Guides JUNE 24, 2015

Home: Beach Romance

At home with BottleCloth founder Brenda Sacks and her consultant husband, Jeff

Home: Beach Romance

Neighborhood
Windansea

Stats
2,500 square feet, with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms

Their Story

As most businesses start, Brenda Sacks saw a niche that needed to be filled. The South African native­—who worked in the garment industry and with her brother and son created Earthwise Bag Company, one of the first lines of reusable grocery bags­—couldn’t find a stylish placemat that could withstand multiple uses. “I wanted to use something that already existed,” she says. When she saw how cloth made from recycled plastic bottles could be a canvas for design, Brenda began work on BottleCloth, her line of contemporary, eco-friendly table coverings. The tablecloths and runners—look for pillow covers this summer—feature patterns of bold brushstrokes. A woman of many trades, Brenda uses a similar aesthetic for her line of tees, Libre Collecte (pictured above). She designs the pieces in the Windansea home that she shares with her husband, Jeff, a business consultant and BottleCloth’s CFO, as well as her stepson, Nick. Jeff bought the house in 1997, and in 2005, the couple renovated the home, adding a second floor and sprucing up the kitchen. Given its dreamy location facing Windansea Beach, the couple keeps the interior minimal to let their view do the talking. As Jeff puts it, “We feel privileged and lucky every day.”

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

Their Treehouse

To fill out the spacious, sun-drenched living room, Brenda purchased the twin chairs from a now-shuttered Del Mar boutique and a leather reading chair from Restoration Hardware, and custom-designed the coffee table with Colibri Furniture. The dining table was made with a fallen redwood piece that the couple spotted during a trip to Northern California. “This piece was in the river for 60 years!” Brenda says.  Wooden dining chairs from Restoration Hardware round out the space and a BottleCloth tablecloth lends a modern touch.

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

Cut From the Same Cloth

“I love cooking,” Brenda says. “We entertain a lot. Hence the tablecloths!” Though Brenda has collaborated with Danish illustrator Ulla Puggaard on two designs in her collection, most of the patterns come from Brenda’s original sketches. “The brushstroke thing just happened,” she says. “I love instant gratification. The art is so me. I want it to be finished in one stroke. I don’t have the patience to wait!” And each covering has its own feel. “You can mix and match,” she says. “There’s a quirkiness to it.”

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

When the front patio heats up in the summer, Brenda and Jeff retreat to their cool and cozy back patio—usually with wine and a book in hand. “It’s a haven,” she says.

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

Secret Garden

Just as impressive as the Sacks’ ocean view is their back garden, brought to life with rosemary, basil, and other plants, nurtured by Jeff and frequented by their cats Mellow (above) and Squeaky (not pictured). An adjacent window displays Brenda’s favorite hue through various bottles—from Arizona, Amsterdam, Paris, and more—that she has received as gifts. “You see touches of cobalt blue throughout the house.”

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

“Originally there was a piano in here,” Brenda says of her office. “I learned one song, and Jeff was screaming at me!” Now she designs her BottleCloth patterns in this space on a raised work bench purchased at Sears. Inspirational images and lettering, as well as family photos, give the space a personal touch.

Home: Beach Romance

Home: Beach Romance

Work of Art

Before building out her office last year, Brenda put brush to paper at her bedroom desk from Pottery Barn (above). As part of a DIY project, she stripped the color off the desk legs and chipped away pieces. “It’s still half-finished,” she admits. “It’s so weird. It just blended in, and I didn’t need to finish it.” Now with a proper work space, she doesn’t get quite as much time with the Windansea view. “In the beginning I spent a lot of time planning and looking out onto the ocean, spending time with nature,” she says.

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Guides JUNE 11, 2026

A Guide to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in SoCal

From San Diego’s coastline to Los Angeles stadium and fan zones across the region, here’s how to experience soccer’s biggest event

A Guide to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in SoCal
Courtesy of FIFA

When three nations and 16 cities come together to host the FIFA World Cup 2026, the scale stops feeling like a tournament and starts feeling like geography. A continent becomes the stage as borders soften into corridors. And Southern California—shaped by migration, sport, entertainment, and constant movement—sits inside that landscape with all eyes on it.

