Vintage San Diego: Join the Club

Originally called Long Beach, La Jolla Shores in 1946 was dotted with summer cottages and the occasional grazing cattle. Existing structures included the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Scripps Pier, which was refurbished that year, and the La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club.

The Club began in 1927 as La Jolla Beach & Yacht Club, but the construction of a harbor for boats was abandoned because the ocean was too deep. It was purchased in 1935 by F.W. Kellogg, who built four tennis courts and a swimming pool, and gave it the name it has today. The Beach and Tennis Club became a mecca for tennis players and by 1942 it was already hosting the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championships, among other competitions.

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In April 1949, San Diego Magazine called LJBTC “one of the nation’s most exclusive private beach clubs.” Its 14 acres comprised the Marine Room restaurant and what would become the La Jolla Shores Hotel.

After the owner passed, his son W.S. Kellogg took over with his wife, Florence Scripps Kellogg (niece of Ellen Browning Scripps—small world!). Today, a fourth-generation family member, Bill Kellogg, runs the show.

By the Numbers

May 19, 1941

The Marine Room’s opening night, which coincided with that year’s largest grunion run

$15

Monthly family Club membership in 1949 for La Jolla and SD residents (by invitation only) plus initiation fee of $200

$75,000

LJBTC initiation fee for a family in 2015, with annual dues of $7,940 (minimum wait is three years)

$100–350

Monthly rent, in 1949, for an ocean-facing Club apartment in winter

$52,500

Price of a 5-bedroom, 4.5-bath, beachfront La Jolla home, as listed by Willis M. Allen Company in 1948

$5,600 to $7,000

Price of an oceanview lot adjoining La Jolla Country Club in 1949

Vintage San Diego: Join the Club

Photo courtesy of San Diego History Center