CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
By Ann Jarmusch, Photos by George Green Gr
This rambling Craftsman-style house, built by F.C. Winchester in 1911, has been restored by Drs. Scott Helmers and Robin Wood, who love its welcoming character and spacious, sunny rooms. A Japanese garden bell (opposite) adorns the back yard. 22 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
When Dr. Scott Helmers was looking for a Coronado house to buy in 2004, an architect threw out a red flag to warn Helmers and his wife about a rambling, two-story Craftsman-style home that was approaching its 100th birthday. They liked it, but it was in pretty sad condition. A heavy, oak front door with eight square windows had worn out its once welcoming glow. No two sunroom windows were alike; in fact, they were a hodgepodge, probably accumulated over time from salvage yards. The kitchen and bathrooms were so small they were bound to create morning rush hours for the Helmers family of three. Someone had taken the authenticity out of the living room’s most uplifting feature — four big windows solidly framed in wood — with flimsy vinyl window frames. The garage, though quaint and cottage-like, was rotting and close to falling down. So the architect told Helmers and his wife, Dr. Robin Wood, they could save themselves a lot of money and aggravation if they simply called in a demolition crew and built a new dream house of their own making. “But that’s not what we wanted,” Helmers recently told a visitor. “The house was old, but it had a lot of charm, a lot of character. We could see the potential in it.” Now 99 years old, the house beams with an exact oak replica of its original front door. Matching new sunroom windows harmonize with the house’s original windows. A large, up-to-date kitchen is open to the spacious dining room and back yard. Historically inspired bathrooms upstairs combine contemporary convenience with one original bathtub standing on cast-metal feet. And a new garage is still quaint and cottage-like, thanks in large part to the extensive rehabilitation of its double wooden doors. This cozy, shingled house with a charming front porch on one corner and broad, welcoming eaves also has acquired a bronzecolored plaque beside the front door, announcing its status as a Coronado Historic Landmark. Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 23
CORONADO HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
By Ann Jarmusch, Photos by George Green Gr
This rambling Craftsman-style house, built by F.C. Winchester in 1911, has been restored by Drs. Scott Helmers and Robin Wood, who love its welcoming character and spacious, sunny rooms. A Japanese garden bell (opposite) adorns the back yard. 22 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
When Dr. Scott Helmers was looking for a Coronado house to buy in 2004, an architect threw out a red flag to warn Helmers and his wife about a rambling, two-story Craftsman-style home that was approaching its 100th birthday. They liked it, but it was in pretty sad condition. A heavy, oak front door with eight square windows had worn out its once welcoming glow. No two sunroom windows were alike; in fact, they were a hodgepodge, probably accumulated over time from salvage yards. The kitchen and bathrooms were so small they were bound to create morning rush hours for the Helmers family of three. Someone had taken the authenticity out of the living room’s most uplifting feature — four big windows solidly framed in wood — with flimsy vinyl window frames. The garage, though quaint and cottage-like, was rotting and close to falling down. So the architect told Helmers and his wife, Dr. Robin Wood, they could save themselves a lot of money and aggravation if they simply called in a demolition crew and built a new dream house of their own making. “But that’s not what we wanted,” Helmers recently told a visitor. “The house was old, but it had a lot of charm, a lot of character. We could see the potential in it.” Now 99 years old, the house beams with an exact oak replica of its original front door. Matching new sunroom windows harmonize with the house’s original windows. A large, up-to-date kitchen is open to the spacious dining room and back yard. Historically inspired bathrooms upstairs combine contemporary convenience with one original bathtub standing on cast-metal feet. And a new garage is still quaint and cottage-like, thanks in large part to the extensive rehabilitation of its double wooden doors. This cozy, shingled house with a charming front porch on one corner and broad, welcoming eaves also has acquired a bronzecolored plaque beside the front door, announcing its status as a Coronado Historic Landmark. Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 23
Helmers’ house is one of several historic homes built by real estate developer Frederick Churchill Winchester that will open their doors on May 2 from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. during the Coronado Historical Association’s annual, self-guided home tour. Called The Winchester Legacy, the tour also includes the recently restored 1906 Lodge, a posh bed & breakfast inn that F.C. Winchester and his wife, Mary, owned when it was a boarding house called the Bay View Lodge. A guest room bearing their name features
An original tub stands in a new upstairs bathroom, which steals space from under the eaves at the Helmers house.
24 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
historic photographs, memorabilia and the old lodge sign. “It’s quite a legacy. He built some fabulous cottages,” said Ky Roberts, Winchester’s granddaughter, who still lives in Coronado. “He’d be honored and absolutely thrilled to know people still value his homes and are designating them as historic landmarks.”
Dr. Scott Helmers built this Victorian playhouse – a vertical variation on the main house --for his daughter, Claire.
The new Helmers kitchen opens onto the renovated dining room and a backyard deck. Leadedglass cabinet doors were salvaged from the original kitchen and reused in the dining room.
