Three Streamline Moderne Houses

circa 1940
1628 J Avenue
1630 J Avenue

circa 1942
1622 J Avenue
in National City, California:
Proposed Inclusion under Mills Act
&
Inventory of
Streamline Moderne
and Moderne Structures
in National City, California
 

Prepared by Rosalie Stafford,
National City, California

619-434-5672
1 February 2008
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

Criteria "C" & "B":
Reasons for Proposed Inclusion under Mills Act
of 1622, 1628, and 1630 J Avenue, National City,
2. Description of Streamline Moderne Style
of Domestic Architecture
3.  Details regarding Criterion "C"
 Historical Background - Architectural
4.  Details regarding Criterion "B"
 Historical Background – Cultural
5. 1622 J Avenue, National City:
Architectural Description,
Photograph of Front Elevation
6.  1628 J Avenue, National City:
Architectural Description,
Photograph of Front Elevation,
Detail of Fixture
7.  1630 J Avenue, National City:
Architectural Description,
Photograph of Front Elevation
8. Works Cited
Appendices
A. Property Description &
Grant Deed to Janice Martinelli
B. Dirk Sutro’s Inventory of
Streamline Moderne Houses
in San Diego
C. Rosalie Stafford's Inventory of
Streamline Moderne & Moderne Structures
in National City
D. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne Office
2004 Highland Avenue, National City
E.

Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne Office
2010 Highland Avenue, National City
F. Photograph & Notes:
Steamline Moderne House
2903 J Avenue, National City
G. Photograph & Notes:
Moderne House
425 East 16th Street, National City
H. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
1435 K Avenue, National City
I. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
441 East 3rd Street, National City
J. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
440 East 2nd Street
K. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
415 East 2nd Street
L. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
225 E Avenue
M. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
424 East 1st Street, National City
N.  Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
211 East 3rd Street, National City
O.  Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
1616 I Avenue, National City
P.  Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
703 F Avenue, National City
Q.  Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne Store
707 F Avenue, National City
R.  Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House (Destroyed)
713 F Avenue, National City
S. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House (Destroyed)
834 East 16th Street, National City
T. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House (Destroyed)
1515 Highland Avenue, National City
U. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
478 East 2rd, National City
V. Photograph & Notes:
Streamline Moderne House
515 East 3rd, National City
W. Photographs & Notes:
Four Moderne Houses
1345 K Avenue, National City
2935 I Avenue, National City
817 East 18th Street, National City
X. Photograph& Notes:
An Outstanding Late Moderne House
939 East 16th Street, National City
Y. Special Thanks to Janice Martinelli,
President, National City Historical Society
Z. About the Author, Rosalie Stafford
 


 

Reasons for Proposed Inclusion of
Three Streamline Moderne Houses
Under Mills Act
The three Streamline Moderne houses at 1622, 1628, & 1630 J Avenue, National City, are significant primarily under criterion “C” in that they
· embody distinctive characteristics of a rare type (Streamline Moderne residential architecture),
· embody distinctive characteristics of an architectural period (the 1930s) &,
· as particularly well-designed and well-preserved specimens of Streamline Moderne residential architecture,
· possess high artistic value.
The three Streamline Moderne houses at 1622, 1628, & 1630 J Avenue, National City, are also significant under criterion “B” in that they are associated with the lives of persons
· important to the history of National City – the Hawken family, &
· important to the broader sweep of both regional and national history, i.e. – the aircraft workers, sailors, mechanics, salesmen, clerks, housewives, and other “ordinary Americans” who resided in the three rental houses for nearly seven decades, in time of war and peace and who, in their daily strivings, in their pursuit of their hopes and dreams, contributed to our American way of life.
 

