HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3b. 570 Pacific St. (ARCH-0467-2021)
ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMISSION AGENDA REPORT
SUBJECT: REVIEW OF A NEW 11,369 SF THREE STORY RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT, CONSISTING OF FOUR RESIDENTIAL UNITS WITH PRIVATE
ROOF DECKS AND AN ACCESSORY DWELLING UNIT.
PROJECT ADDRESS: 570 Pacific Street BY: Kyle Bell, Associate Planner
Phone Number: (805) 781-7524
Email: kbell@slocity.org
FILE NUMBER: ARCH-0467-2021 FROM: Shawna Scott, Senior Planner
APPLICANT: Chris Knauer REPRESENTATIVE: Norberto Larios
RECOMMENDATION
Review the proposed project in terms of its consistency with the Community Design
Guidelines and provide comments and recommendations to the Community Development
Director.
1.0 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND SETTING
The proposed project consists of a new three-story residential development consisting of
four residential units each with a private roof deck, and an Accessory Dwelling Unit that
will be reviewed separately. The proposed project includes the demolition of existing
structures to provide for the new project and includes site improvements such as site
access upgrades, and associated landscaping (Attachment A, Project Plans).
An Architectural Evaluation Report has been prepared by SWCA (March 2021), to
evaluate the demolition of the existing residence in consideration of historic value . The
report concluded that the residence does not meet the criteria for listing under California
Register of Historic Resources or the City’s Historic Preservation Ordinance and does not
otherwise constitute a historic resource
(Attachment B, Architectural Evaluation).
General Location: The 0.22-acre project
site is located mid-block along Pacific
Street between Nipomo Street and Beach
Street intersections. The project is directly
across the street from Emerson Park.
Zoning and General Plan: High Density
Residential (R-4)
Surrounding Uses:
East: (R-4) Multi-family Residences
West: (R-4) Multi-family Residences
North: (C-D-MU) Mixed-Use
South: (PF-H) Emerson Park
Meeting Date: 11/1/2021
Item Number: 3b
Time Estimate: 30 Minutes
Figure 1: 570 Pacific Street Project Site
Page 67 of 150
Item 3b
570 Pacific Street – ARCH-0467-2021
Architectural Review Commission Report – November 1, 2021
2.0 PROPOSED DESIGN
Architecture: Contemporary
Design details: Hip-style metal roofs, window shutters, covered awnings, small private
roof deck, balconies, first and second floor molding, and individual garages.
Materials: Metal roof, shingle siding, vertical board and batten siding, brick veneer.
Color: Each residence provides a separate color scheme, primary colors include white,
light beige, beige, and dark beige.
3.0 FOCUS OF REVIEW
The Architectural Review Commission’s (ARC’s) role is to review the proposed project in
terms of consistency with the Community Design Guidelines and applicable City
Standards and 2) provide comments and recommendations to the Community
Development Director concerning the proposed project design, focusing on building
architecture and layout.
Community Design Guidelines: https://www.slocity.org/home/showdocument?id=2104
4.0 DESIGN GUIDELINES/DISCUSSION ITEMS
The proposed development must be consistent with the requirements of the General Plan,
Zoning Regulations, and Community Design Guidelines (CDG). Staff has identified the
discussion items below related to consistency with CDG Chapter 2 (General Design
Principles), Chapter 5.3 (Infill Development), Chapter 5.4 (Multi-family and Cluster
Housing Design), and Chapter 6 (Site Planning and Other Design Details).
Figure 2: Rendering from Pacific Street
Page 68 of 150
Item 3b
570 Pacific Street – ARCH-0467-2021
Architectural Review Commission Report – November 1, 2021
5.0 PROJECT STATISTICS
Site Details Proposed Allowed/Required*
Highlighted Sections Discussion Items
Chapter 2 – General Design Principles
§2.1 – Site Design
The project site is located on a parcel zoned R-4, with
single story residential uses to the east and west. The
CDG states that each project should be designed with
careful consideration of site character and constraints
and minimize changes to natural features. The ARC
should discuss how the project fits in with the best
examples of appropriate site design and architecture in
the vicinity of the site.
Chapter 5 – Section 5.3 (Infill Development)
§ 5.3.A General Principles
The CDG notes that infill development guidelines are
intended to provide for infill projects of high architectural
quality that are compatible with existing development and
should be compatible in scale, siting, detailing and overall
character with adjacent buildings, and where infill
development occurs adjacent to older homes, the height
and bulk of the new construction can have a negative
impact on adjacent small-scale buildings. The ARC
should discuss whether the development provides
sufficient design factors to contribute to neighborhood
compatibility; design theme, building scale/size, setbacks
and massing, colors, textures, and building materials.
Chapter 5 – Section 5.4 (Multi-Family and Clustered Housing Design)
§ 5.4.A Site Planning
The CDG states that placement of new units should
consider the existing character of the surrounding
residential area. New development should respect the
privacy of adjacent residential uses through appropriate
building orientation and structure height, so that windows
do not overlook and impair the privacy of the indoor or
outdoor living space of adjacent units. The ARC should
discuss whether design changes are necessary to
improve considerations of preserving privacy of the
adjacent existing residential developments.
§ 5.4.C.2 Scale
The CDG states that structures with greater height may
require additional setbacks at the ground floor level
and/or upper levels along the street frontage so that they
do not visually dominate the neighborhood. The ARC
should discuss the project’s scale and mass and discuss
whether design changes are necessary to reduce the
perceived scale of the project within the neighborhood.
Page 69 of 150
Item 3b
570 Pacific Street – ARCH-0467-2021
Architectural Review Commission Report – November 1, 2021
Density Units (DU) 5 DU/acre 5.28 DU/acre
Setbacks
Street Yard
Side Yard
10 feet
10 feet
10 feet
10 feet
Maximum Height of Structures 35 feet 35 feet
Max Lot Coverage 53% 60%
Affordable Housing Not Required Not Required
Vehicle and Bicycle Parking
Number of Vehicle Spaces
EV Spaces
8
4 (EV ready)
4 (EV capable)
8
1 (EV ready)
2 (EV capable)
Bicycle Spaces
Short-term
Long-term
2
8
1
8
Motorcycle Parking 3 1
Environmental Status Categorically exempt from environmental review under CEQA
Guidelines section 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects)
*2019 Zoning Regulations
6.0 ACTION ALTERNATIVES
6.1 Recommend findings of consistency with the Community Design Guidelines.
An action recommending approval of the application based on consistency with
Community Design Guidelines will be forwarded to the Planning Commission
for final action. This action may include recommendations for conditions to
address consistency with the Community Design Guidelines.
6.2 Continue the project to a hearing date certain, or uncertain. An action
continuing the application should include direction to the applicant and staff on
pertinent issues.
6.3 Recommend findings of inconsistency with the Community Design Guidelines.
An action recommending denial of the application should include findings that
cite the basis for denial and should reference inconsistency with the General
Plan, Community Design Guidelines, Zoning Regulations or other policy
documents.
7.0 ATTACHMENTS
A – Project Plans
B – Architectural Evaluation Report
Page 70 of 150
DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A0.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CANTSNTSA21070COVER SHEET570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIAPage 71 of 150
PROJECT SITEN IPO M O STEMERSON PARKBRO A D STBEAC H STC A RM EL STMARSH STHIGUERA STDANA STPACIFIC STPISMO STBUCHON STDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A1.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CANTSNTSA21070PROJECT DATAPROJECT DESCRIPTIONSHEET INDEXPROJECT DATAPROJECT DIRECTORYVICINITY MAPARCHITECTURALA0.0 COVER SHEETA1.0 PROJECT DATAA2.0 EXISTING SITE PLANA2.1 CONCEPTUAL SITE PLANA3.1 FIRST FLOOR PLANA3.2 SECOND FLOOR PLANA3.3 THIRD FLOOR PLANA3.4 ROOF PLANA3.5 ROOF DRAINAGE PLANA4.0 PERSPECTIVESA4.1 PERSPECTIVESA4.2 PERSPECTIVESA4.3 PERSPECTIVESA5.0 BUILDING ELEVATIONSA5.1 BUILDING ELEVATIONSA5.2 BUILDING ELEVATIONSA5.3 BUILDING ELEVATIONSA5.4 BUILDING ELEVATIONSA6.0 BUILDING SECTIONSA7.0 COLORS & MATERIALSCIVILC1.0 GRADING AND DRAINAGE PLANC2.0 UTILITY PLANELECTRICALE1.0 SCHEMATIC SITE LIGHTING PLANLANDSCAPEL1.0 LANDSCAPE PLANSURVEYS1 TOPOGRAPHIC MAPADDRESS:570 PACIFIC STREET,SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401APN:003-514-023SITE AREA:9,534 SF (0.22 ACRES)ZONING:R-4 (HIGH-DENSITY RESIDENTIAL) ADJACENT ZONING:R-4 & C-DUSE:EXISTING USE:RESIDENTIALPROPOSED USE:RESIDENTIALLOT COVERAGE:ALLOWED:60%PROPOSED:53% (5,053 S.F.)DENSITY ALLOWED:ALLOWED:24 D.U./ACRE (5.28 D.U.)PROPOSED:5 D.U. + ADUWASTEWATER FLOW OFFSET645 gpd (4.3X150)TYPE OF CONSTRUCTION:VBOCCUPANCIES:R-3/USPRINKLERS:YES (NFPA-13D)BUILDING HEIGHT ALLOWED:35'-0"BUILDING HEIGHT PROPOSED:UNIT 1: 34'-6" T.O. PARAPET(FROM EXISTING AVERAGE 39'-0" T.O. ELV./STAIRGRADE AT EACH UNIT)UNIT 2: 34'-3" T.O. PARAPET 38'-9" T.O. ELV./STAIRUNIT 3: 35'-3" T.O. PARAPET 39'-9" T.O. ELV./STAIRUNIT 4: 35'-1" T.O. PARAPET 39'-7" T.O. ELV./STAIRFRONT SETBACK REQUIRED:10'-0"FRONT SETBACK PROPOSED:10'-0" (7'-0" BALCONY)SIDE/REAR SETBACK REQUIRED:5'-0" (0'-13' HEIGHT)6'-0" (14'-17' HEIGHT)7'-0" (18'-22' HEIGHT)8'-0" (23'-26' HEIGHT)9'-0" (27'-31' HEIGHT) 10'-0" (32'-35' HEIGHT)SIDE/REAR SETBACK PROPOSED:5'-0" (0'-13' HEIGHT)6'-0" (14'-17' HEIGHT)7'-0" (18'-22' HEIGHT)8'-0" (23'-26' HEIGHT)9'-0" (27'-31' HEIGHT) 10'-0" (32'-35' HEIGHT)PARKING REQUIRED:MULTI-UNIT RESIDENTIAL:7.5SPACES(0.75 SPACE PER BEDROOM(NO LESS THAN 1 SPACE PER UNIT)ADU:NONE REQUIREDGUEST (1 PER 5 UNITS IN TRACT):0 SPACE TOTAL REQUIRED: 7.5 SPACESPARKING PROVIDED:8 SPACES (2 PER UNIT GARAGE)PROJECT APPLICANT ATTN:CHRIS KNAUER PHONE: EMAIL:CKNAUER@243@AOL.COMARCHITECT ARRIS STUDIO ARCHITECTS 1327 ARCHER ST, SUITE 220 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401 ATTN:THOM JESS PHONE:(805) 547-2240 EMAIL:TJESS@ARRIS-STUDIO.COMCIVIL ENGINEER WALSH ENGINEERING 1108 GARDEN ST. SUITE 202-204 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 93401 ATTN: MATT WALSH PHONE:(805) 319-4648 EMAIL:MATT@WALSHENGINEERING.NETTHIS PROJECT PROPOSES THE DEMOLITION OF EXISTING BUILDINGS AND CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR RESIDENTIAL INDIVIDUAL DWELLINGS AND AN ADU ON A LOT LOCATED AT 570 PACIFIC STREET. THE TOTAL PROPOSED AREA IS 11,401 S.F. THIS INCLUDES FOUR THREE-STORY DWELLINGS AND A SINGLE STORY ADU. TWO RESIDENCES ARE TWO-BEDROOM, TWO RESIDENCES ARE THREE-BEDROOM AND THE ADU IS A TWO-BEDROOM UNIT.THE PROJECT CONSIST OF FOUR THREE-STORY DWELLINGS AND AN ADU, THE THREE-STORY DWELLINGS WILL BE SINGLE FAMILY HOMES PHYSICALLY SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER. THE PROJECT IS PRIVATELY FUNDED.THE PROJECT IS DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE CALIFORNIA GREEN BUILDING CODE AND WILL INCORPORATE SEVERAL GREEN BUILDING MEASURES. THESE MEASURES INCLUDE LOW FLOW PLUMBING FIXTURES, LED LIGHT FIXTURES, AMPLE INSULATION, ENERGY EFFICIENT WINDOWS AND DOORS, PROVISION FOR FUTURE SOLAR PANELS AND DROUGHT TOLERANT LANDSCAPING.A FOUR LOT PARCEL MAP WILL BE RECORDED AS PART OF THIS PROJECT.DWELLING DATARESIDENCE 1FIRST FLOOR 1038 SFSECOND FLOOR 819 SFTHIRD FLOOR 904 SF2761 SFRESIDENCE 2FIRST FLOOR 990 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2756 SFRESIDENCE 3FIRST FLOOR 989 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2755 SFRESIDENCE 4FIRST FLOOR 1031 SFFIRST FLOOR 513 SFSECOND FLOOR 739 SFTHIRD FLOOR 813 SF3096 SFNUMBER OF DWELLINGS:4 DWELLINGS + ADUTOTALDWELLING AREA:RESIDENCE 1 (2 BEDROOM) 2761 SFRESIDENCE 2 (3 BEDROOM) 2756 SFRESIDENCE 3 (3 BEDROOM) 2755 SFRESIDENCE 4 (2 BEDROOM) 2583 SFADU (2 BEDROOM) 513 SF11369 SFBICYCLE PARKING DATABICYCLE PARKING REQUIRED:8 SPACES BICYCLE PARKING PROVIDED:8 SPACES CLEAN ENERGY CHOICEADUPage 72 of 150
