Thomas Shess has a nice article in San Diego magazine on Graham Downes’ remodel (more a restoration and updating, really) of the 1910 Train-Williams Jackson / Klauber home. There are some small photos, also, but unfortunately San Diego doesn’t include larger versions so you can really see some of the detail of this beautiful home.
“MY ARCHITECTURAL STYLE EVOLVES so quickly,” says architect Graham Downes, one of San Diego’s top hospitality designers. “I didn’t want our home to be one particular style. Then in 10 years I’d have to move because I was no longer happy living with that mood.”
So what did San Diego’s leading 21st-century minimalist architect do to remodel one of San Diego’s first great homes of the 20th century? First, he didn’t do anything alone. The revamping of their newly
purchased 1910 Jackson/Klauber home is a “we” effort of Downes and Tracy Borkum. …Ninety-five years later, the clean stucco lines designed by Los
Angeles architects Train & Williams remain contemporary, as do many
of the homes built by the firm’s contemporaries, Irving Gill, Frank
Lloyd Wright and Pasadena’s Greene brothers. Downes and Borkum did
little to alter the exterior, and passersby will be hard pressed to see
any modernization of its wisteria-covered pergolas and Craftsman- style
perimeter fencing.
A design necklace outside is the surrounding frieze molding under the
eaves, shaped as a Greek key. That pattern is repeated throughout the
house and its grounds.“Overall, we improved the interior functionality of the home by
asking the termites to leave and by wiring and lighting the home with
the latest high-tech wizardry,” Downes says. “As for the interior
woodwork, we caught a break. The red mahogany in the paneling,
wainscoting, moldings, frames, doors and windows remained fairly
pristine. In fact, if there was damage to the woodwork, we did it—and
had to quickly repair it.“Of the 118 windows and doors [facing the exterior], we redid them
all. We replaced what was broken and refurbished what we could to the
period.”
I would like to reach the owner of this home. This home orignally belonged to my great grandfather’s sistr Mary. Lot’s of stories about this house… Mary’s husband would have loved the SD airport runway in his front yard. He flew plans or tried to fly them along with the Wright Brothers. We have been seraching the homes of our ancestor’s for years It’s fun… Most of the home were in Los Angeles and San Gabriel. Sarah Bleeker is buried in San Gabriel cemetery. If the homeowner wuold like to know more about Mary and husband. please email us.