Description of
Streamline Moderne Style
of Domestic Architecture

John J.-G. Blumenson briefly describes the salient points of Streamline Moderne:

  Soft or rounded corners, flat roofs, smooth wall finish without surface ornamentation, and horizontal windows … Unbroken horizontal lines and smooth curves visually distinguish [this style] from the more angular Art Deco. (79)
Rachel Carley observes:
  Making a short appearance in American in the 1930’s, the smooth-surfaced, flat-roofed Moderne-style house was an essay in streamline geometry, stripped of ornament except for an occasional frieze of horizontal grooves designed as ‘speed lines.’ Such streamlining was also reflected in curving wall planes. It expressed not only economy of line, but also a fascination with the aerodynamic speed and romance of the locomotive, the airplane, and the ocean liner (whose portholes often showed up as windows). In domestic architecture, the [Streamline] Moderne style was used primarily for small single-family houses. These were found in the residential areas of small cities, in suburbs, and in seaside communities. (226)

It should be noted that “flat-roofed” includes the appearance of having a flat roof; the majority of Streamline Moderne houses employ a parapet which serves to hide a low-hipped roof.
 

Historical Background – Architectural
      Streamline Moderne, the popular American version of the International Modern Style – a style wholly independent of the past and the first “totally original style for nearly four hundred years” (Pevsner v) – formed the “visual vocabulary” (Gebhard 9) used in every facet of American life in the period between the two World Wars:
  A recurring theme of the 1920s and 1930s, both in traditional design and architecture and in the various avant-garde movements, was the desire to seek out new forms or modifications of old forms to express the continually changing character and accelerated tempo of the new age. The machine and technology, especially the automobile, were seen as new nontraditional sources for architecture. (Gebhard 1)
Industrial designers such as Norman Bel Geddes, Walter Dorwin Teague, Russel Wright, Henry Dreyfuss, and “the father of industrial design” Raymond Loewy employed the machine-aesthetic style of Streamline Moderne throughout the entire range of consumer items (from refrigerators and toasters to radios and cigarette packets) to modes of transportation (automobiles, trains, and airplanes, and their auxiliary structures such as service stations and bus depots). Graphic designers and commercial artists used the new style in product packaging and advertisements. Architects used Streamline Moderne in commercial, in civic, and to a much lesser extent, in residential architecture. "The look" of the new style expressed the modern sensibility through its
  ... references to the machine [that] could impart [dynamism] to something as intrinsically static as a house, making it seem as though it were rushing headlong to meet the future, rather than gazing longingly over its should at the past. (Tinniswood 7)
Streamline Moderne, observes Gebhard:
  evinced an intense fascination with speed – speed of transportation and communication. Its visual vocabulary (the curve, the teardrop, the uninterrupted horizontal line) was derived largely from the form of high-speed modern transportation machines: the airplane, the automobile, the ocean liner. (9)
This historic photograph of a streamlined 1935 Chrysler Airflow and a streamlined passenger train illustrates the style.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ChryslerAirflowStreamliner34.jpg
Note “the curve, the teardrop, the uninterrupted horizontal line” seen on both machines. Note also the “speed whiskers” on the Chrysler. Similar speed whiskers are part of Raymond Loewy’s design of the S1 steam locomotive for Pennsylvania Railroad:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PRR-S1-Loewy.jpg

Observe the similarity of design in the "Lyric" radio designed by Russel Wright in 1932, whose "neatness and small size represented an enormous step forward from the earlier types of console sets which had been considerably more bulky" (Spark 129),
 
Sparke, A Century of Design, 129
or the “Patriot” radio, (model 400) designed by Norman Bel Geddes in 1940,
http://www.journalofantiques.com/Sept04/featuresep04.htm

or the “Bluebird” radio designed by Walter Dorwin Teague in 1934,
http://www.metmuseum.org/special/americanmodern/1998.537.31.L.htm
 
or these side tables designed by Henry Dreyfuss in 1938.
http://www.artnet.com/Artists/LotDetailPage.aspx?lot_id=91D111EB49B588704494CA7E393F1DCB
      Innumerable examples of consumer items (from cameras to coffee pots to couches) and commercial structures in the Streamline Moderne style could readily be offered as evidence of the ubiquity of the style. It follows that a Streamline Moderne house could easily be furnished entirely in the Streamline Moderne style, for instance by this living room suite by Russel Wright:

