Archibald Quincy Jones
(1913 - 1979)

According to Cory Buckner in A. Quincy Jones (Phaidon, 2002), the San Diego House, San Diego, 1948. H.C. Hvistendahl, developer, A. Quincy Jones, Architect was described as follows:

In 1948, because he felt that no on in the San Diego area had yet cashed in on the appeal of “a good contemporary low cost house,” local builder H.C. Hvistendahl asked Jones to design a two-bedroom exhibition house. In 1950, Architectural Forum commented of the house “Here is an architect’s solution to a builder’s problem which proves that top-flight modern design can offer more for the money in the most competitive building field – the $10,000 house market.”

Designed as an affordable, contemporary dwelling that could be built for people who already owned their lots, the 1,000-square-foot-house featured rooms that opened to a patio and a built-in kitchen that opened onto a dining area. The majestic, low-sloping roof was similar to that of Model 111 of the Mutual Housing Association development. Public reaction to the house was mixed. Many people, according to Hvistendahl, had never been exposed to severely functional architecture, and they found it rather staggering at first sight. But after two months of open house viewings, five hundred people per day were still passing through. Contemporary magazines commented that with Jones’s project, the door had been opened to contemporary architecture for the low-cost house.

Jones was awarded the National AIA First Honor Award in 1950 for this project. It appealed to the jury for three principal reasons. In appearance it is well handled, with elements beautifully related and details carefully studied. In addition, it is a serious and apparently successful attempt to approach the problems of building in the low-cost market. It was designed for construction on any lot in San Diego County for $8,750; the limitation of the program to the 1,200 square feet of usable floor area was aimed to demonstrate good design for the low-cost housing market. Its plan is compact and workable, with circulation carefully studied, and the entire lot is utilized as part of the living area.

The similarities with the Mutual Housing Association houses are striking. Both projects featured post-and-beam construction, exposed tongue-and-groove ceilings, and exposed plywood cabinets with molded plywood door and drawer pulls. The inclusion of built-in cabinets and furniture helped moderate-income families keep down the cost of furnishing their homes.

In other publications, the San Diego Houses were referred to as Sun Villas. This home won a national Honor Award from the AIA (in 1950), the first such award for a San Diego project. The original model home for the line of "Sun Villas" was located at 2548 El Cajon Boulevard in 1950. At the time, Magazine San Diego noted that Sun Villas were published in .

San Diegans who have been following, with covetous eyes, the now snowballing swing to contemporary architecture in the big home and garden magazines, have often wondered why so few people have built that way here. The reason, of course, is not only the customary reluctance of most people to accept anything new, but the more fundamental drawback of high cost. The average family simply cannot afford the sizeable architect and contractor fees to build one of these rambling structures with their walls of glassand their vigorous uninhibited plans. There are hundreds of pseudo moderns around, but the truly architecturally designed contemporary homes are thinly scattered.

One solution to this problem, offered by a San Diego company, the Cal-Sun Home Building Co., has been attracting nation-wide notice. Last year a La Jolla contractor, A.C. Hvistendahl, called in teh brilliant modern architect, Mr. A. quincy Jones, to design a home incorporating many of these new ideas but selling for a moderate price on a semi-volume contract basis. The theory was that although good contemporary is out of the reach of the average buyer if only a single unit is designed and built, the price can be competitive when a number of houses based on a sound, advanced architectural design are constructed. The result is San Diego's Sun Villa, a functional completely modern two bedroom home in which every room is the house opens onto its own private garden. Screening garden fences insure privacy from neighbors and permit the extensive use of glass walls, making living and entertaining areas interchangeable with the patios and terrace.

There are alternate plans for one, two or three bedroom homes. the two bedroom basic home is priced to sell below $9000 and has both FHA and GI financing approval.

The plan is remarkable for its solution to another problem of economy that usually is disregarded: itis so equipped that a person who spends his last penny for it has to add only a minimum of equipment and furniture. The low price includes built-in dressing table in the larger bedroom, built-in phone table and desk, bar service counter and bunk beds. Undeniably this collection of plywood built-ins leaves the owner little chance of asserting his own taste, but that is the price he pays for an excellently planned economy house. The low cost and originality of Jone's plan have attracted considerable nation-wide publicity.

The exterior walls, are approximately 60 per cent glass. Sidewalk trellis extends from garage to above the front door to shatter the direct rays of the sun.

Partial List of San Diego Projects

Development of Hotel Del Coronado Property for Ben Deane
Unbuilt

Mandeville Center for the Arts (designed 1968, built 1975)
UCSD Campus

Mission Valley West
Design attributed to Jones & Emmons, while architects and engineers were Frank L. Hope & Associates.

Proposed Development on Coronado Island for Irving C. Jordan and Nels G. Severin
Unbuilt

San Luis Rey Estates Tract (1963)
The firm of Jones & Emmons built a number of houses on the following Oceanside streets: Frontier, Sahara, Sands, Las Vegas, Hacienda, Flamingo, Riviera, Mint, Tacayme, Siesta, Redondo, Lun and Sol Sitio.

Hvistendahl, H.C. Residence (1951)
2400 El Cajon Blvd.
As noted in A Guide to Contemporary Architecture in Southern California

Sun Villa (1950)
3711 Dudley Street, Point Loma

Sun Villa Model Home (1950)
2548 El Cajon Blvd

Sun Villa (1950)
3021 North Evergreen, Point Loma
This particular well-photographed example (circa 1949/1950) was destroyed by its 2nd owner and flipped for a profit a few years ago despite educating both realtors and the purchaser.

Sun Villa(1950)
9211 Lavell, Mt. Helix
After purchasing plans for a Sun Villa, the owner had Jones add a 3rd bedroom to the stock plans. 1of approximately 12 "Sun Villas" built and sold in San Diego.

Sun Villa (1950)
5417 Pennsylvania Lane, La Mesa

Sun Villa (1951)
2015 S. Nevada Street, Oceanside

Sun Villa (1951)
1647 Berenda Place
Altered in recent years - including the addition of a second story.

Union Rescue Mission (ca. 1950)
Green Oak Ranch, Vista

Every room, like the living area, opens to the outdoors. The roof assembly is supported on columns, with no load on exterior or interior wallls.

Efficient use of space in the small bedroom, the built-in bunk beds and wardrobe in yacht-like natural finish.

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The kitchen is furnished like the living area, has big glass windows and avoids any impression of isolation from the rest of the house. Service bar divides dining area from kitchen. Standard equipment includes garbage disposal and dishmaster.

The master bedroom features built-in dressing table and sliding panel wardrobes with enclosed shirt trays, apparel shelves and shoe racks. Wall at right is all glass, opens onto completely enclosed outdoor sun room, formed by outside extension of the walls of the bedroom and garage.

The main patio opens off the living room and is actually a part of it through the use of high screening fences, which are optional, and the floor to ceiling walls of glass.

The fireplace, with its firebrick hearth and deep fire box, is impressively large and the focal point of the living room.