San Diego and Los Angeles have always felt connected. Hop on the Pacific Surfliner, and the trip unfolds in one continuous stretch of coastline, passing beach towns, neighborhoods, and city centers.

Traveling from San Diego, everything still feels slightly suspended as the Pacific Surfliner follows the coast north with ocean on one side and a slow suburban blur on the other. San Diego stays in exhale. Los Angeles is already building toward something louder.

This summer, Los Angeles will host eight matches of the FIFA World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium, including the US Men’s National Team opener on June 11, while the region stretches into 39 days of programming across stadiums, parks, transit hubs, beaches, and neighborhoods. Instead of one massive fan hub, Los Angeles is embracing a citywide celebration, with fan zones spread across its entirety.

But this pattern has been rehearsed here for decades. In 1994, Southern California became one of the defining stages of the World Cup, when matches at the Rose Bowl placed global attention on the region and turned local stadiums into international landmarks, confirming its ability to hold the world at scale.

What distinguishes Southern California is not just infrastructure, but cultural permeability. Fashion, music, film, art, and sport constantly overlap here, creating an environment where identity is flexible and always in motion. From the Venice boardwalk, where skate culture shaped modern street style, to global soccer stars rubbing shoulders with Hollywood celebs, to authentic Spanish cuisine moving up and down the I-5 corridor, everything circulates.

The World Cup is not introducing anything new here, it’s showing up for the summer and showing out, revealing what this city has always known about itself. What follows is a look at the fan zones and how Los Angeles turns itself into a city-wide stage for the tournament, one neighborhood at a time.

Courtesy of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board

Los Angeles Union Station

As the heart of Los Angeles, Union Station is an official Fan Zone June 25-28 during the World Cup, but in practice it never really stops being one.

It is the city’s circulation point, its meeting ground, its pressure valve. Commuters, travelers, match-day crowds, and everyday Angelenos all move through the same space, and everything mixes, overlaps, and scales in real time. In a way, this is where the World Cup stops arriving in Los Angeles and starts moving through it.

The Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to Los Angeles makes that shift feel almost too easy. No stress or  gridlock anxiety, just a straight line up the coastline with ocean on one side and everything slowly becoming more built on the other. It’s one of the rare ways into LA that doesn’t feel like arrival as friction. You can sit with a laptop, watch the Pacific drift past, grab coffee from the café car, and let the city come to you in pieces.

That’s the beauty of arriving at Union Station. Instead of feeling like you’re on the edge of the city, you’re immediately surrounded by it. And, inside, the station already reads like a World Cup nerve center: banners, movement, multilingual energy, the sense that something global is about to funnel through this exact point. The Heart of the City Fan Zone only sharpens that feeling, with simultaneous match screens, DJ sets, meet and greets, and immersive activations built around marquee games like USA vs. Türkiye.

From there, the city splits outward.

ROW DTLA feels like the first exhale after arrival. A converted industrial campus turned creative district where restaurants, retail, and open-air courtyards form a self-contained ecosystem. If you’re looking for the perfect first meal in LA, make it lunch at Pizzeria Bianco. The thin-crust pizza is reason enough to go, but the space leaves just as much of an impression.

What I liked most about ROW DTLA is how quickly it resets you after the train. One minute you are stepping off at Union Station, and the next you are in a space that feels like its own version of LA, a city inside a city with some of the most curated shopping I’ve ever seen.

Bodega hides itself behind a convenience-store front, a sneaker and streetwear space disguised as something ordinary, like LA refusing to make anything feel too obvious. The whole campus moves like that, part retail, part gallery, part neighborhood you are only temporarily inside.

Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.

Arts & Culture JUNE 10, 2026

30 Fun Ways to Celebrate Father’s Day, 2026

We rounded up the city’s best events, activities, and restaurants to celebrate Dad on June 21

30 Fun Ways to Celebrate Father’s Day, 2026
Courtesy of The Gondola Company

Father’s Day is often the overlooked summer holiday that doesn’t quite get the extravagant brunch treatment or overflowing bouquets that Mother’s Day does. Sure, there’s the annual pair of socks, Padres hat you’re convinced he doesn’t already own, beer subscriptions, phone case doubling as a wallet, plus the classic “Best Dad” keepsakes. But this year, let’s flip the narrative with events, activities, and specials made with Dad in mind.