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6:0'10'20'5'TREE TO BE REMOVEDBUILDING TO BE DEMOTREE TO BE SAVED IF POSSIBLETREE CANOPY TO BE TRIMED OVER PROPOSED STRUCTURE. TREE TO REMAINHORSE HITCHING RING REMAINDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A2.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070EXISTING SITE PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHDEMOLITION SITE PLANPage 73 of 150
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX1A5.01A5.31A5.11A5.2DRIVING AISLEPACIFIC STREET10'-0"5'-0"5'-0"5'-0"20'-0"SETBACK5'-0"0'10'20'5'3A5.4LANDSCAPE174'-3 165/256"60'-0"TRASH LOCATIONRESIDENCE 1ADU2-STORYBUILDING1-STORYBUILDING1-STORYBUILDING2-STORYBUILDING2-STORYBUILDINGFIRE HYDRANT61'-0"5'-0"5'-0"2 BICYCLE PARKING GUESTRESIDENCE 2RESIDENCE 3RESIDENCE 4LOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 1PROPOSED LOT LINE TO BE PRECESSED AS A PARCEL MAP UNDER SEPARATE COVER2 WALL MOUNTED BICYCLE PARKING, TYP.DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A2.109/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070CONCEPTUAL SITE PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED ARCHITECTURAL SITE PLANUNIT DATANUMBER OF UNITS:4 UNITS + ADURESIDENCE 1 (2 BEDROOM) 2761 SFRESIDENCE 2 (3 BEDROOM) 2756 SFRESIDENCE 3 (3 BEDROOM) 2755 SFRESIDENCE 4 (2 BEDROOM) 2583 SFADU (2 BEDROOM) 513 SF11369 SFTOTAL:Page 74 of 150
1A5.01A5.31A5.11A5.26)5(6,'(1&(AA6.0BA6.0GARAGEDENBATH 1ENTRYGARAGEBED 1BATH 1ENTRYENTRYGARAGEGARAGEDEN BED 1BATH 1 6)5(6,'(1&( 6)5(6,'(1&(6)5(6,'(1&(6)$'81A5.44A5.43A5.42A5.431'-7"6"30'-4"6"30'-4"6"31'-7"30'-10"4'-2"20'-0"35'-0"5'-0"10'-0"LIVINGKITCHENBED 2 BED 1BATHBATH 120'-4"9'-7"4'-3"PATIOPATIO PATIO PATIO PATIOLOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 127'-5"8'-0"18'-2"DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A3.109/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CA1/8" = 1'-0"1/16" = 1'-0"A21070FIRST FLOOR PLANDWELING DATAACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED FIRST FLOOR PLANRESIDENCE 1FIRST FLOOR 1038 SFSECOND FLOOR 819 SFTHIRD FLOOR 904 SF2761 SFRESIDENCE 2FIRST FLOOR 990 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2756 SFRESIDENCE 3FIRST FLOOR 989 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2755 SFRESIDENCE 4FIRST FLOOR 1031 SFFIRST FLOOR 513 SFSECOND FLOOR 739 SFTHIRD FLOOR 813 SF3096 SFDWELING AREA:ADURESIDENCE 1DECK 93 SFPATIO 151 SFDECK 293 SFROOF DECK 354 SFRESIDENCE 2DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 3DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 4DECK 369 SFPATIO 377 SFPATIO 252 SFROOF DECK 419 SF3980 SFOPEN SPACEPage 75 of 150
1A5.01A5.31A5.11A5.2AA6.0BA6.0 6)5(6,'(1&( 6)5(6,'(1&( 6)5(6,'(1&(PDRDECKDECKDECKPDR29'-7"5'-0"7'-0"35'-0"5'-0"25'-10"20'-0"4'-2"DECKKITCHENDININGLIVING 6)5(6,'(1&(DININGLIVINGKITCHENKITCHENKITCHENLIVINGDININGDININGLIVINGELEVATOR SHAFTELEVATOR SHAFT30'-4"30'-4"5'-0"26'-7"PDR PDRDECK DECK DECKLOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 1DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A3.209/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070SECOND FLOOR PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED SECOND FLOORDWELING DATARESIDENCE 1FIRST FLOOR 1038 SFSECOND FLOOR 819 SFTHIRD FLOOR 904 SF2761 SFRESIDENCE 2FIRST FLOOR 990 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2756 SFRESIDENCE 3FIRST FLOOR 989 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2755 SFRESIDENCE 4FIRST FLOOR 1031 SFFIRST FLOOR 513 SFSECOND FLOOR 739 SFTHIRD FLOOR 813 SF3096 SFDWELING AREA:ADURESIDENCE 1DECK 93 SFPATIO 151 SFDECK 293 SFROOF DECK 354 SFRESIDENCE 2DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 3DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 4DECK 369 SFPATIO 377 SFPATIO 252 SFROOF DECK 419 SF3980 SFOPEN SPACEPage 76 of 150
1A5.01A5.31A5.11A5.2AA6.0BA6.0 6)5(6,'(1&( 6)5(6,'(1&(6)5(6,'(1&( 6)5(6,'(1&(29'-7"30'-0"BED 1W.I.C.BATH 3BED 2BATH 2BED 2BATH 2BED 3W.I.C.BATH 3BED 2BATH 2BATH 3W.I.C.BED 3BATH 3 W.I.C.BED 1BED 2BATH 2DOWNSPOUTELEVATOR SHAFTELEVATOR SHAFTLOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 1DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A3.309/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070THIRD FLOOR PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED THIRD FLOORDWELING DATARESIDENCE 1FIRST FLOOR 1038 SFSECOND FLOOR 819 SFTHIRD FLOOR 904 SF2761 SFRESIDENCE 2FIRST FLOOR 990 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2756 SFRESIDENCE 3FIRST FLOOR 989 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2755 SFRESIDENCE 4FIRST FLOOR 1031 SFFIRST FLOOR 513 SFSECOND FLOOR 739 SFTHIRD FLOOR 813 SF3096 SFDWELING AREA:ADURESIDENCE 1DECK 93 SFPATIO 151 SFDECK 293 SFROOF DECK 354 SFRESIDENCE 2DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 3DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 4DECK 369 SFPATIO 377 SFPATIO 252 SFROOF DECK 419 SF3980 SFOPEN SPACEPage 77 of 150
1A5.01A5.31A5.11A5.2AA6.0BA6.0 6)5(6,'(1&(6)5(6,'(1&(6)5(6,'(1&(6)5(6,'(1&(WATER HEATERELEVATOR SHAFTWATER HEATERELEVATOR SHAFTROOF DECK ROOF DECK ROOF DECK ROOF DECKLOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 1DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A3.409/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070ROOF PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED ROOF PLANDWELING DATARESIDENCE 1FIRST FLOOR 1038 SFSECOND FLOOR 819 SFTHIRD FLOOR 904 SF2761 SFRESIDENCE 2FIRST FLOOR 990 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2756 SFRESIDENCE 3FIRST FLOOR 989 SFSECOND FLOOR 839 SFTHIRD FLOOR 927 SF2755 SFRESIDENCE 4FIRST FLOOR 1031 SFFIRST FLOOR 513 SFSECOND FLOOR 739 SFTHIRD FLOOR 813 SF3096 SFDWELING AREA:ADURESIDENCE 1DECK 93 SFPATIO 151 SFDECK 293 SFROOF DECK 354 SFRESIDENCE 2DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 3DECK 83 SFPATIO 147 SFDECK 148 SFROOF DECK 458 SFRESIDENCE 4DECK 369 SFPATIO 377 SFPATIO 252 SFROOF DECK 419 SF3980 SFOPEN SPACEPage 78 of 150
AA6.01/2" / 12"6" / 12"6" / 12"6" / 12"RIDGERIDGERIDGERIDGEDOWNSPOUTDOWNSPOUTDOWNSPOUTDOWNSPOUTDOWNSPOUTLOT 4LOT 3LOT 2LOT 1DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A3.509/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070ROOF DRAINAGE PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHROOF DRAINAGE PLANPage 79 of 150
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DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A4.109/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070PERSPECTIVESBUILDING PERSPECTIVE (INTERIOR DRIVING AISLE)Page 81 of 150
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FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"38'-9"SETBACKMOULDINGBRICK VENEERBOARD AND BATTENSHINGLE SIDINGMETAL ROOFINGDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A5.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070BUILDING ELEVATIONSFRONT (EAST) ELEVATION ON PACIFIC STREETPage 84 of 150
FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"BRICK VENEERMETAL ROOFINGSHINGLE SIDINGBOARD AND BATTENBRICK VENEERMETAL ROOFINGSHINGLE SIDINGBOARD AND BATTENDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A5.109/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070BUILDING ELEVATIONS0'10'20'5'LEFT (SOUTH) ELEVATIONPage 85 of 150
FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"MOULDINGBRICK VENEERBOARD AND BATTENSHINGLE SIDINGMETAL ROOFINGDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A5.209/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070BUILDING ELEVATIONSREAR (WEST) ELEVATIONPage 86 of 150
FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"BRICK VENEERMETAL ROOFINGSHINGLE SIDINGBOARD AND BATTENBRICK VENEERMETAL ROOFINGSHINGLE SIDINGBOARD AND BATTENDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A5.309/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070BUILDING ELEVATIONSRIGHT (NORTH) ELEVATIONREFERENCE NOTESPage 87 of 150
FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"BRICK VENEERBOARD ANDBATTENMETALROOFINGFIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"BOARD ANDBATTENMETALROOFINGBRICK VENEERFIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"METALROOFINGFIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"METALROOFINGBOARD ANDBATTENCMUWALL13'-5"DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A5.409/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070BUILDING ELEVATIONSLEFT (SOUTH) ELEVATION - ADUFRONT (EAST) ELEVATION - ADUREAR (WEST) ELEVATION - ADURIGHT (NORTH) ELEVATION - ADUPage 88 of 150
FIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"AA6.0SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"T.O. PARAPET34' -6"AVERAGE EXISTING SITE GRADE 197.00 239.5237.3238.5 FROM AVG. GRADE39'-0" BUILDING HEIGHTFROM AVG. GRADE38'-9" T.O. PLATEFROM AVG. GRADE39'-9" BUILDING HEIGHTFROM AVG. GRADE39'-7" BUILDING HEIGHTFROM AVG. GRADE35'-1" T.O. PLATEPACIFIC STREETGARAGEGARAGEGARAGEGARAGELIVINGBED 2BED 2BED 2BED 2ENTRYENTRYENTRYROOF DECKFROM AVG. GRADE35'-3" T.O. PLATEFROM AVG. GRADE34'-3" T.O. PARAPETLIVINGLIVINGLIVINGROOF DECKROOF DECKROOF DECKLIVING KITCHENFROM AVG. GRADE34'-6" T.O. PARAPETRESIDENCE 4RESIDENCE 3RESIDENCE 2RESIDENCE 1EXISTING GRADEENTRY3"9"7"2'-3"FROM AVG. GRADE15'-5" T.O. ROOF*AVERAGE GRADE MEASURED AT EACH BUILDINGFIRST FLOOR0' -0"T.O. PLATE29' -5"SECOND FLOOR10' -2"THIRD FLOOR20' -4"T.O. ROOF30' -5"PLATE9'-1"PLATE9'-1"PLATE9'-1"BA6.0FROM AVG. GRADE39'-7" T.O. BUILDINGENTRYBATH 1DECKPDRLIVINGBATH 3RESIDENCE 4DRIVING AISLEEXISTING GRADEFROM AVG. GRADE36'-1" T.O. PLATEDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A6.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CA1/32" : 1'-0"1/16" : 1'-0"A21070BUILDING SECTIONSBUILDING SECTION BBUILDING SECTION APage 89 of 150
DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #A7.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070COLORS & MATERIALSP12ND FLOOR: BOARD AND BATTEN 3RD FLOOR: SHINGLES SIDINGBENJAMIN MOORESW 7006 "EXTRA WHITE"B1BRICK VENNERCULTURED STONECULTURED BRICK"TITANIUM"M1METAL ROOFINGAEP SPANHR-36"MATE BLACK"COLORS AND MATERIALSLEGENDP2PAINTSMOOTH FINISHBENJAMIN MOORESW 7657 "TINSMITH"P32ND FLOOR: BOARD AND BATTEN 3RD FLOOR: SHINGLES SIDINGBENJAMIN MOORESW 7563 "RESTFUL WHITE"P4PAINTSMOOTH FINISHBENJAMIN MOORESW 6120 "BELIEVABLE BUFF"P52ND FLOOR: BOARD AND BATTEN 3RD FLOOR: SHINGLES SIDINGBENJAMIN MOORESW 6169 "SEDATE GRAY"P6PAINTSMOOTH FINISHBENJAMIN MOORESW 9131 "CORNWALL SLATE"P72ND FLOOR: BOARD AND BATTEN 3RD FLOOR: SHINGLES SIDINGBENJAMIN MOORESW 6163 "GRASSLAND"P8PAINTSMOOTH FINISHBENJAMIN MOORESW 6172 "HARDWARE"P9PAINTSHERWIN-WILLIAMSSW 6994"GREEN BLACK"P1P3P5P7P2P4P6P8B1B1M1P9M1P9SHINGLESIDINGBOARDAND BATTENPage 90 of 150
DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #E1.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070SCHEMATIC SITE LIGHTING PLANACTUAL NORTHPROJECT NORTHPROPOSED SITE LIGHTING PLANFIXTURE TYPESNOTE: ALL EXTERIOR LIGHT FIXTURES TO BE NIGHT SKY COMPLIANT PER CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO STANDARDSDOWN MOUNTED LIGHTFX LUMINAIREDOWN LIGHTMODEL: RC-ZD-6LED-FBFINISH: BLACKWATTS: 10W/9.7 VA LEDPage 91 of 150
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXPACIFIC STREETLOW FOREGROUND SHRUBSEXISTING ADJACENT CANOPYEXISTING ADJACENT CANOPYDECIDUOUS ACCENT TRESSPATIO PATIO PATIO PATIOPATIO0'10'20'5'PERMEABLE PAVING5FT FENCING24'-6"VISION CLERANCEJAPANESSE MAPLES TO REMAIN IF POSSIBLESTREET TREECATALINA IRONWOODSTREET TREECATALINA IRONWOOD3'-0"MAX.6'-0"5'-3"PROPERTY LINEDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #L1.009/30/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070LANDSCAPE PLANCONCEPTUAL LANDSCAPE PLANDECIDUOUS ACCENT TREESCASSIA LEPTOPHYLLA (L)BERBERIS THUNBERGII (M)LOW FOREGROUND SHRUBSWUCOLS RATING(L) LOW, (M) MEDIUMMULCHALL PLANTING BEDS TO RECEIVE A 3" THICK TOP DRESSING OF "FOREST FLOOR" ORGANIC BARK MULCHEVER GREEN STREET TREESCATALINA IRONWOOD (L)LANDSCAPE WATER CALCULATIONFENCING HEIGHTPage 92 of 150