Sparke, A Century of Design, 129
Regarding Russel Wright’s “Modern Living” suite (1935), Penny Sparke observes: "This was an ultra-modern design made of solid maple... The line was a great commercial success"(129).
      The importance of the industrial designer and his role in shaping not only the landscape of America (in commercial, civic, and residential structures) but also in giving a modern form – Streamline Moderne – to nearly every useful item (automobiles, and other forms of transportation, as well as refrigerators, toasters, tea pots, and an untold myriad of consumer items) was recognized by Time’s October, 1949 issue which celebrated Raymond Loewy, “Father of Industrial Design.”

http://www.theavanti.com/time_magazine.htm
      Gebhard cautions that, although design applications of Streamline Moderne “were almost universally embraced in [its] time, the limits of their popularity are worth noting” (1). While industrial designers such as Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, and Russel Wright, Henry Dreyfuss, and Walter Dornan Teague literally changed the face of America in terms of consumer items large and small (from toasters to trains), and while architects altered the built landscape of America, only rarely did the Moderne penetrate the realm of domestic architecture. In the 1930s by far the most popular image for single-family housing in the United States was the colonial Cap Cod cottage (Gebhard 1).  The world center of residential construction in the Streamline Moderne style was Los Angeles; however the indefatigable researcher Gebhard reports only one subdivision in Los Angeles dedicated entirely to that style: Park Moderne, built 1929-34 (21).
      In the city of San Diego, very few Streamline Moderne residential houses were built. Dirk Sutro identifies only a half-dozen, all in Point Loma neighborhoods. (See Appendix C for list of addresses).

      National City is fortunate to possess a well-preserved commercial Streamline Moderne building on Highland Avenue, more than one dozen well-preserved Streamline Moderne houses, and – tragically – several Streamline Moderne houses whose stylistic integrity has been utterly destroyed through ignorant remodeling, plus various other houses of varying quality (see Appendix C). However, nowhere in the San Diego region is there to be found a well-designed and pristine triptych of Streamline Modern houses as fortuitously exists on the 1600 block of J Avenue in National City. These three little houses are truly architectural gems and undeniably constitute a civic treasure. Janice Martinelli deserves to be lauded for her role in preserving these rare examples of Streamline Moderne. Not only National City, but architectural historians everywhere, owe Janice Martinelli a large debt of gratitude.
      Writing twenty years ago, regarding commercial structures, Gebhard observed:
  Probably upward of three-quarters of the Streamline Moderne buildings erected in the 1930s are now gone. Of the hundreds of service stations designed in the style, only a handful remain, and even those few isolated survivors – in California, in Iowa, in Massachusetts, and other states – are being removed one by one. The street facades of glass brick, Vitrolite, and neon that adorned cafes, bars and motion picture theaters on almost every main street in the United States have largely vanished. Also fast disappearing are the distinctive supermarkets and other roadside attractions of the late 1930s and the 1940s. The Streamline Moderne bus depot was once a landmark common to most American cities; now only a few remain. (18-19)
Gebhard was writing specifically about commercial structures, bemoaning the disappearance of Streamline Moderne across America: now only a few remain.
      Bear in mind that very few residential structures (dwellings) in the Streamline Modern style were ever built. Perhaps it is due to the fact that most people tend to be conservative when it comes to the look of their home: the monstrosities deliberately created at 836 E. 16th Street and at 713 F Avenue – two Streamline Moderne houses tragically destroyed through “upgrading” – serve as case in point. Whatever the reasons might be, the fact remains that Streamline Moderne houses constitute a very rare commodity, a precious architectural-historical resource.

      In Towards a New Architecture, Le Corbusier wrote:
  You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces; that is construction.  Ingenuity is at work.  But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good.  I am happy and I say: 'This is beautiful.'  That is Architecture.  Art enters in.  (qtd in Tinniswood 74)
Clearly, beautiful examples of the quality (both in original design and in present-day near-pristine condition) of the three Streamline Moderne houses located on the 1600 block of J Avenue in National City are very rare, not only in National City, or San Diego County, but in the entire breadth of the United States. For this reason, these three Streamline Moderne houses deserve to be recognized as architecturally significant under the criteria of the Mills Act.
 

