The house on the slope of Mount Soledad looks like it\u2019s right out of a movie. And, the owners say, there\u2019s a reason for that. The shell was designed by the late Bill Bloom, a family friend who once helped construct Hollywood sets. The house started out in 1941 as a two-bedroom, one-bath, stucco beach cottage. Years later, new owners added a dining room and a second story with two more bedrooms. In 1973, when Judy and Ray Bezverkow moved there with their two children, “It was nondescript and kind of boxy,” said Judy. Ray agreed. “A box within a box,” Ray said. They wanted something with more flair, something that would go with their antiques, Judy said. So, in 1982, Bloom designed what Judy refers to as a “casual Victorian,” obliterating the original style and even the first remodel as seen from the street. The fa\u00e7ade is paneled in natural shiplap cedar and festooned with some simple “gingerbread.” There are eight stained-glass windows, some crafted by Ray and others by Judy\u2019s dad, William “Buck” Litton. The second floor is topped with a turret room and a gazebo with a giant wooden birdhouse on top. But it attracted so many birds, which made such a mess, that the Bezverkows have closed it off. Also looking out from the rooftop is a 3\u00bd-foot woodcarving of a man, which the couple purchased on a motor-home trip. The statue traveled with them all the way to Canada and back \u2014 in their shower. Inside the home, in a porch turned foyer, is a sun-bleached 1982 certificate from the Pacific Beach Town Council for an “Outstanding Contribution to the Community.” Judy said she enjoys hanging out at the window in her mother\u2019s antique barber chair. The house is filled with antiques the couple has collected at area auctions, including an ornate, carved-wood fireplace mantle in the living room. Although the home\u2019s expansive view of the bay and ocean has been partially eclipsed by new development and old trees, the Bezverkows believe it\u2019s still impressive. You might say they have a bird\u2019s-eye view from the gazebo, where they often enjoy dinner during the summer. One of few downsides to their hillside address, the couple said, is that they must back their cars onto an increasingly busy street, where drivers still gawk at the unusual house. Judy has watched the beach area mature. She\u2019s a San Diego native who grew up in Crown Point. Her dad spearheaded the development of Dana Landing, and her mother has lived west of Interstate 5 for 60 years. Ray is from Detroit. The couple met in the 11th grade at Mission Bay High School. “But I thought we would never be a couple because of our difference in height,” Judy said. She\u2019s 5-foot-8 and he\u2019s 5-foot-2 (“and a quarter inch,” her husband of 47 years adds). He\u2019s a retired engineer, who also was a manager of a software and development company. Judy, a stay-at-home mom, ran the couple\u2019s investment rentals. The couple still celebrates Christmas at the home with their adult children and two granddaughters. The Bezverkows know they are home “when we smell the ocean air.” After almost four decades, Judy said they will never move. “I can\u2019t imagine living anyplace else,” she said. Besides, “I\u2019ve collected too much junk over the years; we can\u2019t move.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The house on the slope of Mount Soledad looks like it\u2019s right out of a movie. And, the owners say, there\u2019s a reason for that. The shell was designed by the late Bill Bloom, a family friend who once helped construct Hollywood sets. The house started out in 1941 as a two-bedroom, one-bath, stucco beach […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":281031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Home sweet home: pride in their Victorian house","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-281030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}