GRADING LEGENDGENERAL LEGENDSTORM DRAIN LEGEND:99100GRADING KEY NOTES:GRADING GENERAL NOTES:FF 198.34FF 200.34FF 200.84FF 198.20UNIT 4UNIT 2UNIT 1ADUPACIFIC STREETFF 199.34UNIT 3PACIFICSTREETDateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #06/15/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070NOT FORCONSTRUCTION00 10' 20'10'SCALE: 1" = C1.0GRADING AND DRAINAGE PLANPage 93 of 150
GENERAL LEGENDGENERAL LEGENDSANITARY SEWER KEY NOTESSTORM DRAIN KEY NOTESWATER KEY NOTESCAUTIONARY KEY NOTESUTILITY GENERAL NOTESSTORM DRAIN LEGEND:WATER LEGEND:SANITARY SEWER LEGEND:STORM DRAIN LEGEND:WATER LEGEND:SANITARY SEWER LEGEND:FF 198.34FF 200.34FF 200.84FF 198.20UNIT 4UNIT 2UNIT 1ADUPACIFIC STREETFF 199.34UNIT 3DateScaleSheet24x36:11x17:Project #06/15/2021570 PACIFIC STREETSAN LUIS OBISPO, CAA21070NOT FORCONSTRUCTION00 10' 20'10'SCALE: 1" = C2.0UTILITY PLANPage 94 of 150
Page 95 of 150
EXHIBITSPage 96 of 150
SITE IMPERVIOUS AREASGENERAL LEGENDFF 198.34FF 200.34FF 200.84FF 198.20UNIT 4UNIT 2UNIT 1ADUPACIFIC STREETFF 199.34UNIT 3FF 198.20FF 198.20ADUADU34.34198.34F 198.34FF 198.34FF 198.34FF 198.34FF 19834FF 198 34FF 198 34FF 198 34FF 198 34FF 19834FF 19834FF 1983FF 19FF 19FFF 198.34FF 200.34FF 200.34FF 200.84FF 200.84UNIT 4UNIT 4UNIT 2UNIT 2UNIT 1UNIT 134.34199.34F 199.34FF 199.34FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 19934FFF 1993FFF 19FFF 19FFF 199.34UNIT 3UNIT 31OF1HYDROLOGYEXHIBITCHRIS KNAUERWEST PARK570 PACIFIC STREET, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA93401WEST PARKNOT FORCONSTRUCTION00 10' 20'10'SCALE: 1" = PACIFIC STREETEXISTING PROJECT SITEPROPOSED PROJECT SITEPage 97 of 150
UNIT 2PACIFIC STREETUNIT 1CHRIS KNAUERWEST PARKSAN LUIS OBISPONOT FORCONSTRUCTION1 OF 3Page 98 of 150
UNIT 2PACIFIC STREETUNIT 1CHRIS KNAUERWEST PARKSAN LUIS OBISPONOT FORCONSTRUCTION2 OF 3Page 99 of 150
UNIT 2ADUUNIT 3UNIT 4CHRIS KNAUERWEST PARKSAN LUIS OBISPONOT FORCONSTRUCTION3 OF 3Page 100 of 150
Architectural Evaluation of
570 Pacific Street (APN 003-514-023),
San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo
County, California
MARCH 2021
PREPARED FOR
West Park Properties, LLC
PREPARED BY
SWCA Environmental Consultants
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ARCHITECTURAL EVALUATION OF
570 PACIFIC STREET (APN 003-514-023),
SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Prepared for
West Park Properties, LLC
1317 Chorro Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
Attn: Chris Knauer
Prepared by
Paula Carr, M.A.
SWCA Environmental Consultants
1422 Monterey Street, Suite C200
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 543-7095
www.swca.com
SWCA Project No. 65627
March 2021
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570 Pacific Street Architectural Evaluation
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The residence at 570 Pacific Street (Assessor’s Parcel Number [APN] 003-514-023) is most closely
associated with Robert Emmet (R. E.) Lee (1866–1920), a local house and sign painter, and his sister
Agnes Lee (1870–1953), both of whom were active in local and regional fraternal and church
organizations. The property was deeded to R. E. Lee by their mother in 1894, the same year that he had
the original one-and-a-half-story portion of the current residence constructed. The original configuration
of the Lee house, as constructed by its unknown builder, had only a few suggestions of architectural
embellishment. Two frame additions had been built at the rear of the house by 1903, and a sunroom was
added to the north side of the house by 1909. Bay windows, a substantial Craftsman-style roofed porch,
and gabled roof extensions were added on the front elevation sometime between 1909 and 1926.
Although no information has been found about the precise dates of construction for these later additions,
construction and stylistic details indicate the sequence: the bay windows certainly pre-date the substantial
Craftsman-style front porch addition and roof modifications. These Craftsman-style features—grafted
onto the front and roof of the 1894 residence—were distinctively different and discordant. The result was
a stylistically hybrid structure lacking integrity of original design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association. The altered residence at 570 Pacific Street does not meet eligibility criteria for listing in the
California Register of Historical Resources or for designation as a City of San Luis Obispo historical
resource.
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CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Methodology ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Historic Context .......................................................................................................................................... 1
San Luis Obispo ..................................................................................................................................... 1
Development of Block 3 and the Subject Parcel .............................................................................. 4
San Luis Obispo Architectural Trends in the 1880s and 1890s ..................................................... 15
Description of Architectural Resources at 570 Pacific Street (APN 003-514-023) .............................. 21
Evaluation of Architectural Resources ................................................................................................. 33
California Register of Historical Resources Criteria ..................................................................... 33
City of San Luis Obispo Criteria for Local Listing ....................................................................... 35
Integrity Considerations ................................................................................................................. 37
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................ 37
Preparer’s Qualifications ......................................................................................................................... 37
References Cited ........................................................................................................................................ 38
Figures
Figure 1. Project location and vicinity map. ................................................................................................. 2
Figure 2. Detail from the 1870 Harris and Ward Map of the Town of San Luis Obispo, bounded by
Higuera Street, Nipomo Street, Pacific Street, and the former Catholic Cemetery. .................. 5
Figure 3. The extent of former Lot 3 (“FR.3”) of Block 3 is superimposed on the current Assessor
map............................................................................................................................................. 5
Figure 4. Taken by noted photographer Carleton E. Watkins in 1876, this view from Lower Higuera
Street (Walter Murray’s “road to the coast”) looks across the tract owned by Tomás
Higuera toward the proposed project area. ................................................................................ 6
Figure 5. Detail from Glover’s 1877 Bird’s-eye View of San Luis Obispo, Cal. .......................................... 6
Figure 6. Block 3, depicted on the Sanborn Company Map for San Luis Obispo, September 1886,
Sheet 7. ....................................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 7. Lee family property on Pacific Street, from May 1903 Sanborn map, Sheet 15. ........................ 11
Figure 8. Lee family property, July 1909 Sanborn map, Sheet 15. ............................................................. 11
Figure 9. April 1926 Sanborn map, Sheet 16. ............................................................................................. 13
Figure 10. The Jack House, 1880, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 88. ...................................................... 16
Figure 11. Fitzpatrick House, c1880, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 64. Colonial
“Revival/“Railroad House.” ..................................................................................................... 16
Figure 12. Kaetzel House, c1882, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 81. Carpenter Gothic Revival. ............ 17
Figure 13. Snyder House, c1885, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 112. Victorian Wood Frame
(Vernacularized) with Eastlake motifs. .................................................................................... 17
Figure 14. Biddle House, 1889, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 140. Carpenter Gothic Revival with
Eastern Stick motifs. ................................................................................................................ 18
Figure 15. Rogers House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 116. Carpenter Gothic Revival. ........... 18
Figure 16. Vollmer House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 66. Eastlake Shingle with Queen
Anne motifs. ............................................................................................................................. 19
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Figure 17. Lewin House, 1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 142. Carpenter Gothic influence. ........... 19
Figure 18. Greenfield House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 143. Carpenter Gothic Revival
with Victorian Stick. ................................................................................................................ 20
Figure 19. Finney House, 1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 36. Gothic Revival. ............................... 20
Figure 20. Patton House, 1913, Resource No. 119. Craftsman Bungalow. ................................................ 21
Figure 21. The original one-and-a-half-story portion of 570 Pacific Street was built in 1894. .................. 22
Figure 22. Altered gable end of elevation facing Pacific Street. ................................................................ 22
Figure 23. Original 1894 south elevation. ................................................................................................... 23
Figure 24. Rear elevation, with original gable end and two additions. ....................................................... 23
Figure 25. Irregularities in workmanship on rear elevation. ....................................................................... 24
Figure 26. Modern stucco addition, c1962. ................................................................................................ 24
Figure 27. Modern parking areas built for the sorority. .............................................................................. 25
Figure 28. Modern decks and fences built for the sorority house. .............................................................. 25
Figure 29. No landscaping from the 1894–1920 period survives on the property. ..................................... 25
Figure 30. Transition from horizontal drop siding on residence to board-and-bat on addition. ................. 26
Figure 31. Original window on north wall of board-and-bat addition. ....................................................... 26
Figure 32. North wall with sunroom addition built with matching materials between 1903 and 1909. ..... 27
Figure 33. Articulation of dormer and sunroom into north wall plane. ...................................................... 27
Figure 34. View of sunroom addition at center of north elevation. ............................................................ 27
Figure 35. With the porch addition, the older wood-frame elements on the first-floor are obscured
almost entirely by the deep overhanging porch roof. ............................................................... 28
Figure 36. The flatter roof angle, grille, brackets, and decorative elements in the gable end of the
porch have no architectural relationship with the gable ends of the 1894 residence (cf.
