Rancho Santa Fe History

Originally an Indian Rancheria, Rancho Santa Fe passed through several hands before becoming a residential community. In 1831, the Spanish Governor Manuel Victoria provisionally granted the 8,824 acres to Lebrado Silva. Juan Maria Osuna, the Alcalde¹ of San Diego, helped to overthrow Victoria and took possession of the land grant in 1836. Osuna allowed Silva and his family to continue living on the property in an older adobe.

As Alcalde¹, Osuna was an important figure in both the social and political life of San Diego. He also had the power to approve petitions for land, and naturally he approved his own petition for the San Dieguito land. He received a provisional grant in 1840 and 1841, and finally in 1845, Governor Pio Pico gave him full title.

While Osuna preferred to reside in San Diego, he built he and his wife an adobe home on the ranch. He left the duties of managing the property to his son, Leandro, to whom he gave one of the existing adobes on the ranch. Although a fine Alcalde¹, Osuna was also a gambling man, and he lost some of the land to pay off bad debts.

Upon his father's death in 1851, Leandro took possession of the ranch. A veteran of the Battle of San Pasqual in 1846, Leandro was a man of erratic temperament. His cruel treatment of the Indians led to his demise in 1859. Tired of being treated poorly, the Indians poisoned Leandro and then told him of his impending agony. Rather than face a slow, painful death, Leandro committed suicide.

Julio Osuna, Leandro's son then assumed control of the ranch. The Osuna family continued to reside on the ranch for many years, but slowly financial problems forced him to sell a majority of the land grant acreage. By 1906, the Osuna family retained only 200 acres of the once grand rancho.

In October of that year, the Santa Fe Land and Improvement Company, a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad purchased all of the lands that made up the original 'San Dieguito Land Grant'. The Santa Fe Railroad's intent was to use the rancho lands to produce wood for railroad ties. President of the railroad, E.A. Ripley, was asked by a Mr. Fletcher to finance the construction of a dam as an investment that would reap tremendous benefits as the land developed. Fletcher's presentation was so effective and economically sound that Ripley agreed to the project! The completion of the Lake Hodges Dam in 1917 secured the future of the ranch as becoming a residential development. On June 7, 1922 construction began.

From the very beginning, planning and respect for the environment governed the design of the community of Ranch Santa Fe. Lilian Rice, architect for the subdivision, sought to preserve and enhance the beauty of the Ranch through the design of the public and residential architecture in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. She carefully and deliberately transformed the Rancho from a eucalyptus forest owned by the Rancho Santa Fe railroad into a community famed for its steady, consistent growth and unified architectural theme-a total design concept.

A native of National City, Rice chose to attend the University of California at Berkeley and was one of its first female graduates in architecture. Upon graduation in 1910, she returned to the Southland to pursue a career in her chosen field. She began by teaching and working part-time as a draftswomen. One of her drafting jobs was for Hazel Waterman, a locally prominent designer. Waterman trained with one of San Diego's most prominent architects, Irving J. Gill, and has earned quite a reputation in her own right as a talented and creative designer. Rice worked well with Waterman and gained much useful experience, and knowledge about Southern California, its history, landscape and topography. She eventually left Waterman's office but continued to practice and hone her skills.

In 1912, Lilian Rice joined the prestigious firm of Richard S. Requa and Herbert L. Jackson. The firm was well known for its design of several structures in Balboa Park in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style. Requa admired Rice's design style; it reflected her knowledge and respect for Southern California's history and traditions.

Upon receiving the commission in 1922 from W.E. Hodges, Santa Fe Railroad's Vice-President, to design an exclusive residential development for Rancho Santa Fe, Requa gave the job to Rice. She worked closely with L.G. Sinnard, project manager and kindred spirit, to produce a landmark community. Sinnard purposely planned a landmark community with winding roads throughout the Rancho to slow down speeding drivers to ensure their enjoyment of the breathtaking vistas around every turn. He also planned large lots and saw to it that deed restriction guaranteed favorable improvements to each one. Rice's designs were, of course, a large part of those "favorable improvements."

Rice immediately began work in her office on the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada. She believed that Paseo Delicias, the Civic Center, should be the foundation of the development and a resource for subsequent building throughout the community. Lilian Rice served as supervisory architect for Rancho Santa Fe from 1922-28. She designed the school, the library, La Morada (now the Inn), the Civic Center and a number of private residences. Rice also served as the architectural reviewer, a function of the present date art Jury.