Whether he wants a quiet dinner, a big screen full of San Diego sports and wings, or a weekend that somehow includes NASCAR, a jazz festival, and a Broadway reimagining, there is something for every dad. Here’s your guide to a memorable Father’s Day in San Diego. 

Jump To: Activities | Bars & Drinks | Dining Specials 


Courtesy of San Diego Mission Bay Resort

Father’s Day Events and Activities in San Diego

NASCAR San Diego Cup Series

Nothing says “Happy Father’s Day” like the sound of engines ripping across Naval Base Coronado. NASCAR is turning this into a historic race weekend that feels less like a casual outing and more like a full-scale San Diego moment people will be talking about long after June is over. This is the first time a NASCAR Cup Series race has ever taken place on an active military base, which instantly puts it in “you had to be there” territory.

It’s fast, loud, and very on-brand for a Father’s Day where Dad suddenly becomes an expert on tire strategy, pit stops, and track positions. The bar might be set unreasonably high for every Father’s Day that follows, but that’s a next-year problem, right?

Price: Tickets available on Ticketmaster  
Dates: June 19–21 | Weekend Schedule
Address: Naval Base Coronado 

Father’s Day Jazz Festival

At Humphreys, Father’s Day gets a little more sophisticated. Roger Friend and an all-star lineup of jazz musicians bring decades of international experience to the bay, where dads can lean into their musical side with head nods and shoe taps. It’s smooth, layered, and exactly the amount of jazz you didn’t realize your playlists were missing. 

Price: Tickets available on Ticketmaster  
Time: 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Address: 241 Shelter Island Drive, San Diego

Father’s Day Cruise to Belmont Park Car Show

Belmont Park is rolling out a Father’s Day lineup that basically turns Mission Beach into a living garage scene, with a free car show featuring everything from polished 1960s Camaros to classic Bel Airs and lowriders. If he has a ride of his own, vintage car owners can join the lineup for $35 per vehicle. After the chrome tour, it’s straight into a Mission Beach classic: boardwalk strolls, fish tacos on the sand, and rides at Belmont Park.

Price: Free to attend | Register vehicle here
Time: 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Address: Belmont Park, 3146 Mission Boulevard, San Diego

Bob Dylan at The Rady Shell

I think it’s an unspoken rule that dads love Bob Dylan. Mine is already figuring out how he’s getting to San Diego for this. But this isn’t just a Father’s Day activity, it’s a cultural event that happens to land on Father’s Day weekend and immediately becomes the plan. Bob Dylan at ​​The Rady Shell means you’ll be surrounded by city lights sparkling across the harbor, legacy music, and at least one moment where Dad leans over and whispers, “You know, this guy wrote everything.” And honestly? He’s not wrong.

Price: Tickets available on Ticketmaster  
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Address: 222 Marina Park Way, San Diego

San Diego County Fair

The San Diego County Fair returns with fried everything, questionable decisions, rides that definitely looked safer in the 2000s, and Dad’s very confident plan to “just walk around for an hour” that somehow turns into an entire day. It’s also the biggest, longest-running community event in San Diego County, running Wednesday, June 10 through Sunday, July 5, with a “Once Upon a Fair” theme. It basically becomes part of the Father’s Day season whether you planned it or not. So, consider this your annual reminder that “happily ever after” can, in fact, involve Cajun honey dogs, cinnamon rolls, a Ferris wheel you swore you wouldn’t go on, and Dad somehow knowing exactly which booth has the best Spam wonton tacos.

Price: Tickets available here: website
Date & Time: June 10 – July 5 (closed Mondays & Tuesdays) | 11 a.m.
Address: 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd, Del Mar

RENT at Diversionary Theatre 

Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.

Food & Drink JUNE 5, 2026

Del Mar Wine & Food Fest Returns With SoCal’s Top Chefs

San Diego’s biggest food and drink festival is back for a week-long celebration of SoCal’s best restaurants, chefs, and wineries from Sept. 30–Oct. 4

Del Mar Wine & Food Fest Returns With SoCal’s Top Chefs
Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival

Maybe it was when Breaking Bad stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul drank mezcal with chefs from San Diego and Food Network on the cliffs over Blacks Beach. Or the dinner outside under lights with Alex Morgan, celebrating some of the country’s most badass women chefs. Or the celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Drew Brees, where the star of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia made thwacking sounds with locals. Or when Iron Chef winner Beau MacMillan commandeered (some say “stole”) a golf cart and delivered drinks and ice to chefs.