Figure 23). ................................................................................................................................ 29
Figure 37. Porch addition built in front of the older residence (cf. Figure 20). .......................................... 29
Figure 38. Bay-window at left is out of alignment with wall; the trim on the right end of the bay
window is now outside the porch wall (cf. Figure 37). ............................................................ 30
Figure 39. Concrete porch deck. ................................................................................................................. 30
Figure 40. Articulation of porch roof on south elevation............................................................................ 30
Figure 41. Articulation of porch roof on north elevation. ........................................................................... 31
Figure 42. Arrow indicates the small, drilled bracket, the only architectural ornament that appears
to date to 1894. ......................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 43. “Rafter tail” nailed to outer wall. ............................................................................................... 32
Figure 44. Blocky concrete and stucco elements form the half wall and porch support. The wall
plane at the left is plywood infill. ............................................................................................ 32
Figure 45. Concrete front steps flanked by low, capped concrete piers. ..................................................... 33
Figure 46. Thick, sloped (battered) concrete walls separate the front yard from the street sidewalk. ........ 33
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INTRODUCTION
This architectural evaluation was prepared to assist the property owner and the City of San Luis Obispo
(City) in meeting pertinent regulatory responsibilities in connection with the proposed redevelopment of
570 Pacific Street (Assessor’s Parcel Number [APN] 003-514-023) in the city of San Luis Obispo, San
Luis Obispo County, California (Figure 1). The parcel is currently occupied by a residence originally built
in 1894. Because a historic-period built-environment resource (defined as a resource 50 years of age or
older) is present on the parcel, it requires evaluation for potential significance and to determine whether it
meets the criteria for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR), or whether it
otherwise constitutes a historical resource for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA).
METHODOLOGY
This report was prepared during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, still ongoing in
2021. As a result, in-person access to archives and city and county offices ordinarily available was
curtailed. Research relied more than ever on online sources, including the City’s Historic Preservation
website and photographs of locally designated resources; San Luis Obispo County recorded maps;
Library of Congress Sanborn Company maps; biographical information via ancestry.com; and newspaper
articles available via newspapers.com and the California Digital Newspaper Collection. Preliminary
research also consisted of reviewing primary and secondary sources on San Luis Obispo County history
(e.g., Angel 1994; Cooper 1993; Morrison and Hayden 2002), as well as the Citywide Historic Context
(Historic Resources Group 2013). The County of San Luis Obispo (County) Assessor and City
Community Development Department were also contacted by email for copies of the residential building
record, building permits, and Sanborn maps. The project applicant, West Park Properties, LLC, provided
title company documents that included the legal description of the parcel, the chain-of-title, and pertinent
recorded deeds documenting property transfer.
While such aspects as the physical condition, style, materials, and workmanship of architectural resources
can be considered to some extent on their own merits, the significance of these resources can be
determined only with reference to the historic circumstances that created them. Based on the preliminary
studies, an appropriate historical context was identified, focusing on the residential development of the
“southern suburb” of San Luis Obispo in the late nineteenth century.
SWCA made a site visit to the property at 570 Pacific Street on February 22, 2021, to record notes and
take the photographs included in this report.
HISTORIC CONTEXT
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo had its beginnings as a Spanish colonial Franciscan mission settlement, following
closely upon the overland expeditions of Portola in 1769–1771. The first buildings associated with the
settlement were temporary structures of poles and thatch; the iconic adobe mission buildings were built
incrementally over the course of many years. The church properties remained the only European historic-
period structures until the early nineteenth century, when Alta California gained its independence from
Spain and the short-lived Mexican Empire had been replaced by the government of the Mexican Republic
in 1822. Under this newly formed government, Alta California became a Mexican territory, and contact
with the outside world was regularized.
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Figure 1. Project location and vicinity map.
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At first, the establishment of official ports of entry and customhouses attracted a handful of European and
New England traders to take up residence in California, where they profited from a growing mercantile
economy based on the hides and tallow acquired from the various mission communities’ herds of cattle.
These traders—who, under Mexican law, were able to become citizens, marry, and acquire land—also
benefited greatly from the proliferation of Mexican-era government land grants. These enormous tracts of
land expanded cattle-raising and boosted the success of the international shipping trade. Secularization of
all of the California missions put an end to the Franciscans’ ability to provide hides and tallow, but the
former mission pasture lands were soon placed in civilian hands, enabling the rancho economy to flourish
for another quarter of a century.
In 1846, California became embroiled in the Mexican–American War. When the conflict ended in
February 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, California was ceded to the United States,
becoming a territory of that republic. Locally, San Luis Obispo was not greatly impacted by the change,
although American surveying expeditions were making forays from the coast and from farther inland, as
they began mapping the newly acquired territory. Even the discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra
in 1848 did not disrupt local life at first; the brunt of the massive Gold Rush migration was confined to
Yerba Buena (San Francisco) and the numerous gold mining camps far to the north. California’s
statehood, achieved in 1850, likewise caused only a ripple in the general way of life in San Luis Obispo.
Yankees and other foreigners continued to adapt themselves to the prevailing cultural norms established
during the Mexican era.
The first widespread local changes came about as a result of the back-to-back severe drought and floods
of the mid-1860s that caused havoc in the cattle industry and saw the end of the rancho-based economy.
Mexican-era land holdings changed hands, with losses disproportionately affecting the old Californio
families. By the 1860s, American forms of local government were making inroads and replacing the
earlier systems. The San Luis Obispo streetscape was also starting to lose some of its architectural
character as a Mission-era and Mexican-era settlement: property boundaries were less likely to be
dependent on the Plan of the Indies and natural topography and more likely to conform to an American
grid layout. Other outside influences included the passage of the United States Homestead Act in 1862
and the subsequent increasing population of settlers not born in California.
In 1868, the California state legislature passed an Act to Settle the Title to Lands in the Town of San Luis
Obispo (Bertrando 1996:ii). The Town Trustees thereupon embarked on the task of regularizing the
preexisting settlement pattern—mapping the town and confirming formal grants of ownership to
claimants who already had built homes, outbuildings, corrals, and fences, as well as making new grants of
land. The resulting Map of the Town of San Luis Obispo, surveyed by R. R. Harris and H. C. Ward in
1870, established the Block numbers that form the basis of legal descriptions of downtown properties
today, including the subject parcel at 570 Pacific Street.
The 1860s saw the beginnings of the modern townscape in San Luis Obispo, including the transition from
adobe buildings to wood-frame construction. This transition is evident in sources such as the 1870 federal
census, which identifies only one individual plying the trade of adobe mason in San Luis Obispo County,
but enumerates several carpenters. The skills of such workmen were especially welcome at a time when
the growing population was beginning to outstrip the available housing supply. In September 1870, local
judge Walter Murray wrote about the rapid growth of the town. From the mere handful of buildings
present when he first came to San Luis Obispo in 1853, he noted:
. . . its rate of growth was never so rapid as during the past twelve months. Even now,
when the short crops and dry season have depressed business and set back all manner of
improvements, our town is steadily growing, and its population increasing . . . Two years
ago, in 1868, the first bridge was built across San Luis Creek. On the southern suburb,
lying between the stage and beach roads, a settlement of thirty or forty houses has sprung
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up during the past year . . . The town is increasing in this direction very fast . . . Here, as
at the other end of town, respect is had for streets and surveys, which cannot be said in
regard to the more central region. On the line of road toward the coast the land is also
all taken up and fenced, and steps have been taken to acquire title; but the houses in that
direction are not very excellent (Angel:360).
Development of Block 3 and the Subject Parcel
TOMÁS HIGUERA (1818–1886)
One of the most prominent landowners in the project vicinity (within what Walter Murray had termed the
“southern suburb”) was Tomás Higuera, after whom Higuera Street was named. A former soldier, in 1856
he took up farming on the outskirts of the Mission San Luis Obispo settlement, where he built a cluster of
farm buildings and raised a family. His extensive holdings are depicted on the 1870 Harris and Ward Map
of the Town of San Luis Obispo (Figure 2). Although he had settled there 14 years before the map was
created, he nonetheless applied to the Town Trustees for an official grant of his lands, which he duly
received.
A broad, wedge-shaped portion of adjacent land was platted on the Harris and Ward map, just below
Higuera’s tract, as fractional Block 56 and fractional Block 3. A stone wall formed the boundary between
Higuera’s property and the lots to the south; the wall is referenced in property deeds and the alignment is
still indicated on the current Assessor map for Block 3 (Figure 3). Block 3 (shown in Figure 2 as the
superimposed red trapezoid) included Lots 2, 3, and 4; their approximate positions are indicated in the
figure. The surname “Henderson” is the only name that appears anywhere on Block 3; its particular
position indicates that he was the owner of Lot 4 only.
In July 1870, William Berryman (W. B.) Haley, a 38-year-old carpenter, petitioned the Board of Trustees
of the Town of San Luis Obispo to confirm a grant of land made to him by Tomás Higuera; Haley stated
that he had been settled on the land since 1869. The Trustees evidently agreed, as they granted Lot 3 of
Block 3 to Haley on March 20, 1872 (San Luis Obispo County Deeds Book C, p. 734). Haley’s grant
established ownership of property that encompassed (but extended well beyond) what is now the current
subject parcel fronting on Pacific Street. Because of his claim of prior settlement, it is possible that Haley
built a residence or some kind of farm building on the property. Judge Walter Murray mentioned in late
1870 that Haley had recently built a house on Monterey Street, which must have supplanted any former
residential use of his Lot 3 property (Angel 1994:360). What makes the speculation more interesting is
that a building can be seen on Lot 3 in two separate images: an 1876 photograph (Figure 4) and an 1877
lithograph (Figure 5). The attribution is complicated by the fact that, in September 1874, Haley sold Lot 3
to Patrick McHenry, a 22-year-old farmer born in Ireland in 1849, who had immigrated to the United
States in 1868 (San Luis Obispo County Deeds Book F, p. 345). In either case, this early building, though
it survived into the twentieth century, is no longer present and—though it did belong to the Lee family—
was located on the part of Lot 3 that did not include 570 Pacific Street.
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Figure 2. Detail from the 1870 Harris and Ward Map of the Town of San Luis
Obispo, bounded by Higuera Street, Nipomo Street, Pacific Street, and the
former Catholic Cemetery. Lot 3 of Block 3, encompassing the subject
parcel, is indicated by the arrow.
Figure 3. The extent of former Lot 3 (“FR.3”) of Block 3 is superimposed on
the current Assessor map. The subject parcel (APN 003-514-023) is labeled
“PIQ.” The dashed line bordering the top of Lot 3 indicates the alignment of
the “stone wall” that separated Block 3 from Tomás Higuera’s property.
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Figure 4. Taken by noted photographer Carleton E. Watkins in 1876, this view from Lower Higuera
Street (Walter Murray’s “road to the coast”) looks across the tract owned by Tomás Higuera
toward the proposed project area. The box indicates a gabled building on Lot 3 (owned by Patrick
McHenry at this time). The arrow indicates the future site of 570 Pacific Street (Source:
Metropolitan Museum).
Figure 5. Detail from Glover’s 1877 Bird’s-eye View of San Luis Obispo, Cal. The red box indicates
a residence on Lot 3—presumably, the home of Mrs. Mary F. Lee and her family; the arrow
indicates the future site of 570 Pacific Street.
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Little biographical information is readily available for either W. B. Haley or Patrick McHenry. Haley
(1831–1898), as noted above, was a carpenter (variously reported as being from Kentucky or Maine). He
married Dolores Sanabria (1860–1925), from a local San Luis Obispo family. In 1876 the announcement
of the birth of a son noted that the baby was born in San Luis Obispo, presumably at their Monterey Street
residence. Haley took part in local community activities but does not appear to have been a notable figure.
A small notice reported his death, at the County Hospital, on June 18, 1898; he is buried in the Old
Mission Cemetery (San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 7 October 1876:5; San Luis Obispo Morning
Tribune 19 June 1898:4).
