Plan for 4,494-square-foot house on vacant lot in La Jolla gets first review

A project that would build a house on a vacant lot tucked away in a corner of La Jolla’s Village got its first hearing this week but will have at least one more before a vote is taken on whether to support it. 

The project came forward at the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee meeting Sept. 9.

It proposes that the city of San Diego vacate a section of Soledad Avenue that was originally intended for street purposes and allow the property owner to build a new 4,494-square-foot two-story house with a 1,205-square-foot basement and an attached 780-square-foot two-story accessory dwelling unit on a lot east of Cowrie and Soledad avenues. The address is 1510 Soledad. 

The development would feature a main level that steps down below street level. The house is proposed to be Spanish-style with stucco and wood accents. The project tops out at 28 feet, where 30 feet is allowed. It has 0.52 floor area ratio (the size of a building in relation to its lot), where 0.54 is allowed. 

Though the area has few other houses, there were questions at the DPR meeting about how the property would relate to its neighbors. Thus, the committee asked the applicant team to return with images of what currently exists in the neighborhood and how the new development would look among its neighbors; an outline of where the windows would be in relation to nearby houses; topographic, grading and landscaping plans; and the elevations of surrounding properties. 

The site is in a section of La Jolla near where The Village meets the Country Club area. The parcel in question is next to a mysterious property known as the House of Dreams.  

Little is known about that home’s original owner and even less is known about the architect who designed it.

It was built in the early 1900s by world traveler Florence Howard. Its features include “curved rafters tails [that] allow the eaves to sweep up in oriental fashion,” according to a 1977 report on file at the La Jolla Historical Society. “The gardens contained 300 trees and were typically Japanese style. … A tea house with a curved bridge and stepping stones completed the garden.”

Other exterior Asian-inspired features include cantilevered rafters and wood shingle siding.

Next meeting

The La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee meets the second and third Tuesdays of each month. The next meeting is planned for 4 p.m. Sept. 16 online. The agenda will be posted 72 hours in advance at lajollacpa.org.