TWO HOMES RECOMMENDED FOR OCEANSIDE’S MILLS ACT PROGRAM

Structures built in 1920s are examples of unusual styles

Two homes built in the 1920s in downtown Oceanside have been recommended for the city’s Mills Act program, which provides tax benefits for owners who agree to protect historic structures.

One is known as the Willett residence, for its original owner, who built it in 1928 in the 400 block of South Nevada Street. The single-story, asymmetrical, smooth stucco building has a steep pitched roof in the French Eclectic style.

The other is the Steel residence, built in 1929 in the 900 block of West Street as part of the 12-lot Plumosa Heights subdivision. The flat-roofed Steel residence is a rare example of the Egyptian Revival style and the only extant example of the style in Oceanside, according to a city report.

“They are a couple of my favorite houses in Oceanside,” said John Daley, vice president of the Oceanside Historical Society and a member of the city’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission. “They are very unusual.”

The advisory commission last week unanimously recommended the City Council approve contracts with the property owners at a meeting later this year.

The Willett residence on South Nevada Street is in “very good condition” and remains unchanged except for an unattached garage added after 1962, according to a city report. The current owner is Larry Gerling.

The first owner, George Willett, was a local contractor who built some notable structures, including the Bank of Italy building on North Coast Highway in downtown Oceanside. The Bank of Italy later became Bank of America and today houses Swami’s Cafe.

Other previous owners of the Willett residence include Harry Witman, who was the last ranch manager of the Santa Margarita Rancho, now part of Camp Pendleton, and an Oceanside City Council member and mayor; Raymond Bernard Goodman, owner of several local businesses and organizer of the local Moose lodge; James P. Sullivan, a City Council member and Oceanside Chamber of Commerce manager who helped develop the Oceanside harbor; and Herbert Quartus Johnson, a businessman, real estate manager and Chamber of Commerce board member.

The Egyptian Revival style represented by the Steel residence is more unusual.

“It is representative of a subtype of Art Deco that enjoyed a short-lived resurgence in popularity after the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s

tomb in 1922, and which is only seen in homes of the period,” the city report states.

Dominique Babcock is the current owner. The original owner, Orvill Steel, was connected to the Egyptian Revival movement and built another house in that style in Encinitas in 1923.

Oceanside is one of several cities in San Diego County with a program based on the Mills Act, which the state Legislature adopted in 1972. Participants can save 40 percent to 60 percent on their property taxes if they sign an agreement with the city to preserve, rehabilitate and maintain the historical and architectural character of their property.

Carlsbad adopted its version of the program last year, prompted by an effort to preserve the Culver-myers-capp house, a twostory Victorian built in 1887 at the corner of Highland Drive and Oak Avenue.

San Diego, Escondido, Chula Vista, La Mesa, Coronado and National City also have Mills Act programs.

The Willett residence, named for its original owner, was built it in 1928 on South Nevada Street. The French Eclectic house is in “very good condition.”

PHIL DIEHL U-T PHOTOS The Steel residence, built in 1929 on West Street as part of the 12-lot Plumosa Heights subdivision, is a a rare example of the Egyptian Revival style.