Historical Background – Cultural
      We have seen that Streamline Modern houses constitute rare cultural resources, not only in this region, but throughout the entire world. Victorian mansions and Craftsman bungalows are relatively quite common compared to the rarity of Streamline Moderne houses, very few of which were ever built.
      Edward and Virgina Hawken were not only solid citizens, highly-respected members of National City society, but they were also undoubtedly visionaries: in 1936, five years before Pearl Harbor thrust the United States into the Pacific War and swamped the housing market in San Diego with military men and their families and war-effort workers and their families all seeking shelter, the Hawkens constructed rental housing on East 16th Street, next door to their home at the corner of East 16th Street and J Avenue.  (See unpublished paper, "Hertel-Hawken House" by Janice Martinelli.)  In 1940, the Hawkens again determined to construct more rental housing next door to their home, this time not on East 16th Street, but on J Avenue. They contracted with Walter Osborne (1907-1992) to build two rental houses at 1628 and 1630 J Avenue. The name of the architect is unfortunately unknown, however, stylistic traits clearly link the J Avenue houses built for the Hawkens by Walter Osborne to other structures in the neighborhood.
      City directories tell us that, in 1940, the families of Fred Cram and Charles Corcoran lived at 424 East 1st Street (Appendix L). Both breadwinners worked in the aircraft industry: Mr. Cram at Solar Aircraft and Mr. Corcoran at Consolidated Aircraft. Thereafter, from 1941 through 1945, the Crams lived at 1628 J Avenue and the Corcorans lived at 1630 J Avenue; their wives Marian and Mable were home-makers.  It is curiously fitting that the original residents of 1628 and 1630 J Avenue should be associated with San Diego’s aircraft industry, for Streamline Moderne drew its inspiration from modern technology, particularly the machine-aesthetic of modern transportation devices.
      The house at 1622 J Avenue was built (according to Robert Hawken, a teenager at the time) a year or two later.  Curiously, San Diego County Assessor residential building records indicate that the house at 1622 J Avenue was constructed in 1940, the same year as the mirror-pair.  As the earliest Assessor building records date from 1962 and are obviously in error in that they document the age of the three structures as "18 years" and as City Directories have no record of any resident at 1622 J Avenue until 1943, it is clear that, in this particular case, Robert Hawken's memory is more to be trusted than the hand-written field notes archived by the County Assessor.
      Later residents of 1622, 1628, and 1630 J Avenue include the Dietz family, (Philip Dietz was a driver); the Eckmans (Clarence was in the Navy and Madalynne was a public school clerk); the Dandy family (Henry was a chemist); and the Reed family (Clifford was a National City policeman). In 1955, 1628 J Avenue was inhabited by Ernest DeCosta, an employee of Trueblood Motors. It is interesting to note the demographics of the residents of these rental houses: the heads of households worked in the aircraft industry, in transportation, in scientific research and development, for the school system or the police department. Wives worked in the home, as home-makers, tending the children and, presumably, their Victory gardens, cooking, cleaning, and thriftily keeping house. The only working wife in those early days was Madalynne Eckman (wife of a United States sailor) who worked as a school clerk. (Recall that her landlord, Ed Hawken was an educator.)
      Although none of the residents of 1622, 1628, or 1630 J Avenue are famous for outstanding accomplishments in their various fields, that in itself is significant. For almost seven decades, quiet blue-collar and white-collar working families have lived in these three well-designed, well-built, well-maintained Streamline Moderne houses. Over the years, these rare and beautifully designed houses have served their purpose well. Gebhard points out:
  [L]e Corbusier’s ode to the transportation machine in his 1923 manifesto Towards a New Architecture became, in the hands of Sheldon Cheney, Paul t. Frankl, and others, one of the arguments in support of the popular Moderne. Echoing Le Corbusier, Cheney wrote in his 1930 book The New World Architecture, "We sometimes wonder why our dwelling-place couldn’t have been conceived and built as cleanly, as efficiently – and as beautifully – as our automobile: THAT has just the combination of mechanical efficiency and comfort, of cleanliness and pleasurable brightness, of mechanically perfect shelter and of beauty out of proportioning and structure, that we should relish in a house." (3-4)
The three Streamline Moderne houses at 1622, 1628, and 1630 J Avenue certainly were conceived and built as cleanly, as efficiently – and as beautifully – as our automobile and exhibit just the combination of mechanical efficiency and comfort, of cleanliness and pleasurable brightness, of mechanically perfect shelter and of beauty out of proportioning and structure that was a touchstone of modernism in architecture.
      These three Streamline Moderne houses at 1622, 1628, and 1630 J Avenue, National City, California, which have been so fortunately preserved for posterity through the generous actions of Janice Martinelli, are beautiful architectural rarities and clearly deserve to be recognized as such by the Mills Act.
 

