|
|
|
|
Description of El Cerrito:
The name El Cerrito literally means, " The
Little Hill", and although the hill maybe small, the views of the city
high-rises, ocean and canyons from many of the homes in the neighborhood
are spectacular.
One of the little known secrets of the El Cerrito neighborhood is its early
development. Initially orange and lemon orchards, development of these historic
home tracts began in the early 1920’s, before the Great Depression. As the
City of San Diego’s growth spread east, El Cerrito's first small development tracts and
new homes were constructed. Lot sizes and homes were larger than previous city
developments. Many of the homes on this year’s tour have large, usable yards
and fabulous gardens. The perfume of jasmine and mock orange from several gardens will permeate
throughout this springs tour.
El Cerrito has a diverse architectural landscape
because it was built (like Mission Hills, Point Loma, Kensington and
Talmadge) when builders constructed houses singularly, or a few at a
time; in different styles and sizes rather than in tracts of 1,000 units
of predetermined models. Much of El Cerrito follows this pre-war
"exclusive subdivision" norm that changed with prefabricated mass
production techniques pioneered during World War II. Features such as
Cajon Terrace’s stone gateways along 55th Street are reminiscent of
similar features found in Kensington and Talmadge adding extra charm. In
fact, early real estate ads in the 1920’s called the neighborhood "The
Mission Hills" of eastern San Diego.
There are large lots and houses of all sizes for people who love
gardening and big families or those who want a cozy patio. The
neighborhood also is a short drive and conveniently located to major
shopping centers, downtown, beaches, universities, Balboa Park,
Hillcrest, La Mesa, the mountains and over 100 culturally diverse
restaurants.
The community is far enough inland so that the marine cloud layer is
disbursed permitting more sunshine, yet close enough to the ocean to
provide cooling in the summer.
We are proud to have San Diego State University nearby. The community
can take advantage of cultural and athletic attractions and the new San
Diego Trolley station will provide convenient transit service.
Blessed Sacrament Church serves as one of El Cerrito’s architectural
landmarks and is visible from miles away. It also forms an important
community center and alternative educational option for local residents.
|
| |
|
|
More Information:
| |
|
General Boundaries
| North |
College Valley Tract |
| East |
College Avenue |
| South |
University Avenue |
| West |
54th Street |
General History
The El Cerrito Heights neighborhood dates it suburban
development back to 19th Centaury farm tracks such as Lemon Villa;
Waterville; Marcellena; and the Redlands Tract.
These areas would not see significant development until the 1920s when
the old Cajon Road became U.S. Highway 80 - "El Cajon Boulevard".
It was during the 1920s that other subdivisions straddling El Cajon
Boulevard appeared, including Redland Gardens, Cajon Terrace, Monte Mar
Vista; El Retiro, and the area's namesake; El Cerrito Heights.
In the late 1930s El Cerrito Heights was expanded south below El Cajon
Boulevard.
After World War II the development of the Belleview Heights area
extended the neighborhood to University Avenue.
Rediscover El Cerrito
A neighborhood in San Diego with historical homes of diverse
architecture perched on a hill with fantastic views. Forget Mission Hills, Point Loma and
Kensington. The latest neighborhood that’s being
re-discovered with classic home developments from every era since the
1920’s is El Cerrito.
El Cerrito truly escapes the
architectural monotony and ambience of many newer
areas because its various home developments span 80 years and have
resulted in an eclectic mix. As San Diego City’s suburban growth moved
east in the early 1920’s, speculators and developers plotted new
subdivisions along El Cajon Boulevard. These new subdivisions included
Redland Gardens (1923) and Extension (1924), Highland Gardens (1924),
Cajon Terrace (1926), Monte Mar Vista (1926), El Retiro (1927), and the
areas namesake, El Cerrito Heights (1926-32).
Many Custom Built Homes
The Great Depression slowed new home
development in San Diego, but due to the opening of SDSU, not in El
Cerrito. The majority of the homes built to this point were built in the
popular Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean Revival styles. Most of these
homes were individually built homes of all sizes and shapes. In
addition, lots were generally large and so generous gardens are the
norm. Since finger canyons run throughout the neighborhood, many homes
line the edges of preserved green areas.