Hebbard & Gill designed the 1906 Lodge, which is also on the tour, in the Arts & Crafts style, including a beamed ceiling, symmetrical windows and a fireplace as the heart of the living room.
A fifth house on the tour pre-dates Winchester’s arrival on Coronado. This circa 1896, folk-Victorian cottage — adorned with railings like those of the Hotel Del Coronado — is furnished beneath soaring ceilings with family antiques, dolls and portraits. One of the island’s oldest homes, it also harbors a surprise behind an old, paneled door: A contemporary addition housing a large kitchen and intimate living quarters. F.C. Winchester, as he was known, is responsible for more than 17 homes built between 1908 and 1911 on the 700 blocks of B and C Avenues. There are a couple more on E Avenue, Roberts said. So many of these Craftsman-style cottages survive intact that there’s been talk among some of their owners and the Coronado Historic Resource Commission about creating a Winchester Historic District. To form a historic district, according to city of Coronado senior planner
Ann McCaull, 75 percent of the buildings within the district boundaries must be designated city landmarks and 75 percent of the owners of those buildings must agree to a district. The advantages include possible tax savings, through the Mills Act, and ongoing protection of neighborhood character, scale and history. Winchester’s business benefited from a real estate partnership with U.S. Congressman William Kettner, among others, and the construction skills and craftsmanship of R.H. Reed, Reed and Kafner and Smith & Reed. In 1922, Winchester built Coronado’s first reinforced masonry building at the corner of Orange and Loma Avenues. Originally called the Greystone Building, it has been renamed for the developer. It bears the Winchester name at the top and is still owned by the family, Roberts said. In contrast to Helmers’ fixer-upper, Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 25
Helmers’ house is one of several historic homes built by real estate developer Frederick Churchill Winchester that will open their doors on May 2 from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. during the Coronado Historical Association’s annual, self-guided home tour. Called The Winchester Legacy, the tour also includes the recently restored 1906 Lodge, a posh bed & breakfast inn that F.C. Winchester and his wife, Mary, owned when it was a boarding house called the Bay View Lodge. A guest room bearing their name features
An original tub stands in a new upstairs bathroom, which steals space from under the eaves at the Helmers house.
24 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
historic photographs, memorabilia and the old lodge sign. “It’s quite a legacy. He built some fabulous cottages,” said Ky Roberts, Winchester’s granddaughter, who still lives in Coronado. “He’d be honored and absolutely thrilled to know people still value his homes and are designating them as historic landmarks.”
Dr. Scott Helmers built this Victorian playhouse – a vertical variation on the main house --for his daughter, Claire.
The new Helmers kitchen opens onto the renovated dining room and a backyard deck. Leadedglass cabinet doors were salvaged from the original kitchen and reused in the dining room.
Hebbard & Gill designed the 1906 Lodge, which is also on the tour, in the Arts & Crafts style, including a beamed ceiling, symmetrical windows and a fireplace as the heart of the living room.
A fifth house on the tour pre-dates Winchester’s arrival on Coronado. This circa 1896, folk-Victorian cottage — adorned with railings like those of the Hotel Del Coronado — is furnished beneath soaring ceilings with family antiques, dolls and portraits. One of the island’s oldest homes, it also harbors a surprise behind an old, paneled door: A contemporary addition housing a large kitchen and intimate living quarters. F.C. Winchester, as he was known, is responsible for more than 17 homes built between 1908 and 1911 on the 700 blocks of B and C Avenues. There are a couple more on E Avenue, Roberts said. So many of these Craftsman-style cottages survive intact that there’s been talk among some of their owners and the Coronado Historic Resource Commission about creating a Winchester Historic District. To form a historic district, according to city of Coronado senior planner
Ann McCaull, 75 percent of the buildings within the district boundaries must be designated city landmarks and 75 percent of the owners of those buildings must agree to a district. The advantages include possible tax savings, through the Mills Act, and ongoing protection of neighborhood character, scale and history. Winchester’s business benefited from a real estate partnership with U.S. Congressman William Kettner, among others, and the construction skills and craftsmanship of R.H. Reed, Reed and Kafner and Smith & Reed. In 1922, Winchester built Coronado’s first reinforced masonry building at the corner of Orange and Loma Avenues. Originally called the Greystone Building, it has been renamed for the developer. It bears the Winchester name at the top and is still owned by the family, Roberts said. In contrast to Helmers’ fixer-upper, Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 25
garden views beyond. A year ago, the Jays built a two-story structure to replace their garage: a guest house above a two-car garage. The new building frames the back yard and complements the historic house with its steep, wood-shingled roof, lattice windows and half-timbering. Windows generous in size and number are a Winchester hallmark that heightens the appeal of his houses and takes advantage of the magical coastal light. Architect Chris Ackerman, who
bought his house from Winchester’s descendents, Roberts and her half brother, boasts that it is “really defined by the windows. Mine has way more windows than any of the others.” Although Ackerman’s house is not on the tour, it is a standout on C Avenue with its river-run rock pillars and front porch. Still in the process of remodeling the interior of this former home of F.C. and Mary Winchester and their descendants, including Roberts, he added a rock veneer fireplace. His 20-foot-square architecture
Martha and Fred Jay recently remodeled their kitchen, but kept the original lattice windows, hardwood floor and the spirit of the historic house. Natural light enters the enclosed staircase (left) through a pair of openings.
