 |
As one of San Diego's premier modernist architects, Henry
Hester's designs are described as "clean and straight".
His two Borrego Springs projects evoke similar descriptions.
Born in 1925 in Oklahoma, Hester moved to San Diego with
his family as a youth. He attended Roosevelt High School
and Brown Military Academy before serving in the Coast Guard
during World War II. In 1947, he graduated from the University
of Southern California with a degree in architecture and
moved to La Jolla. Early mentors of Hester include William
Cody of Palm Springs and San Diego's own pioneering mid-century
modernist, Lloyd Ruocco. Over the year's Hester would form
partnerships with Fred Liebhardt (1957); Ronald K. Davis
(1958-1959); William Cody (1958-1960) and Robert E. Jones
(1960-1967).1
One of Hester's most notable San Diego designs is the
Solomon Apartments (1958) on Sixth Avenue across from Balboa
Park. When the complex opened it was marketed as San Diego's
"Most Distinguished Place to Live".
With a career spanning four decades, Hester received numerous
local and national awards from the American Institute of
Architects although he remained an "intensely private
man".
"He was proud of his custom residences and
of being an independent person, his own man", said
his wife Nancy. "He did it his way" 2
In 2006, Hester died at the age of 81. He was described
by fellow modernist Hal Sadler as:
"In many ways Henry was an architect's architect. He
loved detail and design. Above all, he was a special guy". 3
De Anza Country Club - Givler Residence
This home on the 12th green is striking in its geometry and
proportion. Designed for David Givler it is one of three "first"
homes to be built at de Anza Desert Country Club. Initially
the home was used as a winter residence only. The winter months
are Borrego Springs' "on" season.
The home is painted its original black color, which was used
to absorb the winter sun's warmth and radiate it back into
the living space. The home is small in square footage with
one bedroom and one bath, yet speaks volumes about the interaction
between the interior and the exterior natural environment.
The house is laid out in an "I" shape with kitchen
on one end and bedroom on the other. A corridor of floor to
ceiling glass becomes the central living space and is open
to expansive views of the golf course on one side and the
natural beauty of the desert on the other. The building also
holds an interior courtyard shielded from public view. The
main house is also joined on the property with a detached
one bedroom, one bath, guesthouse that also features an interior
courtyard.
Although changes have been made in the home, it retains
much of its original fabric. The home's previous owners
added air conditioning, taking care not to interrupt the
lines of the home, essential to year-round desert living.
The kitchen is original although in the 1980's new flooring
was added.
In 2005 the then owners described living in the home as:
"Truly an exercise in minimalism. The best
part is it offers floor to ceiling contact with the outdoors.
It allows you to enjoy acres of golf course. It encourages
you to enjoy all the land around it, not just the interior.
It feels like it is a huge house because of the connection
to the outdoors."
Borrego Springs Park - Borrego Springs Resort (1963)
Following the success at de Anza, San Diego developer and
builder John Anderson took the next step towards development
of a second golf course resort in the Borrego Valley - the
purchase in April of 1961 of the Ensign Ranch for a reported
$1,450,000. 4
Initial plans called for development of a 1,200
acre senior community with a public golf course, final development
would be a total 4,000 home sites.
The Ensign Ranch had been one of Borrego's oldest and best
known landmarks. It was the site of San Diego County's only
commercial date farm. 5
In March of 1962, the ranch was sold again, this time to Irvin
Kahn and Carlos Tavares who headed up the Borrego Springs
Park Corporation. Many of the original projects investors
were folded into this group of owners. Both Kahn and Tavares
are well known San Diego developers - Tavares partnered with
Lou Burgener in the development of Clairemont. Kahn was responsible
for the development of University City. Lou Burgener's brother
Clair handled both the sale and purchase. Clair Burgener was
active in Borrego Springs real estate, having at the time
one of the largest real estate offices in the Valley. (Clair
Burgener, a Republican, represented San Diego in Congress
from 1972-1982). Lou Burgener was also a member of de Anza
Country Club and had built a home there. The Borrego Sun
reported in April of 1962: "a master land use plan for
development of the acreage is now being drafted by Kenneth
Mitchell of Los Angeles, former head planner or the Los Angeles
FHA office…An 18 hole golf course is being designed by
Billy Bell Jr."
In a front page, July 1963 Borrego Sun article, Henry
Hester and the partnership of Hester and Jones is mentioned
as architects on the first homes and clubhouse. The homes
are modular steel - and built by a subsidiary of the Rohr
Aircraft Corporation;
"Officers of the company have announced that they
have contracted with Modular Components Inc. of Riverside,
a wholly owned subsidiary of Rohr Aircraft Corp for delivery
of 140 of the company's revolutionary modular component
houses.
Unlike the earlier pre-finished houses the Rohr house is
adaptable to a wide variety of architectural designs. The
homes for Borrego Springs Park have been designed by Hester,
Jones and Associates, AIA, of La Jolla.
Henry Hester, who admits that as an architect he is not
a "fan" of manufactured homes, has nothing but
praise for the Rohr product. He believes it is especially
suited for the desert because of kits heavy insulation in
wall and ceiling panels and the durability of its color-impregnated
exterior.
Design details of the clubhouse to serve the golf course
have been virtually completed by Hester & Jones. This
will be a 10,000 square foot building with dining room,
cocktail bar, lounge, men's and women's locker rooms, swimming
pool and recreational area for volleyball, shuffleboard,
etc.
Also nearing completion is design of a California mission
style entranceway to the project at Titling T and Borrego
Valley Road."
 |
Construction for the first apartment units (now Club Circle)
began in April of 1964. The following month the first family
moved into the area. The clubhouse opened in December of 1964.
In January of 1965, Tavares buys out the interests of Irvin
Kahn and construction is set to start on 200 "tri-zone
and duo-zone" units' "The tri-zone and duo-zone
units Stenwick (resident manager of the project) described
as essentially single family dwellings which can be closed
off to make one or two rental units in addition to the owner's
dwelling space…These new units will be built at Rohr
Aircraft's Modular Components division and will be erected
on the site east of the clubhouse." 6
However in late 1964, early 1965, the financing of the
Borrego Springs Park Development Company unravels. The County
Marshall, in a bankruptcy proceeding, padlocked the Hester
& Jones clubhouse. The golf course and clubhouse would
then sit vacant - for 34 years. In 1991, John & Bill
Cameron (Cameron Brothers Construction Company) purchased
the property and began a $100 million dollar project to
restore the course and clubhouse, to build a new hotel and
develop senior housing. John Cameron says when they bought
the clubhouse "the ceiling was on the floor" and
"We redid the clubhouse just as it was. We liked it
when we were here many years ago (John Cameron was attending
a conference of the San Diego General Contractors Association
when the Marshall padlocked the building) and we didn't
want to modernize it with pink paint". 7
|
 |