Information on Patrick McHenry (c1849–1922), provided in his obituary, is somewhat more substantial:
McHenry had been a “prominent resident” of San Luis Obispo until about 1912, when he moved to San
Jose with his family. Prior to that, he had lived in San Luis Obispo “for about fifty years. For many years
he lived on his ranch in [the] Los Osos section, but later came to this city where he operated the
Commercial hotel for thirty-five years” (San Luis Obispo Tribune 2 June 1922:1). He died at his home in
San Jose.
Whether it was William B. Haley or Patrick McHenry who built the frame building on Lot 3 has not been
determined, but it became the property of Mrs. Mary F. Lee and her family in 1876, when Lot 3 was
deeded to her by McHenry on December 27, 1876 (San Luis Obispo County Deeds Book I, p. 334).
The neighboring parcel (Lot 4) had been occupied by Scottish immigrant Michael Henderson—another
carpenter—since at least 1870. In February of that year Henderson petitioned the Town Trustees for Lot 4
of Block 3; his grant was issued in February 1871. In November 1871 Henderson married Adela
Deleissegues. Through the 1870s, it is well documented that Michael Henderson continued to work as a
local carpenter and builder; in his advertising he sometimes referred to himself as an architect and
builder. The profession of “architect” was still evolving, but the term was commonly used at the time to
denote a carpenter with experience in designing as well as building. In 1869 Henderson’s office was in
the Murray building on Monterey Street, across from the Mission, but by 1872 he was working from his
substantial home at the corner of Nipomo and Pacific (his residence is clearly visible in both the 1876
photograph and 1877 lithograph above). Henderson had immigrated to California during the Gold Rush
but was living in San Luis Obispo by 1860. He became a naturalized citizen in 1868 and was active in the
“building up” of the town. Among his high-profile commissions was superintending the construction of a
new roof on the Mission in 1872 and the construction of the County Court House in 1873 (San Luis
Obispo Weekly Tribune 22 June 1872:3; and 22 March 1873:2, respectively).
In early 1875 Henderson was the architect and builder for an elegant two-story Italianate residence,
replete with bay windows and verandas, designed and built for County Recorder Charles W. Dana (San
Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 24 April 1875:5). The quality of work by carpenter-architects such as
Henderson probably contributed to local attorney De Guy Cooper’s general observation in 1875 (Cooper
1993:17):
We can boast of some very fine private residences. Heretofore, the style of architecture
has been of a rather primitive nature; but latterly there has been a marked improvement
in this particular area, and buildings erected within the past year have been of a better
nature, and of a more permanent character. Many who have heretofore been renting are
now building for themselves, and others are enlarging an improving. A number of
imposing structures, and pleasant and handsome cottages, are just completed, others are
building, and mire in contemplation.
Michael Henderson, however, was becoming active in local politics and on the brink of making a move to
a different part of town. In December 1875, the local press wrote admiringly of him, “This is the age of
genuine philanthropy. M. Henderson, who owns the fine cottage residence with ample lot on the corner of
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Nipomo and Pacific streets, offers the same for raffle on Christmas day. There will be six hundred tickets
at five dollars apiece” (San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 11 December 1875:1).
Henderson went on to build and operate a saloon near the Pacific Coast Railway depot on South Higuera
Street, and also served as a Justice of the Peace. In 1888, however, he suffered an unidentified medical
calamity that left him completely incapacitated. As reported in the local press, “M. Henderson is still at
the county hospital and will probably remain there for the remainder of his life, as there is as yet no
change in his condition” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 9 May 1888:3). This grim assessment proved
to be correct: in the 1900 census Henderson was listed as one of the patients residing at the County
Hospital; he died in 1902 and was buried in the San Luis Obispo Cemetery.
ROBERT F. LEE (1820–1903) AND MARY F. LEE (1839–1926)
The residence at 570 Pacific Street is associated with two generations of the Lee family, who owned the
subject parcel from 1876 through 1953. As noted above, Patrick McHenry had sold all of Lot 3 on Pacific
Street lot, with its existing residence, to Mary F. Lee in late December 1876. This first residence,
however, was located south of the current residence at 570 Pacific Street, on a portion of Lot 3 that was
split off from the current parcel by 1926.
Before relocating to San Luis Obispo in about 1871, the parents and older children had lived in
Watsonville, Santa Cruz County. The 1860 federal census for the Watsonville-Pajaro district lists Robert
F. Lee, born in Ireland, as a 32-year-old master blacksmith, lodging at that time in a hotel; his personal
estate was valued at $2,000—a considerable sum for the time. The 1870 census notes that Robert, now
age 43, had married in 1865; he and his wife, 30-year-old Mary F. Lee, also born in Ireland, had two
young children: Robert Emmet, and Mary Agnes. Robert is listed as working a steam-powered threshing
machine, a job consistent with his training as a blacksmith and in keeping with the summer month when
the census was conducted. His combined real estate and personal estate was valued at $1,600. By the time
of the 1880 census, nearly 10 years after their arrival in town, the Lee family of seven was living in San
Luis Obispo—but on Islay Street rather than on Pacific Street, as might have been expected. Their five
children ranged in age from 13 to 4. Robert was still working as a blacksmith.
The earliest Sanborn Company map coverage for Block 3, dating to September 1886, clearly shows a
residence on what would have been part of Lot 3 of Block 3 (Figure 6). The annotations on the Sanborn
map confirm that the building was a one-story frame dwelling. It is likely that the footprint of the house
incorporates the smaller building constructed on Block 3 in the 1870s by either W. B. Haley or Patrick
McHenry. The line running diagonally across the block is the alignment of the old stone wall to the north
of the Lee property; the former Higuera tract has been subdivided into smaller residential lots, with seven
houses depicted. This portion of Marsh Street was clearly transitioning from farm use to a residential
neighborhood.
The Sanborn map for December 1891 shows essentially the same residence, still owned by Mary F. Lee,
in the same location. Federal census records for 1890 have not survived for California, so it is not clear
when the Lee family moved into the house after living on Islay Street.
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Figure 6. Block 3, depicted on the Sanborn Company Map for San Luis Obispo, September 1886,
Sheet 7. The arrow indicates the Lee-owned residence—the only building on Lot 3 of Block 3.
RESIDENCE AT 570 PACIFIC STREET CONSTRUCTED
In 1894, Mary F. Lee carved a residential lot out of her property on Pacific Street and deeded it to her
eldest son, 28-year-old Robert Emmet Lee (1866–1920), who was self-employed as a painting contractor,
house painter, and sign painter (San Luis Obispo County Deeds Book 23, p. 224). The local news
reported the following description of the property (expanded here from abbreviations): “Commencing at
southeast corner of lot 3, block 3, San Luis Obispo, thence southerly 50 feet, northwesterly 180 feet,
thence northeasterly along stone wall about 52 feet, thence southeasterly parallel with Nipomo street, 194
feet to beginning” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 22 August 1894:2).
A month later the Tribune noted the progress being made: “R. E. Lee, one of our boss painters, is having
a very neat and substantial residence under way of completion on Pacific street between Broad and
Nipomo. Bob will have one of the neatest houses in town” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 30
September 1894:2). Throughout the 1890s, R. E. Lee’s name cropped up in the local newspapers in
connection with current painting jobs; the following are representative examples:
• “R. E. Lee is busily engaged in remodeling and repairing the interior of the Catholic church” (San
Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 21 June 1894:3).
• “R. E. Lee is doing some fine work in sign painting of late, as anyone who glances at the signs of
Dr. Burflend, dentist, and Dr. Krill, both of which are upstairs over the County Bank.
• Yesterday M. Lee was engaged in painting a large sign for J. A. Bernstein, the clothing man”
(San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 9 November 1895:3).
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• In spring 1895 the downtown streets were decorated by various merchants and fraternal
organizations. The Los Osos Parlor of the NSGW hung up streamers, “and the large wooden
bears painted by R. E. Lee, which hung overhead at the various street corners, were placed in
position by the committee” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 28 April 1896:4).
• “R. E. Lee was at work yesterday painting the fence which encloses Mr. B. Sinsheimer’s
attractive yard” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 11 July 1896:3).
• “R. E. Lee was giving C. T. Greenfield’s Fulton market a coat of yellow paint” (San Luis Obispo
Morning Tribune 22 July 1896:3).
• “R. E. Lee is giving Ed. Vollmer’s residence a fresh coat of paint” (San Luis Obispo Morning
Tribune 24 April 1898:4).
• “R. E. Lee was painting a new sign on the office window of the Sandercock Transfer Company
yesterday” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 18 August 1899:4).
• “See the new drop curtain [for the stage] at the Pavilion Tuesday night. It is a beauty and was
painted by Robt E. Lee” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 29 April 1900:3).
• “R. E. Lee was painting some signs yesterday on the windows of Pfleghaar & Anderson” (San
Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 31 August 1901:3).
• “R. E. Lee, the painter, lettered a large advertisement for A. F. Fitzgerald on the west side of the
latter’s building yesterday” (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 26 September 1903:1).
Apart from his professional activities, R. E. Lee was also known for his involvement with the Knights of
Columbus, the Native Sons of the Golden West, and the Elks. Lee’s commitments to these fraternal
organizations included donation of his time and skills. His most popular skill, however, was the talent he
displayed in amateur theatrical performances; Lee received considerable local acclaim for the comic
songs and humorous sketches he frequently presented at local venues.
Among the watershed family events that occurred in the opening years of the twentieth century was the
death of Robert Forestall Lee, the elderly father of the Lee family, in late 1903: “The funeral of Robert F.
Lee was held at the Catholic church at 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon. Rev. Father Murphy conducted the
services. Interment was made in the Catholic cemetery . . . The deceased was the father of R. E. Lee and
other children of this city. He has been an invalid a number of years and was 83 years old when he died
last Monday (San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 9 December 1903:1).
In 1904, William J. Lee, the 34-year-old middle son, made his first visit to San Luis Obispo in 16 years,
staying with the family for three weeks before returning to Seattle, where he worked as a butcher (San
Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 31 August 1904:4). Except for rare visits, William was never involved in
the family’s activities in San Luis Obispo.
At around the same time, another Sanborn map of San Luis Obispo was published—the first to depict the
presence of the subject property: the residence built in 1894 for R. E. Lee (Figure 7). Given the size of the
new house and the particular circumstances of his family, it is almost certain that—except for a younger
brother, William, who had already left home—R. E. Lee’s entire family moved into it at once. The older
house was eventually rented out for extra income. By 1903, when the Sanborn map included the house,
two one-story additions had already been built at the rear of the residence. The most interesting addition
to Lot 3, however, is the one-story corrugated iron shop building with its attached wood-frame office that
housed R. E. Lee’s painting business.
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Figure 7. Lee family property on Pacific Street, from May 1903 Sanborn
map, Sheet 15. The 1894 dwelling—the subject property—is indicated by
the arrow. No front porch, bay window, or sunroom is depicted on the
residence.
Figure 8. Lee family property, July 1909 Sanborn map, Sheet 15. The
sunroom has been added to the north side of the 1894 house.
Corresponding street addresses appear on the maps for the first time: 556,
556 ½, and 570 Pacific Street.
The 1910 federal census lists E. R. Lee as head of the Lee family household at 570 Pacific Street; his
mother, sisters Agnes and Rose, and youngest brother Chris were all at home; no one besides R. E. was
unemployed. They had rented their older house at 556 Pacific Street to a physician, Lyman Wade; another
tenant, O. K. Stoute, was living there in 1915, and Rudolph Hidon was the tenant in 1918 (San Luis
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Obispo Daily Tribune 22 June 1915:2; San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram 30 October 1918:5). In 1918,
Christopher C. Lee’s (1876–1947) World War I draft registration form documents that, at the age of 42,
he was living at the family home as an unemployed dependent. The mother of the family, Mary F. Lee,
was “well advanced in years” and had injured herself in a fall in August of that year (San Luis Obispo
Daily Telegram 13 August 1918:5).
In 1920, a family calamity struck: R. E. Lee, who had been “the sole support of his family since the age of
15 years” suffered a severe stroke and died a few months later (San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram 3 March
1920:1; San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 5 March 1920:1, excerpted below).
Reaper Calls Robert E. Lee
Robert Emmet Lee died yesterday morning about 5 o’clock at his home, 570 Pacific
street, after a protracted illness of over three months. He suffered a stroke of paralysis at
that time, and his condition since has been critical, although at times he was sufficiently
better to encourage hope that he would eventually recover. He was 53 years old at the
time of his demise.
