Streamline Modern(e) San Diego

Streamline Moderne was an evolutionary step in architecture bridging the gap between Art Deco and what has become known as mid-century modern. These wonderful, white painted stucco, simple buildings appear as descendants of Irving Gill’s later period designs, the work of Adolf Loos and the Bahaus in Europe.

Emerging in the 1930s across the U.S., Streamline Modern designs can be found in San Diego up through the 1940s. From rounded corners to walls of glass block, there are often easy signatures dictating the stylistic
reference from the street.

As designers stripped Art Deco of its ornament, a nod to scientific thought and constructivism has helped us understand ‘streamlining’ in design. Streamlining is often attributed to industrial design by Walter Dorwin Teague, Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes and Gilbert Rohde and its application to appliances, furniture, automobiles, ships and trains of the era. The reductive use of smooth interior plasters and exterior stucco often make the structures appear to be aero- and hydrodynamically efficient. Decades later, you can see how practitioners replaced the ornament and often sharp angles of Art Deco with simpler, smoother lines while the more austere era following the Great Depression saw concrete and glass replace the rare hardwoods and careful detailing found decades earlier.

Holding close to sensibilities leveraged by Bauhaus architects, the curved surfaces and absence of ornament can closely be aligned with the International Style – where architects like Richard Neutra’s 1930s homes opened up to the landscape through horizontal bands of windows and reductive purity. Often steel was utilized to broaden interior spaces and reduce structural surfaces to allow for more glass.

Partial List of Projects

Benjamin Franklin Elementary School (ca. early 1930s)
4481 Copeland Avenue, Kensington

Campbell, Samuel & Della Spec House (1938)
2354 Plum Street
Built by Samuel Campbell in 1938. Historically designated in 2021 as HRB #1443. Possibly designed by Charles H. Salyers

Clitsome Residence (1938)
2228 33rd Street, South Park
*Designed by Lloyd Ruocco

Commercial Building (1937)
301 University Avenue, Hillcrest

Commercial Building (1924)
2953 Beech Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1945)
2185-2195 Logan Avenue, San Diego

Commercial Building (1940)
1800 Logan Avenue, San Diego

Commercial Building (1933)
1857 Logan Avenue, San Diego

Commercial Building (1945)
2141 Main Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1945)
2694 Main Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1950)
3576 Main Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1950)
3600 Main Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1938)
2020 Market Street, San Diego

Commercial Building (1945)
1897 National Avenue, San Diego

Commercial Building (1945)
2632 National Avenue, San Diego

Ford Building (1934-35)
2001 Pan American Place, Balboa Park
*Designed by Walter Dorwin Teague

Founce, Hazel House (1937)
3311 Xenophon Street
Built by John Replogle

Golden Mrs. and Mrs. M.H., Residence (1937)
2925 Locust
*By Frank L. Hope & Associates. Sketch published in local paper

Golden Hill Café
2505 C Street, Golden Hill

Gustafson Furniture Building (1948)
2930 El Cajon, North Park
Designed by William B. Melhorn
*Demolished and façade reconstruction attempted

Homer McClure Building (1947)
7161 16^th Street, San Diego

S. Janet Rental House (1936)
3112 Curtis Street
Designed by Charles A. Holmstrom and built by the A.M. Southard Company. This house was built using the "Southard Electrosteel Structures" construction method which consisted of electrically welded steel rods and metal lath forming the framework (San Diego Union, July 5, 1936 and July 12, 1936). Historically designated in 2021 as the S. Janet Rental House (HRB #1421).

Kress Department Store (1941)
428 C Street, San Diego
*Designed by Edward Sibbert

Ledford, Dr. Roy & Herma Medical Building (1936)
2881 Fourth Avenue, San Diego
*Designed by Charles H. Salyers

The Loma Theatre (ca. 1944-1945)
Rosecrans
Demolished

McClure, Homer Building (1947)
716 16th Street, San Diego

Modern Spec Bungalow (ca. 1939-1942)
415 E. 3rd Street, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1942)
505 E. 3rd Street, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1939)
440 2nd Street, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1940)
441 E. 3rd Street, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1944)
703 F Avenue, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1937)
707 F Avenue, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Modern Spec Bungalow (1952)
717 F Street, National City
*Designed by E.J. Christman

Multifamily Housing (1937)
1910 Robinson Avenue, Hillcrest
*Designed by Owen King

Multifamily Housing (ca. 1950)
429, 435, 437and 445 West Elm Street, Little Italy
*Designed by Owen King

North Park Baptist Church (1935)
3810 Bancroft Street, North Park
*Designed by J.S. Groves

Multifamily Housing (ca. 1926)
1501, 1503, 1505 Grove Street and 3076 Beech Street, South Park

Private Residence (1937)
1855 Willow Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1937)
2848 Kalmia Place, North Park

Private Residence (1938)
4835 Biona Drive, Kensington

Private Residence (1938)
1925 Willow Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1938)
3529 Browning Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1938)
1925 Willow Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1938)
8949 Alpine Avenue, La Mesa

Private Residence (1938)
5877 Estelle Street, El Cerrito

Private Residence (1938)
3419 Euclid Avenue, City Heights

Private Residence (1938)
6037 Carol Street, El Cerrito

Private Residence (1939)
10755 Puebla Drive, La Mesa

Private Residence (1939)
1819 Mendota, Point Loma

Private Residence (1939)
4867 Biona Drive, Kensington

Private Residence/Duplex (1939)
3410 Herbert and 1530 Upas Street, Hillcrest

Private Residence (1939)
1116 Akron Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1939)
8276 Golden Avenue, Lemon Grove

Private Residence (ca. 1940)
3137 Nimitz, Point Loma

Private Residence (1940)
3503 Jackdaw Street, Mission Hills

Private Residence (1940)
3504 Dumas, Point Loma

Private Residence (ca. 1940)
3610 Wawona Drive, Point Loma

Private Residence (1941)
3658 Wawona Drive, Point Loma

Private Residence (1941)
8463 Golden Avenue, Lemon Grove

Private Residence (1941)
4573-77 Maryland Street, University Heights

Private Residence (1941)
4391 Middlesex Drive, Kensington

Private Residence (1941)
3204 Hill Street, Point Loma

Private Residence (1942)
4388 Middlesex Drive, Kensington

Private Residence (1944)
1977 Sunset Cliffs, Ocean Beach

Private Residence (1947)
4754 Santa Cruz Avenue, Ocean Beach
*2nd Story Addition circa 1975-1988

Private Residence (1949)
1005 Alexandria Avenue

Private Residence (ca. 1950)
1627 Duval Street

Private Residence (ca. 1950)
1611 Duval Street

Reynolds, Dr. Carl & Louise Residence (1938)
5189 Mount Helix Drive
*Designed by Louis Moisan

Schilling, George W. House (1936)
3037 28th Street
*Designed by Charles H. Salyers

Silverado Ballroom (ca. 1930s)
4746 University Avenue, City Heights

Smith, Leslie R. and Isabel M. Spec House #1 (1937)
2626 Clove Street
Designed by Charles H. Salyers
Historically designated in 2012 as HRB #1048

Stafford, Mr. & Mrs. C.J. Residence (1937)
2505 Willow Street, Point Loma
*Published in Vol. 6 No.1 1937 Southern California Pictorial Life

Til-Two Club (1941)
4746 El Cajon Boulevard
Built in 1941 by the firm of Hurlburt, Frank & Slaughter (possibly designed by Ralph L. Frank)

Woolworth Building (1949)
3067-3075 University Avenue
Constructed by Trepte Construction