San Diego

The Long-Waterman House in San Diego is one of the grandest of the great Bankers’ Hill mansions built during the boom period of the 1880s. It was constructed in 1889 by John Long, designed in the California Queen Anne style.

Ulysses S. Grant Jr. (son of President Grant), oversaw the building of the U.S. Grant Hotel, named after his father, in San Diego. Opening in October, 1910, it quickly became _the_ scene for social and political activities.

The Villa Montezuma, built in 1887 in San Diego as the home of pianist, author and spiritualist Jesse Shepard, defies exact architectural classification, combining Moorish or Turkish and Gothic Influence in a general Queen Anne style.

This structure was, for 35 years, the headquarters of the San Diego Eagles Aerie, a fraternal group making philanthropic contributions to the community. The Eagles Hall retains much of its appearance when the hall was expanded in 1934.

The Hawthorne Inn was built in 1900 for Dr. Edward Butler and his wife, Jennie. It is one of the few remaining large wood frame inns of its period, a working man’s hotel, without frills. San Diego has no remaining comparable structure.

The El Cortez Apartment Hotel, or simply the El Cortez, opened for business on November 23, 1927. Over 50,000 San Diegans, almost a 1/3 of the city population, toured the new tallest building in San Diego on its opening day.