Whatever it is, Del Mar Wine & Food seems to have become the food and wine festival for people who don’t usually like food and wine festivals. The most San Diego thing.

Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival

Two years ago, Thrillist named it one of the best food festivals in the country. Last year, 10,000 people came out to experience it, including Guy Fieri. Afterward, the founders spent a couple days trying to put their finger on why it felt so special. They had to name it, lean into whatever that was.

“It all came back to play,” says one of those founders, SDM co-owner Troy Johnson, a longtime San Diego food writer and Food Network judge. “Making world-class bread is serious, but breaking bread shouldn’t be. We gather all these incredibly talented people who take their craft very, very seriously—work their butts off all year to make some of the best food and drink in the country—and then we all just kinda play in the grass. We believe it’s possible to create something of incredible value and make the experience of that thing a laidback, easygoing, unpretentious experience. That’s what this is, and who we are in San Diego. The whole reason we did this was to shine a national spotlight on the people who make our food and drink culture hum.”

Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival

The festival dropped its 2026 lineup today.

Headlining the fest are Food Network chefs Jet Tila, Maneet Chauhan, and Aarti Sequeira; Top Chef winner and Michelin-starred Buddha Lo; Iron Chef alum Beau MacMillan; MasterChef winner Kelsey Murphy; MasterChef Latinos winner Michelle Mathelin, chef and Guy’s Grocery Games judge Catherine McCord,  chef and former Masterchef Mexico judge Benito Molina, Top Chef alum Jackson Kalb, Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman, Michelin-starred chef Javier Plascencia, James Beard award-winning chef Brady Ishiwata Williams, and James Beard-nominated chef Mawa McQueen.

The party kicks off on Wednesday, September 30 at Monarch Ocean Pub with Signature San Diego, a walk-around tasting of the city’s greatest bites, from Baja seafood to bold Mexican flavors. From there, the energy carries into a celebrity pickleball tournament hosted by Drew Brees at Barnes Tennis Center on October 2, pairing friendly competition with an all-inclusive tasting experience in support of Feeding San Diego.

The main event is the two-day Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park on Oct. 3 and 4. The city’s top chefs, food people from TV lands, and local tastemakers gather on the weirdly perfect grass to serve up everything from juicy Wagyu burgers and beef tallow fries to yellowtail tuna tostadas and veggies dressed up in their Sunday best. Wine and cocktail pairings are designed to round out the whole experience, including activations from Aperol Spritz, Hendrick’s Gin, Tequila Ocho, Mezcal Vago, Rioja wines, and Temecula producers.

Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival

A VIP lounge offers exclusive access to curated small plates from Michelin-level chefs and pour from some of SoCal and Napa’s finest wineries and drink makers. The Official After Party at Guesthouse La Valle on October 3, a spirited walk-around tasting just steps from the Grand Tasting, where cocktails take center stage through imaginative bites inspired by the smoky, citrus-forward, and bittersweet flavors of classic drinks.

Zones return with activations including the Big Queer Food Fest celebrating queer chefs and queer-owned businesses; the Wellness Zone led by Novo Dia offering a built-in reset with non-alcoholic mocktails, movement-driven activations, and wellness-forward moments. Coastal lifestyle and locally made brands are also integrated throughout the festival.

“We are excited for the fourth edition of the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival this fall, which has quickly become one of the largest food and wine experiences on the West Coast,” says co-founder Chris Finn. “As the festival continues to grow, we are constantly looking to add events, experiences, and partners that will resonate with our San Diego community, and embody the Southern California way of life.”

Returning as the festival’s partner is local nonprofit Feeding San Diego. To date, Del Mar Wine & Food has raised $100,000 to support their ongoing fight against hunger across the region. 

Stay tuned for additional events hosted by festival partners including Rob Machado, San Diego Wave, San Diego FC, Town & Country, and San Diego Mojo.

Courtesy of Del Mar Wine & Food Festival

Del Mar Wine & Food Fest: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

When is the 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?

The 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival will take place September 30–October 4 throughout San Diego County.

Where is the Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?