Architectural Description
1622 J Avenue
built circa 1942

Single story, two bedroom frame & stucco house. Living area 635 square feet: 14'x15'(front) and 25'x17' (rear). Garage area, 11'x21'. Low-hipped roof hidden by parapet; mudsill.  Asymetrical facade, integral garage, front door centered, paired sash windows extending almost to rounded corners, where they meet single sash windows on south facade.  Horizontality not pronounced because of mass of garage. Incised stucco-work (picked out by paint) at roof-level, mudsill-level, and windowsill-level.  Front stoop shows circular porch roof with incised stucco-work.
 

Architectural Description
1628 J Avenue
built circa 1940

Single story, 610 square foot, two bedroom frame & stucco house.  Low-hipped roof hidden by parapet; mudsill.  Footprint shows two rectangular blocks (southside 14'x23' and northside 12'x24') offset by four feet in the front, three feet in the rear. Bilaterally symetrical facade, front door centered, paired sash windows extending almost to rounded corners, where they meet single sash windows on south facade and north facade.  Horizontality emphasized by banks of windows, by mullioning, and by incised stucco-work (picked out by paint) at roof-level, mudsill-level, and windowsill-level.  Front stoop shows circular porch roof with incised stucco-work.
Detail: original lamp fixture, black, next to front door.  Adjacent houses (1622 J Avenue and 1630 J Avenue) show same lamp fixtures, both white, next to front door.
 

Architectural Description
1630 J Avenue
built circa 1940
Mirror-image of 1628 J Avenue.  Single story, 610 square foot, two bedroom frame & stucco house.  Low-hipped roof hidden by parapet; mudsill.  Footprint shows two identical rectangular blocks (southside 12'x24' and northside 14'x23')offset by four feet in the front, three feet in the rear. Bilaterally symetrical facade, front door centered, paired sash windows extending almost to rounded corners, where they meet singled sash windows.  Horizontality emphasized by banks of windows, by mullioning, and by incised stucco-work (picked out by paint) at roof-level, mudsill-level, and windowsill-level.  Front stoop shows circular porch roof with incised stucco-work.
 

Works Cited
Banham, Peter Reyner. Theory & Design of the First Machine Age. 1960. MIT Press: 1980.
Blumenson John J.-G. Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945. rev. ed. American Association for State and local History. New York: Norton, 1977, 1981.
Carley, Rachel. The Visual Dictionary of American Domestic Architecture. Illus. by Ray Skibinsky & Ed Lam. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
“Designer Raymond Loewy: He Streamlines the Sales Curve.” Time. 31 Oct. 1949.
Hawken, Robert. Telephone interview, 17 January 2008.
Gebhard, David. The National Trust Guide to Art Deco in America. Preservation Press. 1996.
Martinelli, Janice.  "Hertel-Hawken House."  Unpublished paper prepared in substantiation of proposal to include said house under Mills Act.  National City, 2007.
Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus. Foreward. Identifying American Architecture: A Pictorial Guide to Styles and Terms, 1600-1945. By Blumenson. New York : Norton, 1977. v-vi.
San Diego City Directories, 1940-1955.  San Diego Directory Co.
San Diego County Assessor Residential Building Records, 1962, Parcel 561-060-28-37 / 33-58-11x1
Sparke, Penny. A Century of Design: Design Pioneers of the Twentieth Century. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron's, 1998.
Sutro, Dirk. San Diego Architecture from Mission to Modern: Guide to the Buildings, Planning, People, and Spaces That Shape the Region. San Diego Architectural Foundation: 2002.
Tinniswood, Adrian.  The Art Deco House: Avant-Garde Houses of the 1920s and 1930s.  New York: Watson-Guptill, 2002.
 
