La Jolla
OH! San Diego 2024
Sunday, March 10th
About La Jolla
Founded in 1887 and home to Ellen Browning Scripps, who built her house on the ocean side of Prospect Street, “The Jewel” has become an educational and cultural epicenter anchored by Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla Playhouse, University of California San Diego, the Salk Institute, and Birch Aquarium. Visitors come from around the world to visit sea lions at Children’s Pool, stroll Prospect Street’s shops and restaurants, hike Torrey Pines State Beach, explore tidepools and sea caves, and swim, surf and sunbathe at iconic beaches.
The La Jolla Historical Society will serve as the La Jolla Open House Hub from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Their site will be open for tours from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
This neighborhood is sponsored by Safdie Rabines Architects.
La Jolla Historical Society
Neighborhood Hub, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
780 Prospect St.
La Jolla
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Self-guided tours, as well as regularly scheduled guided tours will be available.
The Society operates a campus of three historic buildings it owns and maintains within the Scripps/Gill cultural zone. These buildings include the 1904 Wisteria Cottage, remodeled and expanded by Irving Gill. The Society also operates a 1909 cottage as offices and providing public research space, and a 1916 carriage house retrofitted for state-of-the-art storage of the Society’s archival collection. The Venturi Pergola and Garden is a public garden located on the lower terrace of the Wisteria Cottage property.
The original architect is unknown but was remodeled by Irving Gill in 1907, just 3 years after it was built, and he most notably added the bottom story and the arbor out front. The gardens feature the postmodern style Venturi Scott Brown Pergola that was built for MCASD Prospect entry facade and was relocated to our site in 2018.
Epstein Amphitheater at UC San Diego
9480 Innovation Lane
La Jolla
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Staff will be on-site for guided tours.
The Epstein Family Amphitheater is a state-of-the-art performance venue in the heart of UC San Diego. The first in a series of transformational developments designed to create a grand entrance to the campus, the amphitheater invites all San Diegans to experience the unique interdisciplinary integration of art and entertainment, research and education that embodies the campus culture.
The 2,650-seat amphitheater’s orientation make use of the natural land contours to maximize views towards the stage within a park-like setting. A custom-designed audio system integrates with the stage canopy to provide amplified sound throughout the outdoor venue, providing a flexible multi-purpose venue for a wide variety of performance types. The stage shell is made up of a structure steel arch supporting an inflated Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) stage canopy. The canopy itself provides sun protection for the performers and enhances the user experience as the translucent backlit panels add an ambiance of drama to performances. Back of house and support spaces have all been nestled into the landforms with green roofs to reduce the impact of the buildings within the landscaped performance venue.
Architect: Safdie Rabines Architects
Ted & Jean Scripps Marine Conservation and Technology Facility
8890 Biological Grade
La Jolla
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Guided tours only. Docents will be on site to conduct tours in rotation. Tours are limited to 8 people maximum, and visitors are asked to take care not to touch anything within the facility’s highly sensitive laboratory spaces.
Directions: MCTF’s upper parking lot is located just north of the facility. Drive along La Jolla Shores Drive and turn onto the long driveway located immediately southwest of La Jolla Shores Lane. The upper parking lot is at the end of this driveway.
Situated atop 220-foot ocean bluffs along La Jolla’s coast, the Ted and Jean Scripps Marine Conservation Facility (MCTF) project at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, part of UC San Diego’s campus, functionally contemporizes the last standing structure of four that once comprised the 1960's era Fisheries Science Center. Three buildings were razed and the hillside reinforced in 2014, making way for an enhanced educational and research facility completed in 2022. Designed by Safdie Rabines Architects to capitalize on its coastal location, this renovation honored the building’s original design while adding numerous teaching and research labs, space for a public rooftop cafe, academic areas such as a lecture hall and conference room, a large ocean-facing terraces that can host onsite events, and a publicly accessible coastal overlook area. MCTF’s new design ensures all can enjoy this storied location that embodies the sense of ocean, earth, and atmospheric science research for which the Scripps Institution of Oceanography is revered.
Those touring MCTF as part of Open House San Diego on Sunday, March 10 will walk through spaces including classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, a lecture hall, and gathering areas including the facility’s impressive, stepped terraces – all while experiencing panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Following each tour, visitors are welcomed to walk from the facility to the MCTF’s public coastal overlook to enjoy additional ocean views.
Architect: Safdie Rabines Architects
HLLK Architects Office
5727 La Jolla Boulevard
La Jolla
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Self-guided tours available.
HLLK Architects is a boutique architecture firm located in a single-story, 1960’s storefront in Bird Rock. HLLK's 2023 tenant improvement converted the space to a modern architecture office and art gallery with extensive refinishing, exposed structure and a sound wall between the office and the adjacent music school. The interior architecture celebrates natural light and an open office/gallery layout with interior glass partitions and clerestory windows. On display in the gallery are scenes of the southwest painted by artist Rosanna Marmont, particularly those inspired by the Pacific coastline. Marmont's work aims to subtly challenge accepted ways of perceiving; her primary intent to capture the mood and feeling of a place.
Building circa 1960
HLJH
820 Rushville Street
La Jolla
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Self-guided tours, set at intervals with a limited number of people per group.
HLJH is a home designed from a process of discovery. The site is set in an active urban environment sandwiched between 3 neighbors and a sports complex which can be loud at given times. Due to these constraints, the premise was to create a place that lives privately within its own landscape. A sanctuary for its inhabitants to reside.
Architect: Dominique Houriet
La Jolla Cultural Zone
780 Prospect Street
La Jolla
Illustrated tours will be given at the following times: 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
Each tour will be capped at 30 people.
Advanced registration required. Sign up HERE: https://sdaf.wildapricot.org/event-5644139
After a short introductory lecture, the tour will focus on the seven Irving Gill-designed sites in La Jolla's Cultural Zone. Built between 1908-1928, many have been recently updated with exciting additions and renovations. These include the expanded Museum of Contemporary Art and the newly updated Kautz House, reincarnated as the upscale Orli boutique hotel. Others, like the La Jolla Recreation Center and the Bishop’s School, have exciting new plans to share. The afternoon concludes with a free concert at St. James Episcopal Church featuring their new Parsons Pipe Organ.
Athenaeum Music & Arts Library
1008 Wall Street
La Jolla
10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Self-guided tours available.
The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, incorporated in 1899, is the oldest cultural institution in La Jolla. The Athenaeum's main building was designed by William Templeton Johnson, also the architect of the San Diego Museum of Art and the San Diego Natural History Museum. The Spanish Renaissance–style building was dedicated and opened to the public in 1921, with Ellen Browning Scripps as the first Board president. The grounds of the Athenaeum house many unique treasures in addition to our impressive library holdings dedicated to the subjects of art and music. Come explore to find a grandfather clock from 1922, remnants of the original Green Dragon Colony in La Jolla, and a 1925 bronze relief sculpture by Robert Merrell Gage.
Architects: William Templeton Johnson (1921); William Lumpkins (1957 addition)