Born in Watsonville, Robert E. Lee came to this city as a boy, and it was here that most of
his life was spent. The friends who knew as a young man will recall with delight his
versatility and ability in amateur dramatics, where he displayed an ability which would
have made his fame in a professional career. Circumstances, however, did not permit him
trying out his talents in that way, so he remained in this city and practically devoted his
life to the care of his widowed mother and sisters.
Mr. Lee was a prominent member of the Native Sons [of the Golden West], the Knights of
Columbus and the Elks. He was fourth degree and charter member of the K.C. Council
1271, as well as being Past Grand Master of the council. His efforts were largely
responsible for the purchase of the present Knights of Columbus building. Mr. Lee was a
regular attendant at the Old Mission, and was always active in church and charitable
work. A devoted son and brother, a man of large sympathies and broad activities passed
with the death of Robert E. Lee.
He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Mary F. Lee; two sisters, Agnes M. and Rose C. Lee;
and two brothers, William J. and Christopher C. Lee. The funeral will be at the Old
Mission at 10 o’clock Friday morning, under the auspices of the Knights of Columbus,
where a requiem high mass will be celebrated. Interment in the Catholic cemetery will be
made by the Richardson parlors. The remains are at present at the family residence.”
His funeral mass was similarly reported four days later:
Lee Funeral Yesterday
The funeral of Robert Emmet Lee was held yesterday morning from the family residence,
with a requiem high mass at the Old Mission. The church was crowded with friends of the
family. Rev. P. M. O’Flynn, who officiated at the mass, paid a beautiful tribute to Mr.
Lee, when he said:
“There are certain standards by which we judge the character of men—whether
they are good citizens, good to their families, good to their neighbors, and living
according to the Ten Commandments. If we judge Mr. Lee by these standards the
common opinion of the community would be that he was living up to them all. It
is very seldom that there is such universal sympathy for a family as there has
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been in his case. Every day since he was taken sick he has been the subject of
tender solicitude on the part of his friends and acquaintances. He had lived in
this city for 50 years, and the common verdict is that during that time he was a
good Christian, a good citizen and an honest man. In an age of selfishness he
sacrificed all of his own private ambitions for the sake of his family and gave his
life for them. He was a devoted parishioner of the Old Mission parish, and also a
leading spirit in the Knights of Columbus, the Elks and the Native Sons… A
wealth of floral offerings testified mutely to the regard in which the deceased was
held, beautiful pieces being sent by the orders to which he belonged and many
private families throughout the county (San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 9
March 1920:8).
Not long before his death, R. E. Lee, who had never married, deeded his residential property to his sister
Agnes (1870–1953). Their mother, Mary F. Lee, died in 1926. At her mother’s death, Agnes became the
head of the family, including the legal guardian of her brother William, by then declared an incapacitated
adult incompetent to handle his own affairs.
By the time of the family matriarch’s death, the residence at 570 Pacific Street seems to have acquired
most of its current architectural form, as documented in the April 1926 Sanborn map (Figure 9). A front
porch is shown, which is, presumably, the extant Craftsman-era porch. It is curious, however, that the bay
windows are not depicted, as they often appear on Sanborn maps, and as the windows certainly were in
place before the current porch was built. Another anomaly is that the County Assessor has a date of 1946
for the porch construction, when the Craftsman style was on the wane. It is possible that an interim porch
was built, although no documentation for that has been found. Other typical additions for the 1920s that
are present on the Sanborn map are the two garages. R. E. Lee’s painting shop has been demolished.
Considerable residential infill is also apparent, as parcels continued to be subdivided.
Figure 9. April 1926 Sanborn map, Sheet 16. The Lee family’s parcel has
been subdivided. The front porch has been added, and two garages
(designated “A” for auto) have been built at the rear.
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The 1930 census shows the dwindling Lee family at 570 Pacific Street included Agnes, Rose, and
Christopher, all of whom were single; their house at 556 Pacific was rented out to the Charles Jones
family. In her role as guardian, in 1938 Agnes sold the 556 Pacific Street house to Rose (1876–1940)
(San Luis Obispo County Official Records Book 234, p. 247–248). The 1940 census shows Agnes and
Christopher, along with a housekeeper, as the only residents of 570 Pacific. Following Christopher’s
death in 1947 at the age of 64, Agnes had outlived her entire family. Though not employed for many
decades, Agnes was actively engaged in her church and club activities. Like her brother R. E., she held
various offices in these charitable organizations, and traveled frequently to conferences.
By 1950 Agnes was sharing her home with Frances Barbara, who may have been her housekeeper or
caregiver. Agnes died in April 1953 and was buried in the Old Mission Cemetery. Her estate was settled
and distributed to her heirs by court decree in January 1954 (San Luis Obispo Official Records Book 743,
p. 223). The itemized list of her estate reveals that she was comfortably off, with more than $21,000 in
cash and substantial investments, as well as her residence and furnishings at 570 Pacific Street. She also
made numerous bequests to individuals and to Catholic organizations, Mission San Luis Obispo, convents
and monasteries, and the San Luisita Parlor of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. Her residence
and all its furnishings were bequeathed to Florence Barbara (1890–1961).
MORE RECENT OWNERS OF 570 PACIFIC STREET
Florence Barbara (1890–1961)
Florence Barbara (1890–1961), who inherited the house at 570 Pacific Street in 1953, was born in
Pennsylvania to Italian immigrant parents; her father was a gardener. As a young woman, Florence
worked as a clerk in a confectionary shop, and later as a newspaper reporter. In 1920 she was living at
home with her 77-year-old widowed father; he died in 1923, and it is likely that Florence moved away.
She never married, but her whereabouts and occupation between 1923 and 1950 has not, to date, been
traced. In 1950, when she was living in San Luis Obispo, she was already 60 years old; in 1956 she
applied for her Social Security benefit. Florence died in San Luis Obispo in 1961 and was buried in Old
Mission Cemetery.
The designated executor of Florence Barbara’s estate, Miles A. Fitzgerald, entered into a sales agreement
with John and Mary Nunes for the purchase of the residence at 570 Pacific Street and some of its
contents, including items of furniture and kitchen appliances. This sale was confirmed by the court in
October 1961 as part of the final settlement and distribution of Florence’s estate. The deeds confirming
the sale and transferring title to the Nuneses were recorded November 17, 1961 (San Luis Obispo County
Official Records Book 1155, p. 524; Book 1155, p. 528).
John Aloysius “Al” Nunes (1918–2009) and Mary L. Nunes (1921–2009)
Al Nunes was a San Luis Obispo native, born in the historic Rodriguez Adobe. His family were dairy
farmers on O’Connor Road and later moved to a farm at the bottom of Cuesta Grade. Al married Mary at
the Old Mission in 1942. He worked for PG&E for 37 years (San Luis Obispo Tribune 23 May
2009:n.p.). Al and Mary lived at 380 Murray Avenue in the early 1950s but by1958 had moved to 211
Pismo Street, which became their permanent residence. They owned the property at 570 Pacific Street for
less than a year, and there is no indication that they ever lived in the residence. On October 23, 1962, they
transferred the Pacific Street property to Mardelle A. Colwell (San Luis Obispo County Official Records
Book 1207, p. 662).
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Mardelle and Dayle Colwell
Mardelle A. Colwell, though married, acquired 570 Pacific Street in 1962 as her separate property. In
1961 Mardelle had been living in Arroyo Grande, where she worked as a saleswoman. She moved into
the Pacific Street house in 1962; her husband, Dayle Alexander Colwell, was also a resident for part of
the time. During their tenure of 570 Pacific Street, they received City of San Luis Obispo Building Permit
No. 197, issued November 1, 1962, to “remodel bath & utility room.” The Colwells’ marriage ended in
about 1964; Mardelle deeded the property to Dayle as his sole property on March 11, 1964 (San Luis
Obispo County Official Records Book 1288, p. 18). Dayle was remarried in 1965 to Dolas C. Colwell.
In 1977 Dayle and Dolas C. Colwell sold the property to local real estate agent Charles Delmartini and his
wife Evelyn (San Luis Obispo County Official Records Book 2012, p.50), who immediately resold the
house, on the same day, to the Epsilon Chapter House Corporation of Kappa Delta Sorority for use as a
sorority house (San Luis Obispo County Official Records Book 2010, p. 53).
San Luis Obispo Architectural Trends in the 1880s and 1890s
As noted in the Citywide Historic Context for San Luis Obispo (Historic Resources Group 2013: 42, 45):
Although San Luis Obispo has a collection of high style residences constructed in the late
19th century, most wood frame residences in San Luis Obispo during this period were
being designed within the vernacular vocabulary . . . Residents who were building more
opulent homes during this period often chose styles that were popular in other parts of
the country, including Queen Anne, Eastlake, and Italianate styles. These large two- and
three-story homes often had elaborate scrollwork and other decorative details. They were
constructed beginning in the 1870s, and these styles remained popular until the turn of
the 20th century. Local architects associated with this period include William Evans,
Hilamon Spencer Laird, W.C. Phillips, and Alfred Walker . . . The vernacular nature of
most residential development during this period indicates that most homes were designed
without the use of an architect.
The following section offers examples of city-designated San Luis Obispo residences built between 1880
and 1894, whose numerous high-style architectural elements are evident. Most were architect-designed
and well-executed homes of wealthy residents, but they nonetheless offered an open-air showroom of
architectural possibilities to passersby. Many architectural elements were capable of being adapted for use
in less costly residences. These particular examples were still new houses when R. E. Lee was
contemplating building his own in 1894; his home was one of many examples of modest buildings
incorporating few stylistic flourishes. Figures 10–20 are from the City’s online Historic Properties in San
Luis Obispo, California, available at: https://gis.slocity.org/HistoricMapTour/index.html.
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Figure 10. The Jack House, 1880, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 88. Listed on National Register of
Historic Places. Italianate. Character-defining features: flat roof with deep eaves; prominent
cornice, brackets, and dentils; tall, narrow windows with drip moldings and elaborate surrounds ;
bay windows; slender porch supports.
Figure 11. Fitzpatrick House, c1880, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 64.
Colonial “Revival/“Railroad House.” Character-defining features: gable
roof; plain siding with prominent cornice and corner boards; small square
window on porch; tall, windows with minimal surrounds; recessed porch
with wood rail and square wood posts.
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Figure 12. Kaetzel House, c1882, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 81.
Carpenter Gothic Revival. Character-defining features: gable roof; mixture
of siding shapes, including imbricated scallops; belt line above minimal
window surrounds; porch-over-porch with slender, turned posts.
Figure 13. Snyder House, c1885, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 112.
Victorian Wood Frame (Vernacularized) with Eastlake motifs. Character-
defining features: gable roof with prominent cornice, bargeboard; tall,
narrow windows with elaborate surrounds; dormer window, with elaborate
hood, extending into wall plane; plain siding; drilled scrollwork frieze;
delicate porch posts with scrollwork brackets.
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Figure 14. Biddle House, 1889, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 140.
Carpenter Gothic Revival with Eastern Stick motifs. Character-defining
features: multiple, steep gables; ornate fascia; numerous windows with
stained-glass sash; window surrounds incorporated into stick-work;
wraparound wood-floor porch with turned railings.
Figure 15. Rogers House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 116.
Carpenter Gothic Revival. Character-defining features: gable roof with
prominent cornice and cornerboards; tall, narrow windows; deep,
wraparound porch with wood floor and plain railings; slender porch posts
with scrollwork brackets.
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Figure 16. Vollmer House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 66.
Eastlake Shingle with Queen Anne motifs. Character-defining features:
double gable roof; elaborate siding treatment including gridwork in gable
ends and imbrication; tall, narrow windows with elaborate surrounds and
awnings; small porch with wood floors, slender posts, spindlework and
scrollwork.
Figure 17. Lewin House, 1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 142.
Carpenter Gothic influence. Character-defining features: roof gable with
imbricated shingles; two sizes of horizontal siding; tall, square-bay
windows with molded surrounds; drilled wood scrollwork frieze.
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Figure 18. Greenfield House, c1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 143.
Carpenter Gothic Revival with Victorian Stick. Character-defining features:
gable-on-gable, including clipped gable with prominent cornices, cornice
returns, and corner boards; mixture of horizontal and vertical siding,
including board and bat; deep gabled portico with slender posts,
ornamental brackets, and bosses.
Figure 19. Finney House, 1890, San Luis Obispo Resource No. 36. Gothic
Revival. Character-defining features: gabled roof with medium eaves;
mixture of siding types, including imbricated scallops; tall, narrow
windows with minimal surrounds; small wood porch with slender posts
and small-scale brackets; small awnings above windows.
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Figure 20. Patton House, 1913, Resource No. 119. Craftsman Bungalow.