Appendices

Appendix A

Property Description

The Westerly Half of the Northerly Half of 20 acre Lot 1 in Quarter Section 133, Rancho de la Nacion, in the City of National City, County of San Diego, State of California, according to Map thereof No. 166, filed in the Office of the County Recorder of San Diego County.  Excepting the Northerly 40 feet and the Easterly 30 feet and also excepting the Southerly 48 feet of said Westerly half of the Northerly half.  Also excepting that portion lying within the Southerly 100 feet of the Northerly 140 feet of the Westerly 510.33 feet of said Westerly half of the Northerly half.  Also excepting that portion lying within the Southerly 47 feet of the Northerly 187 feet of the Westerly 490.33 feet of said Westerly half of the Northerly half.  Also excepting that portion of the Southerly 95 feet of the Northerly 282 feet of the Westerly 170 feet of the Easterly 300 feet of said Westerly half of the Northerly half.
 
& Grant Deed to Janice Martinelli
 

      Appendix B
Dirk Sutro’s Inventory of
Streamline Moderne Houses in San Diego
2925 Locust*
3026 Homer
3112 Curtis
2505 Willow
1925 Willow
1855 Willow
3311 Xenophon
*The Locust Street house displays design motifs of both “Zigzag Moderne” (a type of Art Deco) and Streamline Moderne; the other six houses (on Homer, Curtis, Willow, and Xenophon) more properly deserve the appellation of Streamline Moderne.
 

Appendix C
Rosalie Stafford's Inventory of Moderne & Streamline Moderne Houses & Office Buildings in National City
 
National City is indeed fortunate to possess more than a dozen well-preserved and very attractive examples of domestic Streamline Moderne, as well as several well-preserved examples of commercial Streamline Moderne.  We owe thanks to the builders Walter Osborne and the Morgan Brothers, who gave the residents of National City this legacy of uniquely American architecture.
 
Asterisks in the following list indicate buildings which appear to be good candidates for Mills Act recognition; carats indicate buildings which would require fairly minor work (mainly removing aluminum windows and re-installing sash windows) to return them to original condition; hash marks indicate structures which have been virtually destroyed through uneducated remodeling; [M] indicates houses which fall under rubric of moderne, not streamline moderne:

 

1622 J Avenue *
1628 J Avenue *
1630 J Avenue *
2903 J Avenue *
2935 I Avenue ^
1616 I Avenue ^
1435 K Avenue *
1345 K Avenue [M]
703 F Avenue *
707 F Avenue *
713 F Avenue##
225 E Avenue *
424 East 1st Street *
440 East 2nd Street *
478 East 2nd Street ##
211 East 3rd Street *
441 East 3rd Street ^
515 East 3rd Street ^
425 East 16th Street *
834 East 16th Street##
939 East 16th Street [M]
817 East 18th Street [M]
1515 Highland Avenue##
2004 Highland Avenue *
2010 Highland Avenue ^

 
     The Mills Act was enacted into law in order to assist property owners in maintaing their historic buildings.
     The house at 440 East 2nd Street (Appendix J) is an excellent example of why this law exists: the beautiful rambling house with detached two car garage merely needs paint and new glass in the portholes to be returned to its original glory.
     The house at 515 East 3rd Street (Appendix V) is another example: the ridiculously incongrous tiled porch roof was installed because the original overhanging porch roof (similar to the the porch overhang next door at 225 E Avenue, Appendix L) was decrepit and hazardous. If the property owners had been apprised of the historic value of the house and offered a tax-break through the Mills Act, the decrepit porch overhang could have been taken down and replaced with an identical and safe porch roof (rather than a stylistically inappropriate tiled roof).
     Moreover, through ignorant "re-styling," the stylistic integrity of several buildings has been absolutely destroyed (Appendices R, S, T, U). The property owners in question spent tens of thousands of dollars make their regrettable alterations; if this inventory had been available and accessable to those property owners, perhaps these Streamline Moderne treasures might have been saved.
            Streamline Moderne buildings consitute rare cultural artifacts.  Present and future residents of National City would be well-served if these treasures were preserved.

