Montgomery Residence - Modernism in Emerald Hills

The Montgomery Residence hosted a prominent family and their guests for decades. “Built on a three and one-half acre plot of land, and sits on a 5,6000 square-foot concrete slab… a beautiful home which is done completely in charcoal and white with accents of turquoise and gold… “ reported the San Diego Union in acknowledging how their home was published in the February 1960 issue of Ebony Magazine.

The home of Alpha LeVon (1919-2004) and Catherine Lewis Montgomery (1923-2018) has quietly stood atop its Emerald Hills knoll as a beacon of modernity. Catherine and Alpha married in 1947 and had one son together - Alpha LeVon Montgomery Jr. They later divorced in 1964. The home is still held by the family.

The Montgomery home was designed by Richard Mabie, and built by the firm Mabie & Mintz. In February of 1958, Mabie & Mintz and Mr. & Mrs. Alpha L. Montgomery secured the building permit for house signed Richard Mabie. Through August of that year, the construction process continued with additional permitted work. In April 1959, a swimming pool permit was issued to engineer Paul Iacono. This pool was altered after the Ebony story.

Alpha was “one of the city's first black trial lawyers, he navigated his clients around social obstacles and into neighborhoods where property ownership had been denied to nonwhites…One of his first successes, in the early 1950s, was in Valencia Park. Later, he provided the legal impetus that forced the San Diego, U.S. Grant and El Cortez hotels to rent public rooms to blacks for meetings and social functions,” according to his obituary.

Montgomery, a native of Lenapah, Oklahoma aspired to be a trial lawyer in his youth. "It was his passion in life," his wife said. "Whenever we traveled to another city or country, including Hong Kong and Singapore, he wanted to see the courtroom. The law was in his blood." After earning a bachelor's degree at Fisk University in Nashville, Montgomery earned his Master's and law degrees at Howard University. He was an economist with the Office of Price Administration in Washington before being admitted in 1948 to the California bar. He joined a San Francisco firm, then left to explore opportunities in Southern California. After a short stay in Los Angeles, he joined Smith, one of his colleagues in San Francisco, in opening a firm in San Diego. Smith occupied the firm's office on Pacific Highway, and Judge Montgomery, specializing in probate and civil matters, was based in southeastern San Diego. In 1964, Judge Montgomery took on Bert Ritchey, a former police officer and San Diego High School sports legend, as a partner specializing in criminal cases. During his 16 years on the bench, Judge Montgomery specialized in probate matters. "When you walked in the courtroom door, you knew the playing field was absolutely level," Turrentine said. "Al ran a tight ship but everybody got a fair shake.

"Prior to our getting here, this town was segregated in terms of housing," Judge Montgomery told The San Diego Union in 1987. When restrictive covenants in deeds were outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1948, minorities had looked forward to a new era of equality. Montgomery joined with Sherman Smith in opening their San Diego law partnership in 1949 with offices on Pacific Highway and Imperial Avenue, Judge Montgomery became a legal ally of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in championing civil rights. Judge Montgomery became a co-founder in 1951 of the Urban League in San Diego and served as its general counsel during an era convulsed by social turmoil. By the time he was appointed to the Superior Court bench in 1979, Judge Montgomery had three decades of legal experience in San Diego, primarily in civil and probate cases. Judge Montgomery served on the state advisory committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 1962 until 1970 and contributed to the "Report on Racial Isolation in Public Schools in the United States." In 1979, Judge Montgomery became the second black appointed to the San Diego Superior Court, following Earl B. Gilliam by four years. Judge Montgomery, a Republican, was appointed by Democratic Gov. Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. In one of his last high-profile cases on the bench before retiring in 1995, Judge Montgomery ruled that a crisis pregnancy center in the College Area performed pregnancy tests illegally and misled women about its mission -- which was to discourage abortions.

Catherine Montgomery was born in Washington, D.C. and attended public schools in New York City. Afterwards, she attended Howard University (1944 to 1946) followed by studies in Commercial Law at the University of California Extension in San Francisco (1948-1949). Catherine worked for OPA (Office of Public Affairs) in Washington, D. C. from 1941 to 1947. After moving to San Francisco, she began her employment with the Naval Radio Defense Lab from 1947 to 1949. In 1950, Catherine moved to San Diego where she worked as an Administrative Assistant at the Naval Electronics Lab from 1950 to 1962. Sometime afterward, she began working as an Equal Employment Specialist Examiner Investigator for Discrimination Complaints at the Naval Command Center S / W Region, San Diego District and ultimately retired in 1989. Catherine’s extensive career also includes serving as Fair Employment and Housing Commissioner for the State of California, Personnel / Admin. Services Director of Economic Opportunity Commission of San Diego County and City of San Diego Planning Commissioner.

“Cay” as she was known by her friends and co-workers while working as a consultant in Urban Affairs, performed consultative services for a variety of public and private entities and individuals in career development for women and minorities; discrimination in housing and employment; affirmative actions; community planning and development; and leadership training. Cay had life membership in NAACP; National Council of Negro Women, Inc.; Soroptimist International, San Diego; the Links, Inc. and Friends of the Library. She initiated and coordinated Drive for a new Valencia Park Library Facility opened in 1996 and administered the Tech Fund to provide technical equipment and technology for Malcolm X Library.