The week culminates with the Grand Tasting at Surf Sports Park (formerly the Del Mar Polo Fields) at 14989 Via De La Valle, Del Mar. 

A wide variety of exclusive dinners, drink tastings, and other lifestyle events will be announced soon and available for purchase individually on Del Mar Wine & Food Festival’s website. These festivities include chef-curated dining experiences across San Diego’s hottest restaurants, a celebrity pickleball tournament, wine tastings, and more. 

When is the 2026 Grand Tasting?

The Grand Tasting takes place this year on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4. 

How much are tickets? 

General admission for the single-day Grand Tasting starts at $185. An Early Access option is also available at $235, which includes an extra four hours before general admission to meet, mingle, and feast. For a two-day pass, General Admission starts at $275, while Early Access is $375.

VIP tickets begin at $425 for a single day, offering access to pre-festival experiences, exclusive food vendors, a dedicated VIP area, and more. For the full weekend in VIP, passes are priced at $765.

Where can I buy tickets for the 2026 Del Mar Wine & Food Festival?

Buy tickets today at DelMar.Wine.

Are pets or kids allowed?

Unfortunately, only service animals are allowed at the venue. All attendees must be 21 years or older.

Sponsors: 

  • Alaska Airlines 
  • Aperol Spritz
  • Brandt Beef
  • Coola
  • Glenfiddich
  • Hendrick’s Gin 
  • Justin Winery
  • La Croix 
  • Mezcal Vago 
  • Milagro Tequila 
  • One World Beef
  • Pechanga Resort Casino
  • Rioja Spain’s Finest Wine Region 
  • San Simeon
  • Tequila Ocho
  • The Balvenie
  • Tito’s Handmade Vodka
  • Tullamore D.E.W
  • William Grant & Sons

Lifestyle Partners

  • Big Queer Food Fest 
  • Novo Dia Wellness Experience
  • Town & Country 
  • San Diego Mojo 
  • San Diego FC
  • San Diego Wave

Isabella Dallas is a freelance writer for San Diego Magazine and the Arts and Culture Editor at The Daily Aztec in her final year at San Diego State University. She previously worked as an editorial intern for SDM, but when she’s not writing, you can find her trying the best coffee spots in SD, devouring the latest rom-coms, and indulging in anything and everything pop culture.

Studio S JUNE 8, 2026

Seven Restaurants, One Rising Star

Yes, Chef! winner Emily Brubaker leads the robust culinary program at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa

Seven Restaurants, One Rising Star
Courtesy of Omni La Costa

For Executive Chef Emily Brubaker, Omni La Costa Resort & Spa feels like home. She grew up just a mile-and-a-half away from the 400-acre property and fondly recalls walking the golf course perimeter as a kid. Though her ambitions led her away from San Diego for nearly two decades in which she honed her craft in some of the highest of high-profile Las Vegas restaurants—including triple Michelin-starred Joël Robuchon at MGM Grand—they ultimately brought her back to North County.

Courtesy of Omni La Costa

Today, the classically French-trained chef, who’s fresh off a victory on NBC’s Yes, Chef!, judged by Martha Stewart and José Andrés, oversees Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s seven distinct dining concepts. Her goal is to elevate the resort’s culinary program with her creative, hyperlocal ingredient-driven approach while maintaining the Spanish- inspired flavors and fresh California coastal cuisine that are the bedrock of its culinary identity.

“The San Diego food scene is really growing, and in North County alone, it’s really exploded in the last five years,” Brubaker says. “There are Michelin stars, beautiful tasting menus, craft bakers, and all this food—when I was growing up in La Costa, it was fish tacos. Now there are really cool things popping up, and I’m so happy to be here to see where it’s going to go.”

Brubaker gives chefs de cuisine at each individual restaurant autonomy, however, her influence is evident across the resort.

For example, lobby restaurant Bar Traza serves as Omni La Costa’s culinary centerpiece and features bold Spanish flavors in a lively, social atmosphere. Brubaker overhauled the menu to be more consistent and centered on casual bites with that signature vibe. Think smoky paprika, vibrant citrus, and Spanish meats and cheeses.

