Baker, Pearl, Row House ~ Rancho Santa Fe, California
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 33° 01.256 W 117° 12.138
11S E 481106 N 3653625
The Pearl Baker Row House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 30, 1993.
Waymark Code: WMAH0K
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/15/2011
Views: 2
Little or no information exists for most of the individual houses or estates in the very exclusive area of Rancho Santa Fe, so this is a story of this historic planned community and the amazing young woman who designed it.
92067 (Rancho Santa Fe) is the third most expensive ZIP Code in the nation and the most expensive in the state of California. It got its start when the Santa Fe Railroad purchased most of the old San Dieguito Rancho in order to plant eucalyptus trees to be harvested for use as railroad ties. When it was discovered that eucalyptus would not securely hold the spikes that secured the rails, the land was turned over to the Santa Fe Land Inprovement Company, a division of the railroad, with a view toward establishing small ranchos or estates that would produce avocados or citrus fruits which the railroad could ship to other destinations. They also wanted a cohesive community with common design elements that would attract high-end buyers.
The layout of the town that was to be the central focus of the community and all surrounding roads was designed in 1922 by L. G. Sinnard, an agricultural community development specialist. The town was designed with a broad central boulevard but the roads outside of town were designed as narrow winding roads that followed the natural contours of the land, keeping speed to a minimum so those trevelling the roads could enjoy the scenic values of the community and not imperil its inhabitants.
The Santa Fe Land Improvement did not offer a large compensation for the community design and Rancho Santa Fe was located thirty-three miles from San Diego proper. The frequent trips to the site would take time that the partners in the prestigious architectural firm commissioned to do the design did not want to devote to the project. So, instead, they decided to turn the whole project over to a young associate in the firm. This lucky associate was Lilian Jenette Rice who was in her early thirties.
Lilian was the daughter of parents who encouraged her to pursue a college education and not necessarily in fields traditionally pursued by women. Consequently, she was one of the first females to graduate from the School of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. For ten years after graduating, Lilian cared for her invalid mother and worked in more mundane roles, such as drafting and teaching, before joining the architectural design firm of Requa and Jackson. Having been given full responsibility for the design of this planned community, Lilian set out to prove that she truly merited this commission. She designed most of the buildings in town and many of the large homes commissioned by the wealthy landowners or gentleman ranchers that purchased property in the enclave. Her designs all reflected the Spanish heritage of the area and natural semi-desert atmosphere of the region.