On this first day of the new year, I visited the Hotel Del Coronado to bring you a most unusual experience. Ice Skating on the shore of the Coronado Beach. It was 70 degrees in the shade and the activity was enjoyed continuously through the day and evening. As you can see, the warm weather created a wet but glassy image on the ice , reflecting the Grand Dame of Hotels, Hotel Del Coronado on the shore of one of San Diego’s finest, deepest and cleanest beaches.

One thing you can always count on is San Diego being creative when it comes to its Halloween Celebrations. Along with the offerings of haunted houses, San Diego has in store something special that actually might scare you.

The Star of India, said to be haunted will host lantern lead tours that feature tales of its seafaring past and the ghosts that haunt it’s bowels. The tours will be held on Fridays and Saturdays during October and will last about 45 minutes. The tours go from 6PM to 10PM and are included in the general admission and any and all ghost sightings are free.

If you are into being scared, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to possibly encounter some real ghosts that haunt this ship.

Victorian Homes in Heritage Park Getting a Makeover and Re-purposed.

They will serve as Inns to be rented out nightly for guests and visitors to San Diego.

Heritage Park’s nineteenth century Victorian Homes are being transformed from a Park to an enclave of hotel guest room as part of a multi-million dollar restoration.

The Burton House ( 1893)

Heritage Park was created  to preserve a number of century old structures  that were threatened by demolition when the post WWII expansion of downtown San Diego started.

The Bushhead  House ( 1887)

With the help of matching federal funds, San Diego county purchased the current 7.8 parcel of land adjacent to Old Town in 1971. Seven buildings were moved  from various parts of downtown and the Banker’s Hill area of Hillcrest from 1971 through 1982.

The Christian House ( 1889 )

The original vision was a for a Victorian Village with shops and restaurants but Heritage Park never quite proved itself financially enough to expand it it’s designated purpose.

Just restored, The Senlis Cottage ( 1896)

The new vision by the county is to turn these homes into guest rooms as part of a larger expansion associated to the  Hacienda Hotel in Old Town.

SHerman-Gilbert House ( 1887)

Everything has a season  and Heritage Park will provide for a new attraction for guests and visitors to San Diego.  Thankfully the visionaries of yesterday  saved these historic structures  and now will see these marvelous old homes be able to create new memories. May they live on for yet another century.

Temple Beth Isreal ( 1889)

Very soon these restorations and modifications will be completed and I will be back to take new photos of the transformation. Some of the new colors are already showing up. There will be over time, three new constructions in the same architecture with a number of additional rooms and they will complete the makeover.

William Johnson, Certified Residential Specialist

Need Help and Guidelines for Buying or Selling a Home ? Search for Homes and Condominiums in San Diego County. “ Voice of San Diego Real Estate Blog “

]]> http://therealestatetextbook.com/2010/11/21/victorian-homes-in-heritage-park-get-a-makeover-and-re-purposed/feed/ 1 http://therealestatetextbook.com/2010/08/17/meet-some-of-the-many-faces-at-the-san-diego-zoo/ http://therealestatetextbook.com/2010/08/17/meet-some-of-the-many-faces-at-the-san-diego-zoo/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:49:05 +0000 William Johnson http://therealestatetextbook.com/?p=1330 Our world famous San Diego Zoo came about after the 1915 Panama California Exposition that was held in Balboa Park. The Exposition had a large number of exotic animal exhibits and when the exposition closed, the animals were abandoned and left to the City of San Diego. That lead to formation of the Zoological Society that would be entrusted with their care. A permanent tract of land within Balboa Park ( leased by the city) was designated for the permanent exhibits at the Zoo in the Park.

Over the years and with a number of significant benefactors, the zoo has grown to it’s 107 acres of parkland with over 800 species and a collection of over 4000 animals. The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in the “Cageless” exhibit concept. The San Diego Zoo is a world leader in both species preservation as well as it’s world wide conservation efforts.

Throughout the Zoo grounds, the exhibits are designed around particular habitats. Currently there are 9 habitat regions ( see display and habitat map ) represented in the park with collections of animals and native plants representative of each region. The entire park is maintained as an arboretum with native and exotic plants ( and a notable rare plant collection ) represented throughout the park.

I hope you will enjoy meeting some of the many wonderful and unique faces of our permanent residents here at the San Diego Zoo in my slideshow.

As we celebrate this day commemorating our Independence and Liberty, it is fun to look back on our history and take note of those unusual circumstances that are often missed. Here is one such fact in history.  Our 2nd President John Adams and our 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson died the same day, July 4th, 1826 as they both acknowledged the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They were first friends and then grew bitter towards each other. But as they settled into their retirements as Past Presidents, their friendship was reaffirmed and strenghtened . They died within an hour of each other . Exactly five years later , they were to be joined by our 5th President , James Monroe who died July 4th, 1831.

On this, the celebration of the anniversary of our Independence, let us remember these men, Adams and Jefferson. For it is they that so eloquently expressed  the ideals of individual liberty and the philosophy of the need for freedom.