City will help buy historic houses

$1.55 million sought for boat dwellings

By Angela Lau
STAFF WRITER

October 11, 2007

ENCINITAS – The city of Encinitas last night became the first contributor to promise to chip in on the purchase of its cultural icons, the historic Third Street boat houses.

The Encinitas Preservation Foundation asked the city to help with the $1.55 million purchase price of the property. The council voted unanimously to contribute and later will discuss how much to spend.

Plans call for one of the boat houses to be turned into a museum and the rest of the property, which includes four studio and one-bedroom apartments in the rear, to be rented as affordable units.

A neighbor across the street, Patricia Taylor, complained that tourists visiting the proposed museum would overwhelm her neighborhood, which has little parking.

Mayor James Bond emphasized that the city was only deciding to help preserve the property.

He said that if the foundation wished to use one of the houses as a museum, it would have to apply for a zoning change and have a public hearing.

Doug Long, president of the Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association, urged the council to contribute money.

“This is a fine moment in time for the boat houses to be preserved forever,” he said.

Last night's council action kick-started the fundraising campaign launched by the foundation, a partnership between the Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association and the Encinitas Historical Society.

The foundation will be lobbying the county, state and private donors for funds. The outstanding amount would be covered by loans, said Peder Norby, a foundation member.

The boat houses were built by retired engineer Miles Kellogg in the late 1920s with wood salvaged from the demolished Moonlight Beach dance pavilion and Encinitas Hotel.

The property is now owned by Encinitas partners John Deters and Mark Whitley.

The houses, dubbed the SS Encinitas and SS Moonlight, stand side by side at 726-732 Third St. with an intentional slight starboard list to give them a nautical feel.

Both are 15 feet tall and 20 feet long, providing a total of 2,190 square feet. Each boat house features plaster hulls with 19 portholes, two decks, large flat-roofed pilothouses that serve as bedrooms, and a galley, dining and living rooms and a bathroom below deck.