At VUE, the focus is on seasonal offerings, California coastal cuisine, and Baja-inspired dishes. She and Chef de Cuisine Cameron Dixon change the menu biannually, which heading into summer, will highlight farm-fresh produce and hyperlocal ingredients—the resort even has its own herb garden and honeybee hives.

Courtesy of Omni La Costa

Poolside dining options are leaning into the country’s 250th this summer with a selection of classic American dishes with an Omni La Costa twist. And Bob’s Steak & Chop House (Brubaker is a trained butcher) offers a classic steakhouse experience with elevated service.

The chef and company also plan menus for special events at the resort where her creativity can really shine. For an upcoming National Ski Association dinner, the banquet hall will be transformed into an Alpine-themed winter wonderland complete with a snow machine, savory sausages, and melty, decadent raclette. A recent dinner was built around the Carlsbad Flower Fields and each course was matched to a color of ranunculus (Did you know pink dragonfruit are grown in North County? You do now.).

“It’s my zen to be in the kitchen playing with food,” Brubaker says.

Omni La Costa’s culinary program is a key part of the resort experience. And with Brubaker’s leadership, it’s becoming a draw for visitors and locals alike.

“These aren’t just hotel restaurants, these are restaurants that you should go to. They’re destinations, and I’m really hoping for the future that’s where we’re going,” Brubaker says.

Courtesy of Omni La Costa

Brubaker is also channeling her experience on Yes, Chef! into the culture at Omni La Costa—more emphasis on teamwork and collaboration, empowering her staff to share constructive critiques, and embracing different perspectives. Alongside her leadership role, Brubaker has become an advocate for mental health in the hospitality industry, serving as chief ambassador for the Burnt Chef Project and serves on the Board of Advisors for the Apex Culinary Program, where she mentors and develops future talent.

For more on Omni La Costa Resort & Spa and its dining program, please visit omnihotels.com/hotels/san-diego-la-costa.

Partner Content
Everything SD JUNE 5, 2026

The Best Restaurants in San Diego 2026

We asked, you voted, and food critic Troy Johnson chose his favorites—these are the top food and drink people and places in the city

The Best Restaurants in San Diego 2026
Photo Credit: Eric Wolfinger

Some keep lists of favorite books, of quotes, of enemies whose time shall come. At SDM we keep vast, nuanced, hotly debated lists of the best food and drink in the city. Menus are our smut novels. From Michelin stars to mom and pops, our list constantly evolves over hundreds of new bites tried every year. Here’s the 2026 list from food critic Troy Johnson and 129,000-plus votes from our readers, who really, really know their food.

Scroll down for the full list of Best Restaurant winners

Troy Johnson

About Troy Johnson

Troy Johnson is the magazine’s award-winning food writer and humorist, and a long-standing expert on Food Network. His work has been featured on NatGeo, Travel Channel, NPR, and in Food Matters, a textbook of the best American food writing.

Everything SD MAY 27, 2026

The Eight Architects Who Defined Modernism In San Diego

"The Distinct Modernism of San Diego" tells the story of how some architects pioneered their own style in 20th-century San Diego

The Eight Architects Who Defined Modernism In San Diego
Photo Credit: Ollie Patterson

San Diego is just out here minding its own business. It’s long been cast as Los Angeles’s less ambitious sibling—the chill one, the one who shows up late for dinner reservations in flip-flops with a few provocative opinions. Architecturally it’s often cast the same: secondary, derivative, a footnote to California modernism that seems to begin and end with the Stahl House (Case Study House #22). LA has Pierre Koenig, Craig Ellwood, John Lautner. San Diego has the original fish taco.

But this version of the story is redacted, metaphorically speaking.

While the jazz hands of Hollywood and its hills cast a spell on historians and architecture buffs, San Diego had, and has, its own quiet evolution: It invented and reinvented itself through homegrown modernism, beginning with The Allen House (1907) in Bonita by Irving J. Gill.

“The biggest misconception is that San Diego was following Los Angeles,” says Keith York of Modern San Diego, one of the city’s top guides to modernist architecture. “Those who consider Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra as the fathers of Southern California Modernism often fail to recognize the outsize influence Gill and his buildings had on their work.”