another two-story Winchester home on the tour has changed little over the years. Designed in the spirit of an English cottage, this 1911 home charms the eye with white lattice windows and doors and decorative half-timbering on the exterior walls. Owners since 1986, Martha and Fred Jay successfully nominated their house to become a Coronado historic landmark several years ago. “I’m really interested in preserving the older, smaller houses,” said Martha 26 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
Jay, whose green thumb is responsible for the tall red and white camellia hedges that can be seen waving in the breeze from the cottage’s many windows. A new addition on the back of the house includes copies of the lattice windows and even a wide window seat, just like the one built into the living room, beneath a bank of four windows. A two-tiered mantle above the original brick fireplace, now painted sandstone-beige, towers above the original, honey-colored maple floor. And the living room and adjacent dining room are arranged so that both have glass doors leading to an inviting front porch and Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 27
garden views beyond. A year ago, the Jays built a two-story structure to replace their garage: a guest house above a two-car garage. The new building frames the back yard and complements the historic house with its steep, wood-shingled roof, lattice windows and half-timbering. Windows generous in size and number are a Winchester hallmark that heightens the appeal of his houses and takes advantage of the magical coastal light. Architect Chris Ackerman, who
bought his house from Winchester’s descendents, Roberts and her half brother, boasts that it is “really defined by the windows. Mine has way more windows than any of the others.” Although Ackerman’s house is not on the tour, it is a standout on C Avenue with its river-run rock pillars and front porch. Still in the process of remodeling the interior of this former home of F.C. and Mary Winchester and their descendants, including Roberts, he added a rock veneer fireplace. His 20-foot-square architecture
Martha and Fred Jay recently remodeled their kitchen, but kept the original lattice windows, hardwood floor and the spirit of the historic house. Natural light enters the enclosed staircase (left) through a pair of openings.
another two-story Winchester home on the tour has changed little over the years. Designed in the spirit of an English cottage, this 1911 home charms the eye with white lattice windows and doors and decorative half-timbering on the exterior walls. Owners since 1986, Martha and Fred Jay successfully nominated their house to become a Coronado historic landmark several years ago. “I’m really interested in preserving the older, smaller houses,” said Martha 26 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
Jay, whose green thumb is responsible for the tall red and white camellia hedges that can be seen waving in the breeze from the cottage’s many windows. A new addition on the back of the house includes copies of the lattice windows and even a wide window seat, just like the one built into the living room, beneath a bank of four windows. A two-tiered mantle above the original brick fireplace, now painted sandstone-beige, towers above the original, honey-colored maple floor. And the living room and adjacent dining room are arranged so that both have glass doors leading to an inviting front porch and Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 27
The Jay’s dining room includes original box beams, hardwood floors and French doors that lead to a corner porch. With its half-timbering and lattice windows, this house (right), built by Winchester in 1911, recalls English Arts & Crafts cottages.
studio in the house is surrounded by glass walls, which the Winchesters are thought to have added when members of the family contracted tuberculosis. “I know every corner, every heartbeat of that house. It was very, very difficult to part with it, but Chris was renting it from us and promised he’d keep it” out of developers’ hands, Roberts said. “The Winchester ghosts would be very disturbed if anything happened to it. “It was a very lived-in, loved house. Chris has given me free rein to touch the (river) rocks any time, visit my mother’s roses, pick a lemon. I haven’t done that in a while and I still miss it.” Roberts and Ackerman aren’t alone in loving a Winchester house. Like
Ackerman and the Jays, Scott Helmers is proud of the enduring craftsmanship and character of his historic home, which he chose to rehabilitate and enhance so Coronado’s past lives on. “This was a great house for 100 — or 99 years,” he said, correcting himself, anticipating next year’s centennial. “We’ve got to get it ready for another 100.” Ann Jarmusch, former architecture critic for The San Diego Union-Tribune, is a writer on architecture and historic preservation who treasures the Craftsman cottage where she lives and works.
The Coronado Historical Association’s 2010 Home Tour: The Winchester Legacy will be held May 2 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets purchased by April 20 are $25 for CHA members, $30 for nonmembers. Tickets will cost $5 more on the day of the tour. Tickets purchased in advance may be picked up at the 1906 Lodge, 1060 Adella Avenue, until 1:30 p.m. May 2, when the Lodge will close to tour guests. Tickets are also available in advance and from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on May 2 from the Coronado Museum of History & Art, 1100 Orange Ave., or by logging on to www.coronadohistory.org. For more information, call (619) 435-7242. Tour proceeds benefit the educational mission of CHA.
28 Coronado Lifestyle • Spring 2010
Spring 2010 • Coronado Lifestyle 29