hill overlooking Downtown at Third and E Street. It was built there in 1916 when enrollment of school children increased beyond what the 1883 schoolhouse could hold. The building served the community in various capacities through the years. As an elementary school until 1936, then as a temporary high school until San Dieguito was finished, next, it was a recreation center, and finally, it became a school again. Moved to its present location in 1953, it was later acquired by the Self Realization Fellowship. The Fellowship modified the structure with great care and restored it to its former beauty.

14. The Self Realization Fellowship meditation gardens and hermitage (215 West K Street) “A surprise, sir! During your absence abroad, we have had this Encinitas hermitage built; it is a ‘Welcome home gift!’ ” - Sister Gyanamata to Paramahansa Yogananda, 1937 This inspirational site is one of the most beautiful along the San Diego County coastline. When mining engineers James Noonan passed through Encinitas in 1887, he was so taken by the view that he bought the property for one thousand dollars and brought his family here from Colorado. On a September night, 1893, their house burned to the ground and the Noonans moved away. Forty-four years later, the hermitage was built for Paramahansa Yogananda in 1937, followed by the construction of a Golden Lotus Temple at the bluff's edge. By 1942, water draining from nearby hillsides softened underlying clay. This resulted in shifting earth, which plunged the temple down the cliff. Today, cautious measures are taken to stabilize the bluff and to control water seepage.

15. Mr. Gresham's Service Station (1205 S. Coast Hwy 101) Constructed in 1933, this building was the most unique and fanciful service station along the highway, with its pyramidal hip roof and blind Italian-like arches. Such imaginative architecture was sure to catch the eye of a passing motorist and there were plenty of those. Travel and tourism were a major component of Downtown's economy during the period between 1920 and 1940. Almost every intersection in town had at least one gas station.

16. The Derby House (649 Vulcan Avenue) “I remember staying at the Derby house and was served pie for breakfast. When I asked about it later, father said the Derbys came from Vermont and people there have pie for breakfast.” - Ida Noonan Truax's memoirs of 1888 Amos Gates Derby came from Colorado in the 1880s to work as a section foreman on the California Southern Railroad. He thought it would be a good idea to build a house for his wife and daughters near the train station, a dwelling large enough to also accommodate train passengers overnight. In 1887, builder E.G. Hammond completed a redwood structure of 5,600 square feet. It had seven or more bedrooms, a central dining room with a red brick fireplace and, descending from the upper floors, a stairway with spindled railing. Adjoining the dining room was a large kitchen with a wood beam.

17. The Sidney Chaplin Building (656 S. Coast Hwy 101) “The Ritz billiard parlor and barber shop... hat and cold baths... Sidney Chaplin building” - Coast Dispatch ad, 1925 This building is noteworthy because its owner in the ‘20s was a brother of movie star Charlie Chaplin. Sidney owned other property as well... several lots near today's Self Realization Fellowship and property on the hillside overlooking Downtown. Charlie Chaplin purchased property here as well. Soon after a two-story Neoclassical home was completed on Neptune in 1925, he bought it for his mother.

18. The Encinitas dry goods company (553 S. Coast Hwy 101) “When burglaries continued, dad and I would sleep in the back of the store with a loaded shotgun and a .38 pistol.” - Ed Cory Sam and Lily Cory came to Encinitas in 1924 and started a business that lasted for 67 years, in one location or another... but it wasn't easy. Their first stone at 587 S. Coast Street was a corner location. When robbers broke in one night and took everything even the fixtures, they moved to the middle of the block. Still the burglars came, requiring an all night vigil. Finally, merchants got together and hired a night watchman and the Cory men could sleep at home again.

19. The Village Rendezvous (546 S. Coast Hwy 101) “You could dance every night”. That was in the ‘30s when Maurice Delay owned the property and opened his Rendezvous. It was a one story, brick-faced building but he soon added an upstairs apartment with an illegal poker parlor. Down below he set up a boxing ring on the north side of the building and some nights crawled through the ropes to challenge an opponent. The next feature added was a “hideaway” with dance floor, jukebox and dining facilities. In 1942, Maurey sold out and quietly left town. A lot of the Rendezvous went with him. The Daley family purchased the business in 1956. Now it is the popular Daley Double, a neighborhood-gathering place where all are welcome at the beautiful walnut burl bar.

20. The Encinitas Hotel (511 S. Coast Hwy 101) “On opening day the booster club unfurled a banner proclaiming, ‘The town with a welcome for you.’ ” When W.B. Forbes completed his new hotel in the summer of 1925, bathing beauties in mid-thigh bathing suits and knee-high hose arrived on opening day to pose for pictures marking the event. On either side of the entryway were ground level commercial shops and upstairs, twenty-one hotel rooms equipped with what was considered to be all the modern conveniences... each one had a sink and running water. During World War II, servicemen were billeted here. Today, the second floor is office space.

21. Quail Botanical Gardens Quail Botanical Gardens is a 30-acre oasis tucked away in the hills of the north coastal community of Encinitas, less than a mile east of Highway101.  Ancient cycads, majestic palms, flowering trees, a rainforest exhibit with a 60-foot waterfall, the largest bamboo collection in the United States, and the Native Plants/Native People exhibit featuring coastal scrub habitat, are all part of the diverse and botanically important collections you will discover there. Quail Botanical Gardens, a non-profit organization, is a place of beauty in all seasons, and thanks to the wonderfully mild climate, there is always something in bloom! Located at 230 Quail Gardens Drive in Encinitas. Hours:  Daily 9 a.m. — 5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Admission: Adults $5.00,Seniors: $4.00,Children(5-12) $2.00.Children under 5 and members are free. Free admission the first Tuesday of every month. For more information on the Gardens, call (760) 436-3036 or visit the website at www.qbgardens.com. History Quail Botanical Gardens began as the 27-acre private estate of Charles and Ruth Larabee. The Larabees landscaped the property around their modest home with exotic plants they collected during their worldwide travels, including cork oaks, palms, cycads, aloes, cacti, hibiscus and unusual subtropical fruit-bearing plants and trees. As active Scout leaders, the couple sought to personally educate local young people about nature, using the estate’s gardens as their teaching site. In the spirit of continuing public environmental education, Mrs. Larabee left her private residence and its grounds to the County of San Diego in 1957. Quail Botanical Gardens Foundation formed three years later to preserve and support this remarkable garden. The county financially supported and managed the property for 32 years until the early 1990s, when serious economic challenges drove county officials to seek alternatives. In 1993, a group of dedicated members of the Foundation signed a long-term lease from the County, and privatized the Gardens as an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission to actively participate in the conservation of rare, threatened and endangered plant species, to serve the botanical and horticulture needs of San Diego County, and to exist as an urban retreat.

Introduction   Encinitas (part 1)   Encinitas (part 2)   Leucadia   Cardiff-by-the-Sea