Courtesy of Keith York

A new book, The Distinct Modernism of San Diego—written by Mark Hargreaves and Hallie Swenson, published by York—focuses on eight architects who were born, raised, or built their careers in San Diego. It illustrates how the city wasn’t hosting weekend warrior architects on side quests. It was a staging ground for a less look-at-me modernism from luminaries like Gill, Lilian J. Rice, Richard Requa, Lloyd Ruocco, Frederick Liebhardt, Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, Sim Bruce Richards, and Cliff May.

“Absent the backstabbing competition for projects, a collegial group of architectural peers collaborated and maintained lasting friendships with one another as they designed in response to the temperate climate and slower economy,” York says.

Largely unknown until the mid-1960s, Gill is a marquee name today. He arrived here from the East Coast at a moment when San Diego was still defining itself, which gave him the freedom to invent something new, experiment, rebel.

Instead of imposing the flourishes and frills of the time, he considered San Diego’s climate, light, landscape, history—the joie de vivre—and designed for this place. “[Architects of the west] must have the courage to fling aside every device that distracts the eye from structural beauty, must break through convention and get down to fundamental truths,” he once said, a sentiment that nails the un-ornate, total lack of pretension that’s defined San Diego people and culture.

And, lo, did Gill fling: His flat roofs, clean lines, and almost no ornamentation—though not necessarily modernism in the Eames or Eichler sense—foreshadowed what would later be called minimalism. Gill eventually became synonymous with the Los Angeles narrative, but broader architectural histories overlook the fact that his most progressive designs happened here.

Courtesy of Keith York

Another key to San Diego’s architectural movement was Lilian J. Rice, who often worked behind the scenes with little credit. She was one of only about 10 women in America licensed as architects at the time. Even though she died from cancer at 43, she somehow managed to complete an estimated 170 projects in the region, many in Rancho Santa Fe.

Born and raised in National City, Rice also wasn’t importing ideas. She shaped her own based on her understanding of this region and her commitment to protect the natural environment. Her work has been categorized as Spanish Colonial Revival, but she wasn’t reviving as much as she was refining a style suited to our border region—serene, mirroring nature, beautiful.

“San Diego architects were designing for a way of life, not just a look,” says York.

Like Sim Bruce Richards, who was his own way of life. While Gill stripped away ornamentation and Rice focused on the peace of open spaces, Richards came along several decades later and went full emo. By then, modernism had grown deep roots; its steel-and-glass structures took themselves very seriously. Richards came to party.

Photo Credit: Ollie Patterson

An eccentric, unpredictable man with half a face (part of his jaw was removed following a bone infection when he was a child), his life was a jalopy of adventures. He was opinionated and passionate about design, music, texture—and he created what he called a “sensuous environment.” He wanted his clients and their guests to feel the spaces as much as to be in them, appealing to the visual, tactile, nasal (“a cedar house smells good”), auditory (“acoustically superior”), even taste. “Though, I‘ve never had a client lick my houses,” he once wrote.

Organic, woodsy, textured, aromatic—if you ever find yourself in a Sim Bruce Richards house, a licking impulse might not seem so outrageous.

Gill, Rice, Richards and the other architects in Distinct Modernism built a legacy in San Diego that resonates nationally. And the work of these heavy hitters isn’t stuck in an inaccessible collectors realm: This October, homes by Kellogg and Liebhardt will open to the public as part of the La Jolla Modernism Home Tour—an opportunity to experience it not as a museum relic or magazine image (ahem), but as something alive.

Modernism in San Diego was never about glamour or an intention to be iconic. What transpired here is more nuanced, more ingrained with a less shouty aesthetic. A very San Diego aesthetic.

Partner Content JUNE 10, 2026

New Options for GLP-1 Users

Scripps study shows that some patients may be able to taper their dose and maintain results

New Options for GLP-1 Users
Courtesy of Scripps Health

While glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agents have been used to treat Type 2 diabetes for more than 20 years, their recent emergence as weight-loss wonder drugs marked a new frontier in medicine. But their effectiveness has left some patients wondering what to do once they’ve reached their goal. Stopping the medication could mean regaining some, if not all, of the weight. A Scripps Clinic internal medicine physician recently conducted a small study of whether GLP-1 patients who had reached their goal weight could maintain that weight by taking their regularly prescribed injection every other week instead of weekly. Spoiler alert: 30 of 34 patients did. Read more about the study here and what that may mean as pharmaceutical companies roll out oral GLP-1s.

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