Eventually, Rice began to design for other communities, including Pacific Beach, Chula Vista and Escondido. In 1931 she gained membership into the American Institute of Architecture, one of only a few females granted entrance. Lilian Rice was well known in her field. Unfortunately, Rice's career was cut short by her tragic death in 1938. She had fallen ill at her Ranch Santa Fe home three days before Christmas. She died shortly after emergency surgery; the exact cause of her death is unknown.

Lilian Rice's legacy lives on in the Spanish village of Rancho Santa Fe. Not only is it an aesthetic treat, it is a testament to good planning, good design, and respect for history and environment. Although over sixty-five years old. Rancho Santa Fe stands as a blueprint for future development.

The Civic Center

In her plan for Rancho Santa Fe, Lilian Rice designated several blocks on both sides of Paseo Delicias as the Civic Center. The architect envisioned this compact area as a multiple use, commercial/residential district that would provide community necessities such as a store, school, garage, post office and so forth contained within quaint, artistically grouped structures. Her carefully planned arrangement of houses, commercial and public buildings would help create the illusion of a picturesque Spanish village.

The Buildings in the first and second blocks on the right hand side Paseo Delicias, as seen from The Inn, are known as the Commercial Group and the Garage Quadrangle respectively. The third block on that side is mainly residential in character with a commercial complex, originally known as the Christiancy Apartments, on the corner of La Granada.

The first block on the left side as viewed by the Inn was originally set aside for a school, playground, and civic auditorium. In the second block, also primarily residential, Lilian Rice created an interesting group of four townhouses. These unique dwellings also helped create the illusion of visiting a community in another time and place.

The First School

The Civic Center plan, as conceived by Lilian Rice, called for the entire block on the northwest side of Paseo Delicias from Avenida de Acacias to La Granada to be set aside for a schoolhouse. In 1924, Rice designed an impressive complex with classrooms and a two-story civic auditorium and bell-tower, which were never built.

In 1924, workmen erected only the first part, a small three-room schoolhouse, at the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada for pupils of the Alisa School District so the elementary school age children would not have to travel outside Rancho Santa Fe to attend school. This L-shaped building with a red tile roof and adobe walls featured rooted corridors and had a large playground at the rear. The school served the community during the 1920s and 1930s and contained two classrooms, offices, restrooms and a basement.

In the 1930s, Corinne Griffith, a silent-movie star, purchased the entire block including the empty school building and converted it to commercial uses. Over the years, the school structure housed many different enterprises including the U.S. Post Office, a children's' shop at the main front corner, and later "Rosie's," an antique shop known over a wide area. Other businesses included a bookstore, travel agency, liquor store and pantry, and a barber shop in the basement. A dentist built an addition in the rear. Rosie's eventually became the Torrey Pines Bank.

Four Townhouses

In 1926, Lilian Rice designed four townhouses on Paseo Delicias in a traditional Spanish manner with the exterior facades extended to the sidewalk, thus avoiding the use of either porches or yard. As in Spain, the home featured inner courtyards with gardens and patios secluded at the rear or in the heart of the structures.

To avoid repetition of design, architect Rice varied the rooflines, the entrances and the ways in which the homes met the street. Wooden or wrought iron grills added a decorative and protective touch for windows which directly faced the street. Strategically placed shrubs, light fixtures and textures walls added visual interest and variety.

In this grouping, Lilian Rice based her plans on the Spanish method of enclosing family activity behind protective walls, a necessity in the crowded cities and villages of Spain. Her imaginative interpretation of traditional Spanish design offered a modern solution to the problem of how to include residential construction in an urban setting and still maintain the privacy of a home in the midst of commercial activity.

Christiancy Apartments - 1928

This two story apartment and office complex, designed by Lilian Rice and completed around 1928 for George A.C. Christiancy, originally contained three shops, a general drafting room and offices for Lilian Rice and staff, and a vault on the ground floor. The second story featured three apartments (two 2-room and one 4-room) with access by a curved exterior stairway which led from a colorful Spanish patio. A cantilevered wooden balcony graced the second level.