Character-defining features: offset gable-on-gable; prominent fascia with
heavy brackets; gridwork under gable peak; belt line separating types of
siding; broad, multi-lite windows; deep porch with broad, low, overhanging
gable roof; heavy porch pillars; porch’s outer half wall is stone rubble
masonry; concrete porch deck.
DESCRIPTION OF ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES AT
570 PACIFIC STREET (APN 003-514-023)
The photographs in this section were taken by SWCA during the February 22, 2021 site visit.
The parcel at 570 Pacific Street is occupied by a single residence. The view from the street shows the
upper level of the front-gabled original portion of the residence (constructed in 1894) rising up behind the
much later Craftsman-style front porch addition (Figure 21). Assessor records give a construction date of
1946 for the front porch, but the 1926 Sanborn map shows a porch in place by then; the stucco addition at
the rear probably dates to 1962.
The 1894 portion of the house is a mixture of vernacular “Victorian” architectural elements, drawing from
Carpenter Gothic Revival, Stick, and other contemporary sources, such as those shown in Figures 10–19,
above. The salient difference is the underdeveloped and poorly proportioned nature of the architectural
embellishments employed in the residence at 570 Pacific. These are likely indications that the house was
built on a minimal budget by a practical carpenter with no formal architectural training. R. E. Lee had a
large family but not a large income. As the sole support of his widowed mother and siblings, it is logical
that his money had to stretch to cover the basics with little scope for the luxury of ornament. This is not a
criticism of his decisions; it is one faced by many home-builders of every era. It is telling, however, that,
as R. E. Lee’s house was under construction, a Tribune reporter described it only as “a very neat and
substantial residence,” which probably summed up a large, plain house very accurately (San Luis Obispo
Morning Tribune 30 September 1894:2). In this section, architectural details will be examined more
closely, working clockwise around the residence.
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Figure 21. The original one-and-a-half-story portion of 570 Pacific Street
was built in 1894. Craftsman-style porch and roof extensions were later
additions (shaded house at left rear is on neighboring parcel).
Figure 22. Altered gable end of elevation facing Pacific Street.
As originally built, the gable end facing Pacific Street (Figure 22) would have had a plain cornice (cf.
Figure 24) without roof extensions or supporting brackets; these modifications (outlined in red) must have
been made when the Craftsman porch was added. The circular window, rectangular windows, and plain
surrounds appear original, but the thin, square trim below the windows is at odds with the wider stock
used above.
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On the south elevation (Figure 23), the dormer and diamond-shaped window are also original but are
distinctly underdeveloped stylistic details having little architectural presence (cf. Figure 13).
Figure 23. Original 1894 south elevation.
Figure 24. Rear elevation, with original gable end and two additions.
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The gable end at the rear of the 1894 residence (Figure 24) shows what the front elevation probably
looked like before the roof extensions were added. The cornice, all four windows, horizontal siding, and
corner boards form a coherent architectural plan not seen on the other elevations. Amateur workmanship,
however, is evident here: the vertical windows, meant to be equally spaced, have varying widths of wall
between the windows and between the outer windows and the corner boards; two of the window
surrounds are pinched against or clipped by the cornice (Figure 25). Wood shingles would have been the
original roofing material; modern asphalt composition shingles are in place now.
Two additions are also attached to the rear elevation. The older frame addition, with vertical board-and-
bat siding, is appropriate to the 1894 house. The modern stucco addition, c. 1962, with a low-profile shed
roof, aluminum slider windows, roughly finished wood steps and rails, and storage areas underneath, is a
completely discordant feature (Figure 26).
Figure 25. Irregularities in workmanship on rear elevation.
Figure 26. Modern stucco addition, c1962.
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Figure 27. Modern parking areas built for the sorority.
Figure 28. Modern decks and fences built for the
sorority house.
Figure 29. No landscaping from the 1894–1920
period survives on the property. Modern
plantings include jacaranda, Indian hawthorn
bush, and other foundation shrubs.
Hundreds of board feet of milled redwood drop siding were used to construct the 1894 residence on
Pacific Street. In the 1870s San Luis Obispo had still been transitioning away from adobe construction
toward wood frame houses. The change was due to several interrelated developments: the increasing
number of Easterners accustomed to frame building traditions and their expanding influence in shaping
the local townscape; increased logging of redwood forests and more lumber mills in operation; and the
construction of wharves along with the maturation of shipping lines and markets. In 1869 the earliest
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local newspaper published an ad for Schwartz, Harford & Co., “Dealers in California and Oregon lumber,
posts, shingles, staves and a full assortment of rough and manufactured lumber and building material”
(San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 11 October 1869:3). As noted earlier, carpenters and builders such as
W. B. Haley and Michael Henderson were also doing business in town at this early date.
San Luis Obispo added its own enhancements to this supply chain with the inauguration of a narrow-
gauge railroad to transport freight from the wharf at Avila into town, and the construction of planing mills
on South Higuera Street. The Pacific Coast Railway yards were stacked with lumber. By the 1880s San
Luis Obispo had scores of one- and two-story frame structures: residences, hotels, stores, barns, livery
stables, and other structures.
In addition to the drop siding on the residence and sunroom at 570 Pacific Street, vertical board-and bat
was used on the early frame addition at the rear, and a third siding material was used to enclose the
foundations of both the residence and addition (Figure 30). Square and rectangular stock was used for
cornerboards, window surrounds, belt courses, and trim. The residence, sunroom, and frame addition all
feature examples of the same tall, narrow windows with one-over-one sash set in very plain surrounds,
each with a very small ledge at the bottom and no drip molding at the top (Figures 31–34). On two of its
three walls the sunroom has wide windows with three panes; the central pane is hinged (Figure 32).
Figure 30. Transition from horizontal drop
siding on residence to board-and-bat on
addition. The cornerboard on the residence is
still present; board foundation skirting on both
the residence and addition.
Figure 31. Original window on north wall of
board-and-bat addition.
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Figure 32. North wall with sunroom addition built with matching materials
between 1903 and 1909. Plain window surrounds match those on addition.
Note exterior electrical wiring.
Just above the sunroom roof there is another gabled dormer window, identical to that on the south
elevation. Like its twin, the plane of this window sash cuts through the cornice and extends down into,
and is flush with, the wall plane (Figures 33 and 34).
Figure 33. Articulation of dormer and sunroom into
north wall plane.
Figure 34. View of sunroom addition at
center of north elevation.
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The character of the residence changed substantially with the addition of the front porch and the roof
extensions above it. At the junction between the residence and the porch, the architectural emphasis
switches abruptly from vertical massing to horizontal massing, mostly due to the broad, deep,
overhanging roofline—one of the character-defining features of the Craftsman style (cf. Figure 20 with
Figures 21, 35, and 36). Associated with the nationally popular Craftsman-style bungalow, this particular
roofline is nearly always accompanied by other hallmark features: deep eaves with triangular, decorative
roof brackets, a grid- or grille-like vent in the gable end; heavy beams across the front and sides of the
porch carrying the weight of the overhanging roof; heavy, square, masonry piers supporting the roof
beams; and a half wall enclosing the porch.
San Luis Obispo has numerous examples of Craftsman bungalows in its early twentieth-century
neighborhoods. The difference in the residence at 570 Pacific Street, however, is that the Craftsman porch
was a late addition affixed to a building of an older and much different style; the old roofline was
modified to suggest an affinity that never existed and that was never envisioned when the house was first
built.
Figure 35. With the porch addition, the older wood-frame elements on the
first-floor are obscured almost entirely by the deep overhanging porch
roof.
Concrete and stucco were used to build the walls of the porch addition, which was partially glazed with
large, wide 4-sash windows (Figures 36, 37, and 39). The bay window was added to the residence
sometime after 1909 but before the porch was added. Neither the angled wall of the bay or the horizontal
drop-siding aligns with the 1894 wall plane (Figure 37). The bay window was completely covered under
the Craftsman porch roof, behind a Craftsman stucco half-wall (Figure 37). Like the other Craftsman
elements, the broad concrete porch deck (Figure 39) is not consistent with an 1894 residence.
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Figure 36. The flatter roof angle, grille, brackets, and decorative elements in
the gable end of the porch have no architectural relationship with the gable
ends of the 1894 residence (cf. Figure 23).
Figure 37. Porch addition built in front of the older residence (cf. Figure 20).
The red arrow indicates a now-isolated piece of the bay-window trim at its
junction with the 1894 corner board (cf. Figure 38).
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Figure 38. Bay-window at left is out of alignment with wall;
the trim on the right end of the bay window is now outside
the porch wall (cf. Figure 37).
Figure 39. Concrete porch deck.
Distinctly different structural elements appear just under the Craftsman roof, where the porch addition
meets the 1894 building (Figures 40 and 41). The top of the square porch support features a blocky,
stepped element to support the main weight of the porch roof, with additional step-end wood brackets to
support the broad eaves. Except for damaged/replaced sections, the underside of the eaves is finished in
tongue-and-groove.
Figure 40. Articulation of porch roof on south elevation.
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Figure 41. Articulation of porch roof on north elevation.
Though the gabled extensions of the 1894 second-story roof and the porch addition were probably built at
the same time, detailed views of the gable ends at the northeast corner reveals a cobbled-together mixture
of materials, small-scale decorative elements, and general poor workmanship (Figures 42 and 43).
Discounting the modern aluminum gutter (which slices into one of them) there are fake “rafter tails”—
nailed to the wall, rather than emerging from the structure – with minimal curved ends. The front-facing
bracket ends with a stepped-block detail (seen also in Figures 40 and 41). Most interesting of all,
however, is the single, small, drilled bracket under the original 1894 eave—one of the very few original
decorative elements (cf. Figures 13 and 17 for other examples of this architectural detail). This small but
distinctive ornament is completely overshadowed by the combined elements of the later roof
configuration.
Figure 42. Arrow indicates the small, drilled bracket, the only architectural
ornament that appears to date to 1894.
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Figure 43. “Rafter tail” nailed to outer wall.
Concrete and stucco dominate the building materials of the front porch and front steps (Figure 44). The
extensive use of concrete is continued from the porch deck down the steps, to the intersecting front
walkways and on to the steps and low wall bordering the Pacific Street sidewalk (Figures 45 and 46).
Figure 44. Blocky concrete and stucco elements
form the half wall and porch support. The wall plane
at the left is plywood infill.
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Figure 45. Concrete front steps flanked by low,
capped concrete piers.
Figure 46. Thick, sloped (battered) concrete walls
separate the front yard from the street sidewalk.
Evaluation of Architectural Resources
California Register of Historical Resources Criteria
Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 21084.1 states that “a project that may cause a substantial adverse
change in the significance of a historical resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the
environment. For purposes of this section, an historical resource is a resource listed in, or determined to
be eligible for listing in, the CRHR. Historical resources included in a local register of historical
resources, as defined in Section 5020.1(k), or deemed significant pursuant to criteria set forth in Section
5024.1 (g), are presumed to be historically or culturally significant for purposes of this section, unless the
preponderance of the evidence demonstrates that the resource is not historically or culturally significant.”
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The purpose of this architectural evaluation, then, is to determine whether any historic-period
architectural resources (i.e., resources constructed in 1971 or earlier) present at 570 Pacific Street meet
the eligibility criteria for listing in the CRHR, or if they otherwise constitute historical resources for the
purposes of CEQA. Eligibility for listing in the CRHR is evaluated under the following four criteria:
• Criterion 1: The resource is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to
the broad patterns of California’s history and cultural heritage;
• Criterion 2: The resource is associated with the lives of persons important in our past;
• Criterion 3: The resource embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or
method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses
high artistic values; or
• Criterion 4. The resource has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in
prehistory or history (PRC Section 5024.1(c)).
EVALUATION UNDER CRHR CRITERION 1
The architectural resources at 570 Pacific Street do not have significance under Criterion 1. Although the
subject parcel was originally part of one of the oldest settled sections of San Luis Obispo, the residence
built by R. E. Lee in 1894 was constructed more than two decades after the initial settlement pattern was
regularized. It was, instead, typical of the more generalized urbanization of late nineteenth-century San
Luis Obispo. The Lee residence was not a catalyst for residential development or architectural style, nor is
it associated with any important events in local, regional, or state history.
EVALUATION UNDER CRHR CRITERION 2
The residence at 570 Pacific Drive does not have significance under Criterion 2. The house is most
closely associated with local house and sign painter Robert Emmet (R. E.) Lee (1866–1920), who hired a
carpenter to build the residence in 1894; with his sister Agnes Lee (1870–1953); and with the extended
Lee family (their mother and younger siblings). The house remained in the family’s possession until
Agnes’s death. R. E. Lee and Agnes were both active in and well-regarded by the community, but they
made no significant, lasting contributions to local, regional, or state history.
