Historic Designation for Rare Point Loma Sites

To the OB Rag by Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) staff

In a win for historic preservation and community memory, the City of San Diego’s Historical Resources Board (HRB) voted on May 22 to designate two (of four) historically, culturally and architecturally significant residences at 4101 Lomaland Drive as official historic resources.

This includes the rare Corbin House, which includes the last two surviving sleeping cottages directly associated with the early 20th-century Theosophical Society, as well as one of three Mid-Century Modern Post-and-Beam residences designed by Master Architect Richard John Lareau.

The designation of the Rose Vollmer house among the Lareau-designed buildings under Criteria C and D represents important recognition of postwar coastal architecture and Lareau’s modernist vision.

Though SOHO, community advocates and several board members presented compelling arguments for the designation of all four buildings as a cohesive shared cultural landscape, along with the previously designated Ladera Street house, ultimately the board was forced to work within the city’s self-imposed limitations of segmenting the resources. For the record SOHO disagrees with segmentation — a practice frowned upon in the professional preservation and environmental community.

Board members had clearly visited the site and listened carefully to expert testimony from SOHO staff and historians. They heard from Bruce Coons, SOHOs executive director and architectural historian, who brought the Lomaland cottages story to life through historical photographs and structural analysis, explaining how it had evolved over time but still retained remarkable integrity.

They also heard from Bruce Coughran, who Zoomed in from abroad— so significant is the site to him that he spoke in the middle of the night. It was his thesis on the Theosophical Center that was used by the consultants to better understand this important history of early Point Loma and San Diego

After almost two hours of public testimony and board deliberation, three of the six board members shared moving reflections about how personally affected they were by their visits to the site underscoring the site’s power to evoke a deeper understanding of San Diego’s heritage.

The board’s testimony was heartwarming to those who understand what this last vestige of communal life represents — these houses are the final visible traces of a rare coastal culture rooted in spiritual exploration, reverence for nature, and a distinctive architectural vision that harmonized with the land. Nothing like this will ever be built again. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. One board member said that it was “like walking into the past.”

Board member David McCullough took the board and the public through the voting process with a thoughtful and passionate explanation of what he saw as a total grouping and how he had extreme consternation of the breaking apart of the grouping of resources into individual sites as the city did. Nevertheless, within those constraints, he persevered, and the board, working in concert with city staff guidance was able to reach their unanimous significant conclusion: the designation of the Theosophical cottages.

The unanimous designation of the Corbin House under Criterion A acknowledges its deep historical ties to the Theosophical movement that once flourished in Point Loma. And it aligns with the Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Master Plan, where it was identified for potential historic designation, offering a path at the very least for adaptive reuse and interpretation of these storied structures, and marks a hopeful step toward broader recognition of this endangered cultural landscape.

Also unanimously designated was Building #2, one of three post-and-beam Modernist homes designed by Master Architect Richard John Lareau. These buildings, commissioned by Rose Vollmer, were praised by Lareau himself as among the finest of his residential work. Though only one of the three was formally designated, SOHO presented a compelling case for all three, underscoring their architectural distinction and integrity with major additions done by Lareau himself. The late Mr. Lareau personally met with SOHO, city staff and residents on site, confirming the designs were his and expressing his hope that they would be preserved together as a unified group.

The vote affirmed the site’s singular significance — not just architecturally, but culturally and emphasized the unique nature of the site, with its roots in the Theosophical Society’s early 20th-century experiment in spiritual living, environmental harmony, and progressive thought. The cottages were part of a cohesive, intentional landscape designed to integrate with nature, support communal life, and reflect a broader philosophical vision.

The meeting was a poignant reminder that preservation is, at its core, a human endeavor—driven by people who care deeply about place, memory, and meaning. The designation allows for meaningful and environmentally conscious stewardship of the remaining structures within Sunset Cliffs Natural Park and presents an opportunity for adaptive reuse that honors both the site’s history and future potential.

SOHO hopes this will help preserve one of the last remaining vestiges of old Ocean Beach and Point Loma, a place so many remember fondly from their youth, a utopian place that has almost disappeared.