Known as the Christiancy Apartments when first constructed and later as the La Valenciana Apartments, the building served as temporary housing for a time and some years later became the offices of Valenciana Realty Company. The structure received an A.I.A. design award in 1933. Henry Wright, a noted architectural critic, called the building an "example of fine design and modern use of limited space."

Altered somewhat and enlarged, the building used to house Quimby's and other commercial enterprises.

Civic Center Commercial Group and Ashley's - 1922 - 1923

In 1922, Lilian Rice planned the administration building and commercial group in the Civic Center. The buildings in the first block along Paseo Delicias still retain much of their original design. Special features include decorative ironwork around the windows and roofline accents which enhance the Spanish design yet retain the simplicity so characteristic of Lilian Rice's architecture.

On the corner, the first building with its embedded towers and flattened domes on top resembles in some ways elements found in San Diego's Spanish Village, Designed by Richard Requa. This section housed the Santa Fe Land Improvement Company Offices from about 1932 to 1945. The next building features a lovely arcade with the arches supported by round pillars. The arcade, which once sheltered a covered walkway, now forms the entrance to Mille Fleurs. This building has contained commercial shops since about 1923.

The administration building on the corner Paseo Delicias and Via de Santa Fe served as the home of the Santa Fe Land and Improvement Company from about 1923 to 1932. In 1939, Robert Francisco, who came to Rancho Santa Fe from Escondido a few years previously, bought part of this structure. He brought in Fred Ashley as a partner to run the grocery store. Although the Ashley's left a long time ago, Francisco ran a grocery store named Ashley's Market which was replaced in 1991 by Coldwell Banker Real Estate.

The administration building, a bit more formal and elegant in design than other structures in the Civic Center, features an angled entrance with quoins around the opening. A quatrefoil opening with grillwork pierces the facade above the entrance.

Garage Quadrangle - 1922

In 1922 , Lilian Rice designed the Garage Quadrangle, also known as the Badger Block. The quadrangle contained Badger's Service station on the corner on Via de Santa Fe and Paseo Delicias, Lucile Badger's Fountain Lunch, Badger's Home, and around the corner on La Granada, R.E. Badger's Orchard Development Company.

The service station soon became a well known Rancho Santa Fe Landmark. Two sturdy adobe columns connected by a gabled Spanish tile roof sheltered a single red gasoline pump. Large built-in planters with cascading vines and flowers helped create the illusion of a quaint old village well. In order to hide the automobile repair service yard from the street, architect Rice placed it in the interior of the quadrangle.

The Fountain Lunch featured a fountain imported from New York. The lunchroom became a gathering place for the villagers, and Mrs. Badger kept a small case of books, the first library at Rancho Santa Fe.

In 1927, Rice planned additions to the garage quadrangle. The original owners of this property held it until about 1980. Lucile Badger owned the front half and RE Badger the rear portion.

The Inn - 1922

Lilian Rice designed The Inn 1922 as a twelve-room guest house for Rancho Santa Fe officials, business visitors, and prospective buyers. This simple, one unit, brown adobe building was the first structure erected at The Ranch, and it featured broad terraces, open fireplaces, and a charming Spanish and Mediterranean style. Glen Moore, a landscape designer, planned the grounds with colorful shrubs and trees. From this strategically placed building, guests could enjoy the view of the mountains to the northeast and also what would soon become the Civic Center, an exquisitely planned village.

By 1923, many visitors created the need for facilities usually offered by a hotel. The Guest House was renamed "La Morada" (house of many rooms) and opened to the public. In 1924, workmen constructed a residence for Lilian Rice behind La Morada.

Mr. Roslington bought La Morada in the 1930s, but before long sold it again. Then George Richardson, an executor of the Marshall Field estate, purchased the building in 1941, renaming it The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. He hired a Pasadena architect to create a master plan for the property and built two guest cottages on the lawns facing the village.

The Inn became an important social gathering place, with movie stars such as Errol Flyn, Bette Davis and Jimmy Stewart, visiting there from time to time. After 1946, the owners added another new guest cottage almost every year and in 1954 built the Meeting House. The Inn became known throughout the country due to listings in "Distinguished Hotels Of America" and "Country Inns of America." The Royce family has owned The Inn since about 1958.

1. al·cal·de (l-käld, äl-käld) n. - The mayor or chief judicial official of a Spanish town.

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