By Janet Worthey

The Mission Hills neighborhood of San Diego features a rich variety of early-20th-century architectural styles built during the neighborhood’s rapid growth. This year, Mission Hills Heritage will be showcasing the Colonial Revival style during its 12th annual Historic Home Tour.

Merely hearing the term “Colonial Revival” evokes visions of East Coast Colonial homes of white wooden structures or grand redbrick homes with well-kept green lawns and graceful trees. In wintertime, smoke swirls and billows from chimneys atop snow-covered roofs as the distinctive scent of wood-burning fireplaces fills the air.

Since San Diego rarely encounters true winter weather, duplicating the feel of an East Coast winter during Colonial times would be a challenge! However, Mission Hills was fortunate to have had talented local architects and builders as well as those who migrated to San Diego, designing and building almost 75 Colonial Revival homes.

Between 1922 and 1925, a need for veteran housing provided incentive for building most of the smaller Colonial examples. Soon after, the passing of the War Preparedness Act of 1935 allocated millions of dollars to restore and expand San Diego’s military facilities, creating thousands of jobs and spawning a patriotic fervor. Many larger, more impressive examples of Colonial Revival were built during this second boom, which lasted through the 1940s.

During the Historic Home Tour, you can view both the exterior and interior beauty of this historic American style. A few notable characteristics of classic Colonial style include paired chimneys, bay windows and Greek columns framing a centralized entry door.

Participants will be greeted by Mission Hills Heritage docents who will accompany tour guests through each home, sharing intriguing information. As an additional feature this year, there will be a tour of the 1915 historic Mission Hills United Methodist Church, a significant landmark in Mission Hills. The tour is self-paced and the homes can be visited in any order. Please note that the distances between the houses will likely require driving.

The Historical Home Tour takes place on Saturday, Sept. 24. The ticket office will be at the Mission Hills United Methodist Church, located at 4044 Lark St. (corner of Fort Stockton and Lark Street). Ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. The tour begins at 11 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. The will call and ticket sale tables will be at the church and refreshments will be served in the Social Hall of the church from 2–4:30 p.m.

Advance tickets cost $20 for Mission Hills Heritage members, $25 for non-members. Purchased online at bit.ly/2aUO8sy.

Day of tour tickets cost $25 for members, $30 for non-members (cash or checks only).

For will call, advance ticket sales, times and additional information, visit MissionHillsHeritage.org. Email to [email protected] or call 619-497-1193.