I happened to park the car on Suncrest Drive—one street north of Adams—and happened to catch a glimpse of storybook land in my peripheral vision. It brought a smile to my face. It’s has just enough storybook charm to make it work without going over the top.

The five units are located at 3009 Suncrest Drive, North Park, San Diego, CA 92116.

Seeing this house nestled among 1960’s apartment buildings and 1920s bungalows surprised me. There are not many examples of 1970s buildings in central North Park likely due to a recession, high inflation, high interest rates and stagnation.  I remember seeing the type of house design in the floor plan books I studied as a kid. For me the main feature that says 1970s are the shed roofs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shed_style) and clerestory windows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerestory).

The house is located at 4164 Kansas Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 02104.

This wonderful mostly modern-international style apartment building building is located on the corner of Robinson and Georgia. But wait, is this really North Park? Yep, it is. I was surprised when I found out that North Park starts at Park Boulevard.

The building sports curved corners, sculptural staircases, thin flat rooves over the entry doors and roof top decks/gardens. These are typical of international style buildings. The hip roofs are not of the international style.

In a few of the pictures I’ve ghosted out the unfortunate surrounding buildings. Its nice to imagine how this very different building would have been received in its time.

This house, built in 1920, is located behind me on Louisiana Street. I’ve often admired it. In the November issue of The West Coast Craftsman section of San Diego North Park News an article titled “Heritage Begins at Home : Fixing one bungalow at a time” by Thomas Shess we learn about Larry Salazar who restored it and many other craftsman homes in North Park. The article can be found on page 25 of the newspapers electronic version found at the follow link:

http://content.yudu.com/A18xjt/NorthParkNews/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsdnorthparknews.com%2F

The house shown above is located at 2674 Louisiana Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92104

This contemporary house is located in the northern reaches of North Park. The rear of the house overlooks Mission Valley. In talking with a neighbor of the house I heard a similar refrain to the house my wife and I built in the Morely Field neighborhood of North Park: “It doesn’t belong in North Park. It doesn’t fit in.” Our neighbors called our house “The La Jolla” house as in its something that would better fit there. I understand the sentiment. With our house we were sure not to take down a wonderful craftsman or Spanish style. We took down a box. We then built a 1930’s modern-Adolf Loos-Frank Llyod Wright-ish house.  I’m not for being stuck in the past and I am for being sensitive to it. Our house can be seen here. http://www.marcfredrickson.com/architect/AMF_FredricksonResidenceMain.html

The house pictured in this blog post can be found at 2870 Copley Ave, North Park, San Diego, 92116.

Behind lush tropical plantings a nice art deco apartment complex hides. The three-banded rounded-at-the-corners eyebrow over the window very well done. The buildings are simple with enough art deco details to pull it all together. Although not San Diego colors, the color scheme works well with the buildings. 

The complex is located at 4110 Kansas Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92104.

I decided to venture to the northern reaches of North Park. Before starting this blog and looking at the boundaries of North Park I didn’t know that the area north of Adams Street between Texas Street and the 805 is part of North Park. I was curious to see what the neighborhood was like.

I came upon this wonderful 1923 Spanish style house. It’s a very formal rendition. It had simple forms and nice detailing. The “eyebrow” over hangs add much to the look of the house. Without them the house would be a big box. There’s a wrap around red-colored uncovered porch. Its very unusual. It reminds me of a platform—a stylobate, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylobate—from ancient temples. Its a large house for the 1920s especially in the particular neighborhood. It was built by a real estate agent who owns a number of properties in the area.

The house is located at 4794 Utah Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92116

With the real estate boon of the ’00s many apartment complexes in North Park were converted to condominiums.  I think this is one of the more successful attempts. Its very charming. The vines, arbors, eave brackets, colors and details all work together to give a country cottage feeling. It’s very appealing and has great curb appeal.

It’s located at 4009 Illinois Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92104.

I like this house. The round entry first drew me to the house. I then saw the beautiful entry door with its painted detail. The door definitely sets the mood and expectation for what might be inside. The wood framed porch, the weathervane ,the  round gable end vent and more bring the design to a consistent and very enjoyable looking house.

The house is located at 4377 Ohio Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92116

Escape to Morocco at this wonderful corner house built in 1924. The arched entry door with the unique hanging sconce lights let you know this isn’t going to be a typical experience. I like the stepping back of the first to second floor (the building massing). The windows add to the exotic feeling. The wavy stucco finishes the house off very nicely.

The house is located at 3404 Pershing Street, North Park, San Diego, CA 92104.