Hidden Gem in University Heights: “The Manor House”

“The Manor House” of Madison Avenue Villas in University Heights

At the west end of Madison Avenue in University Heights, the Madison Avenue Villas townhome community surrounds a 97-year-old Spanish Colonial home dubbed the “Manor House” by neighbors.  The Manor House was built in 1926 by George Crowley on Villa Lot 80 of the University Heights Resubdivision Map No. 1011, filed with the County Recorder in 1906.  Lot 80 is a scenic hilltop promontory overlooking Mission Valley from the Ocean west to the Mountains east; a fantastic place to build a nearly 3,000 square foot home for wealthy San Diegans in the 1920s.

The Manor House has the classic features of Spanish Colonial architecture, which was all the rage after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition at Balboa Park.  The home has low-pitched red-tile roofing, stucco siding, an arched entryway, and asymmetric roofing typical of that style.  Extensive woodwork lines the main room and dining room of the home, with a large window facing Mission Bay and the Ocean.

The short arced segment of today’s Madison Avenue was renamed several times between the 1920s and the 1950s, and the Manor House’s street address similarly changed:  600 Golden Gate Drive, 4501 Golden Gate Drive, 601 Madison Avenue, and 4487 Caminito Fuente all refer to the same house on the same lot!

After George Crowley built the Manor House, he sold it to Victor and Helen Green in 1928.  Three years later in 1931, the Greens sold the home to Samuel and Anna Mason.  At the time, Samuel was a president of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Board of Directors of the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park, and vice president and general manager at both the San Diego Electric Railway and the San Diego & Coronado Ferry companies.

The Masons lived in the Manor House from 1931 until 1941 when they sold it to Irve C. Boldman, a San Diego lawyer and celebrated horse enthusiast.  The Boldman family was particularly fond of Palomino horses and participated in parades in California and Arizona, including sixteen Rose Bowl parades.  The Boldmans purchased both Lots 79 and 80 and built horse stables on the combined properties.

Mr. Boldman passed away in 1971 and the two lots with the Manor House were sold to Dick King, a real estate developer who built the townhome community that now surrounds the Manor House.  He designed the community in a Spanish Mediterranean style to complement the Spanish Colonial style of the Manor House.  Sadly, Mr. King passed away in 2023.

The Author would like to commend the University Heights Historical Society for its historical research guides. These guides were used by the Author to obtain advice, steps, and links to a wealth of online historical resources.  In particular, the online San Diego City Directories and the online San Diego City Property Tax Records from the 1920s thru 1940s provided the history of ownership of the Manor House.