Appendix D
Streamline Moderne Office
2004 Highland Avenue, National City
Very nice example of Streamline Moderne. Note the porthole and rounded corner constructed of glass bricks. A good candidate for Mills Act recognition.

Appendix E
Streamline Moderne Office
2010 Highland Avenue, National City

 
Not so fine an example of Streamline Moderne as previous example. Windows (note diamond-shaped mullions) almost certainly not original and would, in present condition, preclude this building from candidacy for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix F
Streamline Moderne House
2903 J Avenue, National City
 
Very attractive large, rambling house with attached garage and original aluminum awnings. Speed whiskers in good condition. Curvature at roofline has been covered by flashing; this element is easily returned to original condition.  Original windows have been replaced and barred. Lighting fixture not original. If flashing and aluminum windows were removed, 2903 J Avenue would present a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.

Appendix G
 
Streamline Moderne House
425 East 16th Street, National City
In excellent condition. Some windows (including muntins and aluminum awnings) are original. Unusual detail: vertical speed whiskers (under address plaque).  Detached garage.  A good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix H
Streamline Moderne House
1435 K Avenue, National City
Rambling house, similar to 2903 J Avenue (Appendix F); porch overhand similar to 1616 I Avenue (Appendix O) and to 441 E. 3rd Street (Appendix I). Aluminum awnings original.  Front windowpane missing a muntin, otherwise in excellent condition.  Note porthole in garage door.
 

Appendix I
Streamline Moderne House
441 East 3rd Street, National City
Curved corner window was refurbished several years ago: muntins, windows bars not original.  Original aluminum awnings.
Note the unusual speed lines, curved window, chimney.  Simple matter to return to entirely original condition: a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix J
Streamline Moderne House
440 East 2nd Street, National City
Rambling house, similar to 2903 J Avenue (Appendix F). Windows original. 
Note portholes and curved glass brick window
Double garage with small portholes.
Mills Act recognition would be entirely appropriate for this rambling house with double garage at 440 East 2nd Street: the house is in original condition but needs routine maintenance such as painting and reglazing the portholes.
Appendix K
Streamline Moderne House
415 East 2nd Street, National City
Windows not original.  Porch overhang not original.  Speed whiskers.  Detached garage.  If windows and porch were returned to original, 415 East 2nd Street would be a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix L

Streamline Moderne House
225 E Avenue, National City
Original sash windows and aluminum awnings.  Detached garage.  Good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix M
Streamline Moderne Apartment House
424 East 1st Street, National City
Bilaterally symmetrical apartment building with incised porch overhang and zigzag moderne elements surround cental window.  Shutters probably not original, otherwise an excellent candidate for Mills Act recognition.
This is the apartment building where the Cram family and the Corcoran family resided before they moved to 1628 and 1630 J Avenue in 1940.
 

Appendix N
Streamline Moderne Apartment House
211 East 3rd Street, National City
Original windows were replaced within the last two years with aluminum sliding windows.  Original wooden stairs were replaced at the same time with concrete; original green stucco was repainted pink and color of support poles were changed from white to black.
Note portholes, curved steps.  If aluminum windows were to be replaced with original sash and horizontal muntin windows, this building would present a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix O

Streamline Moderne House
1616 I Avenue, National City

Note the heaviness of the stucco, similar to 1345 K Avenue (Appendix W).   No speed whiskers. Porch overhang similar to 1616 I Avenue (Appendix O).  Similarities to those buildings suggests that this house was built by Morgan Brothers.  Original wooden sash windows have been replaced with aluminum sash windows. As it stands now, not a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix P
Streamline Moderne House
703 F Avenue, National City
Rambling house with attached garage.  Note portholes in front facade and garage door.
Windows and door have been replaced; however, over-all condition is excellent: stucco is original and retains incised double-speedline along roofline.

A good candidate for Mills Act recognition – if door and windows were returned to original condition.
 