EVALUATION UNDER CRHR CRITERION 3
The residence at 570 Pacific Drive does not have significance under Criterion 3. The house was designed
and built as a rather plain, straightforward, one-and-a-half-story frame structure—suitable in size for R. E.
Lee’s large family. Lee had his paint shop building and office constructed in the back yard (on what is
now a different modern parcel). Early frame additions were made on the rear of the residence by 1903,
and a sunroom was added by 1909. No front porch or bay window had been built by this time, though
they were already in place when the Craftsman-style gabled porch and gabled roof extensions were added
to the residence sometime between 1909 and 1926. The gabled elements added to the upper story and the
entire front porch were distinctively different from the 1894 residence. The attachment of these discordant
elements resulted in the loss of any coherent architectural style for the residence, as well as the loss of
important aspects of integrity: design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The quality of
workmanship evident in both the original residence and the additions was only fair, with several amateur
errors and clumsy choices. In sum, the residence is an unsuccessful composite building that lacks
essential elements for significance at the local, regional, or state level.
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EVALUATION UNDER CRHR CRITERION 4
The architectural resources at 570 Pacific Street do not have significance under Criterion 4. Although this
criterion is generally applied to archaeological resources, it may in certain circumstances be appropriate
for built-environment resources displaying unusual construction methods or materials. The residence at
570 Pacific Street, however, does not demonstrate any such unusual features.
City of San Luis Obispo Criteria for Local Listing
As specified in Section 14.01.070 of the City of San Luis Obispo’s 2010 Historic Preservation Ordinance,
the following considerations and evaluation criteria are used to determine if a property should be
designated a local Historic Resource:
When determining if a property should be designated as a listed Historic or Cultural
Resource, the CHC and City Council shall consider this ordinance and State Historic
Preservation Office (“SHPO”) standards. In order to be eligible for designation, the
resource shall exhibit a high level of historic integrity, be at least fifty (50) years old (less
than 50 if it can be demonstrated that enough time has passed to understand its historical
importance) and satisfy at least one of the following criteria:
A. Architectural Criteria: Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period,
region, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or
possesses high artistic values.
(1) Style: Describes the form of a building, such as size, structural shape
and details within that form (e.g. arrangement of windows and doors,
ornamentation, etc.). Building style will be evaluated as a measure of:
a. The relative purity of a traditional style;
b. Rarity of existence at any time in the locale; and/or current
rarity although the structure reflects a once popular style;
c. Traditional, vernacular and/or eclectic influences that represent
a particular social milieu and period of the community; and/or
the uniqueness of hybrid styles and how these styles are put
together.
(2) Design: Describes the architectural concept of a structure and the
quality of artistic merit and craftsmanship of the individual parts.
Reflects how well a particular style or combination of styles are
expressed through compatibility and detailing of elements. Also, suggests
degree to which the designer (e.g., carpenter-builder) accurately
interpreted and conveyed the style(s). Building design will be evaluated
as a measure of:
a. Notable attractiveness with aesthetic appeal because of its
artistic merit, details and craftsmanship (even if not necessarily
unique);
b. An expression of interesting details and eclecticism among
carpenter-builders, although the craftsmanship and artistic
quality may not be superior.
(3) Architect: Describes the professional (an individual or firm) directly
responsible for the building design and plans of the structure. The
architect will be evaluated as a reference to:
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a. A notable architect (e.g., Wright, Morgan), including architects
who made significant contributions to the state or region, or an
architect whose work influenced development of the city, state or
nation.
b. An architect who, in terms of craftsmanship, made significant
contributions to San Luis Obispo (e.g., Abrahams who,
according to local sources, designed the house at 810 Osos -
Frank Avila's father's home - built between 1927–30).
B. Historic Criteria
(1) History – Person: Associated with the lives of persons important to local,
California, or national history. Historic person will be evaluated as a
measure of the degree to which a person or group was:
a. Significant to the community as a public leader (e.g., mayor,
congress member, etc.) or for his or her fame and outstanding
recognition - locally, regionally, or nationally.
b. Significant to the community as a public servant or person who
made early, unique, or outstanding contributions to the
community, important local affairs or institutions (e.g., council
members, educators, medical professionals, clergymen, railroad
officials).
(2) History – Event: Associated with events that have made a significant
contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history or the
cultural heritage of California or the United States. Historic event will
be evaluated as a measure of:
(i) A landmark, famous, or first-of-its-kind event for the city -
regardless of whether the impact of the event spread beyond the
city.
(ii) A relatively unique, important or interesting contribution to the
city (e.g., the Ah Louis Store as the center for Chinese-American
cultural activities in early San Luis Obispo history).
(3) History-Context: Associated with and also a prime illustration of
predominant patterns of political, social, economic, cultural, medical,
educational, governmental, military, industrial, or religious history.
Historic context will be evaluated as a measure of the degree to which it
reflects:
a. Early, first, or major patterns of local history, regardless of
whether the historic effects go beyond the city level, that are
intimately connected with the building (e.g., County Museum).
b. Secondary patterns of local history, but closely associated with
the building (e.g., Park Hotel).
EVALUATION UNDER CITY CRITERION A
The current architectural configuration of the building at 570 Pacific Street is the result of incremental
changes made between 1894, when it was a private family residence, and the 1970s, when it housed a
sorority. Sometime between 1909 and 1926 the most visible of these changes occurred when a Craftsman-
style porch was constructed, and the front eaves of the original residence were extended. The original
one-and-a-half-story residence had been built in a nondescript “Victorian” vernacular style, with few
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character-defining features other than its gabled roof, redwood drop siding, and tall, narrow windows. All
of these features, however, were common in San Luis Obispo from the 1880s into the early twentieth
century. No elements could reliably be classified as rare or diagnostic features. The Craftsman-style
porch, although a coherent architectural element in itself, belongs to a later architectural era and could not
have been imagined in so mature a form in 1894. The carpenter-builder of the 1894 residence has not
been identified, and it is not likely that the same individual built the porch addition some 15 to 30 years
later. The design for the Craftsman porch may have come from one of many published pattern-books
popular in the 1910s and 1920s. The upper eave extensions, however, must have been the work of another
unknown (and not particularly skilled) local carpenter-builder. Even newly completed, the house would
not have qualified as notably attractive. As an example of mixed architectural styles, the residence might
be expected to reveal an interesting measure of idiosyncrasy attributable to its builder or owner, but such
is not the case.
EVALUATION UNDER CITY CRITERION B
The Lee family in general appears to have been regarded with respect and sympathy for their fortitude
through a series of tribulations. R. E. Lee, in particular, as the sole support of his family from the age of
15 until his death at 53, was considered an exemplary man. He held positions of trust in at least three
fraternal organizations and rose to high rank within the Knights of Columbus. He was also popular locally
for the “Victorian music hall” type of humorous skits and songs he performed. His sister, Agnes Lee, was
also active in charitable organizations and in the Native Daughters of the Golden West, but their
contributions, though generous, were not out of the ordinary among their contemporaries. Neither the
residence at 570 Pacific Street nor the owners were associated with any important historical events or
trends in ways that made a lasting contribution to San Luis Obispo.
Integrity Considerations
For both the CRHR and local listings, seven aspects of integrity (location, setting, design, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association) are used to evaluate whether a given resource retains the ability to
convey its significance. The residence at 570 Pacific Street retains only its integrity of location and partial
integrity of setting. Integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association have been
compromised by the Craftsman elements added well after the older residence was first constructed in
1894.
CONCLUSIONS
Lacking both significance and sufficient integrity, the residential property at 570 Pacific Street (APN 003-
514-023) does not meet the criteria for listing in the CRHR, does not meet the criteria for local listing,
and does not otherwise constitute a historical resource for the purposes of CEQA.
PREPARER’S QUALIFICATIONS
SWCA Senior Architectural Historian Paula Juelke Carr, M.A., meets the Secretary of the Interior’s
Standards for Professionally Qualified Staff as both historian and architectural historian. Ms. Carr has
more than 25 years of experience in California history and architectural history, including more than 11
years as an Associate Environmental Planner (Architectural History) for the California Department of
Transportation, District 5. She has been with SWCA since 2017.
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REFERENCES CITED
Angel, Myron
1994 History of San Luis Obispo County, California, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches
of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers [facsimile of 1883 edition]. Sanger, California: Word
Dancer Press, in association with Friends of the Adobes, San Miguel, California.
Cooper, De Guy
1993 Resources of San Luis Obispo County, California: Its geography, climate, location, soil,
productions and institutions. Originally published in 1875 by Bacon & Company, San
Francisco; re-published in 1993, in A Vast Pictorial Domain: San Luis Obispo County in the
1870s, by the Library Associates of the Robert E. Kennedy Library, California Polytechnic
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Glover, Edwin S.
1877 Bird’s-eye view of San Luis Obispo, Cal.
Harris, R. R., and H. C. Ward
1870 Map of the Town of San Luis Obispo, surveyed by R. R. Harris and H. C. Ward, 1870. San
Luis Obispo County Maps Book A, page 168.
Historic Resources Group
2013 City of San Luis Obispo Citywide Historic Context Statement. Prepared for the City of San
Luis Obispo. Available online at: http://www.slocity.org/home/showdocument?id=4042.
Accessed 19 February 2021.
McAlester, Virginia Savage
2015 A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
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[2021] https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/264974.
Morrison, Annie L., and John H. Haydon
2002 Pioneers of San Luis Obispo County and Environs [facsimile of 1917 edition]. Sanger,
California: Word Dancer Press, in association with Friends of the Adobes, San Miguel,
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San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram
1918 Mrs. Lee injured. San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram 13 August 1918:5. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 22 February 2021.
1918 Small blaze. San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram 30 October 1918:5. Available at:
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San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune
1888 [M. Henderson]. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 9 May 1888:3. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
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1894 Mary F Lee to R E Lee. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 22 August 1894:2. Available at:
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1895 R. E. Lee. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 9 November 1895:3 Available at:
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1896 In gala attire. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 28 April 1896:4. Available at:
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1896 R. E. Lee. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 11 July 1896:3. Available at:
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1898 Died. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 19 June 1898:4. Available at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/.
Accessed 19 February 2021.
1899 R. E. Lee. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 18 August 1899:4. Available at:
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1900 [R. E. Lee]. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 29 April 1900:3. Available at:
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1901 R. E. Lee. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 31 August 1901:3. Available at:
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1903 Letters a big sign. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 26 September 1903:1. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
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1915 Personals. San Luis Obispo Morning Tribune 22 June 1915:2. Available at: Available at:
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1920 R. E. Lee passes after long illness. San Luis Obispo Telegram 3 March 1920:1. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 22 February 2021.
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1922 P. McHenry dies in San Jose. San Luis Obispo Tribune 2 June 1922:1. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 22 February 2021.
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2009 John Aloysius “Al” Nunes. San Luis Obispo Tribune 23 May 2009: n.p. (Accessed 2 March
2021 via Ancestry.com).
San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune
1869 M. Henderson, Carpenter and Builder [advertisement]. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 7
August 1869:3. Available at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1872 M. Henderson, Carpenter and Builder [advertisement]. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 8
June 1872:1. Available at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1872 Improvements. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 22 June 1872:3. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1873 Bill. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 22 March 1873:2. Available at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/.
Accessed 16 February 2021.
1873 A fine villa. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 24 April 1875:5. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1875 Three thousand for five. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 11 December 1875:1. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1876 Born. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 7 October 1876:5. Available at: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/.
Accessed 22 February 2021.
1878 Affairs at the depot. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 16 September 1878:4. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1920 Reaper calls Robert E. Lee. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 5 March 1920:1. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
1920 Lee funeral yesterday. San Luis Obispo Weekly Tribune 9 March 1920:8. Available at:
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/. Accessed 16 February 2021.
Sanborn Map Company
1886 San Luis Obispo, September 1886, Sheet 7. Available at:
https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
1891 San Luis Obispo, December 1891, Sheet 10. Available at:
https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
1903 San Luis Obispo, May 1903, Sheet 15. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-
maps/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
1909 San Luis Obispo, July 1909, Sheet 15. Available at: https://www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-
maps/. Accessed 19 February 2021.
1926 San Luis Obispo, April 1926, Sheet 16. Available at San Luis Obispo Community
Development Department.
U.S. Bureau of the Census
1860 Eighth Census – Population Schedule
1870 Ninth Census – Population Schedule
1880 Tenth Census – Population Schedule
1900 Twelfth Census – Population Schedule
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1910 Thirteenth Census – Population Schedule
1920 Fourteenth Census – Population Schedule
1930 Fifteenth Census – Population Schedule
1940 Sixteenth Census – Population Schedule
Watkins, Carleton E.
1876 San Luis Obispo [photograph]. Available at:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/264974. Accessed 19 February 2021.
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