Mixture of Architecture
As the community grew, at first mostly
north of El Cajon Boulevard, its name evolved to El Cerrito. In the
mid-late 1930’s, El Cerrito Heights continued its expansion to the
south. As the>
Great Depression gave way to renewed
development, the first Federal Housing Administration’s new loan
program created a new middle-class market. Soon the earlier tracts such
as Ocean View Gardens (1936) began to fill with a mixture of traditional
revival style homes such as Cape Cod, Colonial, California Ranch,
Streamline, and Modern. By the time World War II began, the northern
half of El Cerrito was full of homes.
After World War II, the development of
the area picked-up and followed the building trends of the times adding
still more diversity as development moved south toward University
Avenue. New subdivisions such as Belleview Heights (1947) enlarged the
neighborhood. Collwood Village (1947) extended the area northeast of
54th. Later, tracts such as Cosgrove Terrace (1949) and Piedmont Estates
(1952) filled in the mesas tops and introduced newer ranch style homes.
By the late 1960’s, the new Collwood Drive was cut through and lined
with pleasant condominium complexes.
Lot Sizes up to 1 Acre
Today El Cerrito property values have
appreciated rapidly, largely because of the neighborhood’s charm and
eclectic style homes. These older tracts bring great value, due to their
rural development with larger lots. Many of these homes have lot sizes
of 1/5 to a 1+ acre, which are large estates compared to most home
developments built more recently. Over the past decade, scores of El
Cerrito homes have been remodeled, expanded or even rebuilt thus adding
even more variety to the neighborhood landscape.
Historic research provided by James Newland.
Community Council
The El Cerrito Community Council (ECCC)
is a local community group that holds monthly meetings of interest
to the local community.
We appreciate your interest in El Cerrito, an exciting community located in
the eastern part of San Diego, which encourages pedestrian activity and
fosters a small town ambiance. Our name, El Cerrito literally means,
"little hill", and when visiting the community its not hard to
understand why. From most homes and streets you can see spectacular
views. At 450 feet above sea level, this neighborhood is perched on a
hill that affords speculator home vistas of Mexico to the south, city
high-rises and ocean to the west, and the mountains to the east and
northeast.
We feel that you'll find El Cerrito to be distinctly different from typical
inner city neighborhoods and other suburban developments from the past
30 years. The most visible difference is the historic and
well-established old subdivisions that support a village concept,
encourage people to meet neighbors, walk to nearby parks, sit on front
porches, and walk to nearby shops. There is a clear but quiet and cozy
street morphology-that is a basic grid but
with curving streets and no major throughways. This encourages people to
‘walk around the bock".
The dynamic El Cerrito Community Council’s activate membership works hard
to encourage a community for walking people, rather than just cars. This
community has a vision for the future and is currently working with the
city and developers for new retail and market-rate housing that
preserves our architectural character and heritage.
As you learn more about our pedestrian-friendly community online, we hope
that we can answer your real estate needs. But whether you visit us in
person or peruse us online, we are confident you will appreciate our
efforts to rekindle the neighborliness of small town America.
Thank you again for your interest in El Cerrito. We hope you enjoy your online
tour!
Planning Group
The Planning Group for El Cerrito is the
College Area Community Planning Board (CACPB).
Do you have a fun fact about your neighborhood? Is something missing?
Correction? Do you have a comment?
Please email us with your feedback.
|
Historical Subdivisions:
- Seaman’s Subdivision est. 1887
- Lemon Villa est. 1892
- Waterville est. 1892
- Redland Tract est. 1892
- East Redlands est. 1894
- Marcellena Tract est. 1896
- Country Paradise est. 1908
- Redlands Gardens est. 1923
- Highland Garden est. 1924
- Gilcher Tract est. 1925
- Cajon Terrace est. 1926
- Monte Mar Vista est. 1926
- El Cerrito Heights est. 1926-28
- El Retiro est. 1927
- Ocean View Gardens est. 1937
- Collwood Village est. 1947
- Belleview Heights est. 1947-51
- Cosgrove Terrace est. 1949
- Piedmont Estates est. 1952
- Log Realty Subdivision est. 1963
|