Appendix Q
Streamline Moderne House
707 F Avenue, National City 
In excellent condition, with original sash windows.  Together with 703 F Avenue presents a charming matched set.  Good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix R
Streamline Moderne House
713 F Avenue, National City
Next door to 707 F Avenue, this house at 713 F Avenue is a tragic example of the aesthetic integrity of a house utterly destroyed through “upgrading.”  Not eligible for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix S
Streamline Moderne House
834 East 16th Street, National City
Under the heavy stucco decoration around the aluminum-framed windows and the artificial stonework cladding the basement area, the clean design of the original Streamline Moderne house is barely discernable. This is another sad example of the aesthetic integrity of a house utterly destroyed through “upgrading.” Not eligible for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix T
Streamline Moderne Store
1515 Highland Avenue, National City
Only the porch roof and the curvature of the corners give evidence that this building was once Streamline Moderne. 
As it stands now, 1515 Highland Avenue is not eligible for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix U
Streamline Moderne House
478 East 2nd Street, National City 
Much-altered house which retains its original corner window of curved glass block and speed whiskers.  Original parapet roof has been covered with gable.  Original porch overhang has been covered. 
An attractive dwelling but a sad loss of a Streamline Moderne house.  Not eligible for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix V

Streamline Moderne House
515 East 3rd Street, National City 

Speed whiskers in good condition.  Garage.  Fence, windows, porch supports, porch roof all non-original.  Porch overhang was originally like the one next at 225 E Avenue (Appendix L).  This house at 515 East 3th Street is a good example of virtue of Mills Act: porch overhang was decrepit and hazardous.  If property owner had been apprised of the historical value of the house and offered financial assistance through Mills Act, quite possibly the porch roof would not now be tiled.  Now not eligible for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix W

Several Moderne Houses
2935 I Avenue, National City
Note widely-curved corners. No speed-whiskers. Unusual porch overhang. Original sash windows have been replaced with aluminum sliding windows. If windows were restored. could present a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 
817 East 18th Street, National City
These rental houses are scheduled to be demolished and replaced by apartments. Square corners. The concave-convex speed-lines tracing the cornice or parapet and the edges of the minimalistic porch roofs are unusual. Original sash windows have been replaced with aluminum sliding windows. If windows were restored, could present good candidates for Mills Act recognition.
  1345 K Avenue, National City
Built by Morgan Brothers in 1940's.  Doric column replaces original pipe, as seen at 425 East 16th Street (Appendix G).  Lath strips (for hanging christmas lights) frame windows.  If pole and windows were restored, could present good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix X
Outstanding Late Moderne House
939 East 16th Street, National City
Built circa 1960, a generation after the heyday of the Moderne and Streamline Moderne style, certainly presents a good candidate for Mills Act recognition.
 

Appendix Y

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Janice Martinelli,
President National City Historical Society

Robert Hawken

Mayor Ron Morrison
City Councilwoman Rosalie Zarate
City Councilmen Fideles Ungab, Frank Parra, Louie Natividad
City Manager Chris Zapata
Brad Raulston, Director CDC

San Diego County Assessor
San Diego Public Library California Room
National City Public Library History Room

 

Appendix Z
About the author
Rosalie Stafford earned her B.A. in Art & Architectural History at University of California, Santa Cruz, where she studied under Reyner Banham, author of Theory & Design of the First Machine Age (1960). After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she taught in UCSC’s Art History department for several years and then moved to Bowling Green, where she enrolled in Western Kentucky University’s Historic Preservation program (offered through the Department of Folklore & Folklife).  After completing the coursework required for a master’s degree in Folklore, she then completed the coursework required for a master’s degree in English.
      In Bowling Green, she worked for the Landmark Association, measuring and photographing houses and writing architectural descriptions; the Bowling Green Bungalow District subsequently was accepted into both the National Registry and Kentucky State Registry of Historic Places.
      Rosalie Stafford holds a Lifetime Credential (California) to teach Language Arts at the college level; she has taught research writing, visual analysis, and humanities at various community colleges and private schools in the San Diego region since 1988. She is founding publisher of Web Mystery Magazine and author of two mystery novels.  Her website is http://lifeloom.com.