Notable Babcock Residence in Mission Beach changes hands for $4.95M

A one-of-a-kind showplace home in South Mission Beach, the Babcock Residence at 2694 Bayside Walk, recently sold for $4.95 million.

Designed in 1959 by Mission Beach native Kendrick Bangs Kellogg for Russell and Vergie Babcock, who requested an “A-frame” with a copper roof, and constructed in 1960, the home was originally listed at $5.68 million. Chris Love of Coldwell Banker Realty was the listing agent.

Steps from the ocean and bay, the 2,607-square-foot, 4-bed, 4-bath residence has a 4-car garage and two additional uncovered parking spots. The home features panoramic unobstructed views with water visibility throughout.

The outdoor/indoor open living concept allows for entertaining guests while giving the feeling of being directly on the white sands of Mission Beach. The property sits on one of the largest corner lots in South Mission Beach.

“This really is not only an iconic home for Mission Beach but for all of San Diego,” said Love adding the residence “is really special.” She pointed out that the previous owner had it for almost 30 years, and “we were lucky enough to find a new buyer from Arizona who’d had his eye on it.”

“Everybody knows this home all over California – all over the world,” said Love. “It is a piece of art and everybody in the community knows it. As the listing agent, I was so honored to be able to be involved in that sale.”

Of her career, Love, now in her 46th year transacting real estate in Mission Beach, said, “This is one of the highlights, if not ‘the’ highlight.”

Kellogg met Frank Lloyd Wright briefly in 1955 while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder and was heavily influenced by Wright’s architectural style. The Babcock Residence’s design is reminiscent of Wright, who used organic architecture to plan the 800 buildings he designed, 380 of which were actually built. Using the environment around where the structure would be, Wright would design and build accordingly, resulting in unique structures and homes that fit their landscape.

Wright designed two projects for San Diego but they were not constructed. The first, the Russell Babcock Residence (1953), went unbuilt on its projected lot on Mission Cliffs Drive in University Heights. Soon after the project failed to be realized, Babcock hired Kellogg to realize his Wrightian dream home to be built on Mission Bay.

The Babcock Residence jump-started Kellogg’s career and he since has designed and engineered more than a dozen startling residences, most notably the Surfer House in La Jolla, the High Desert House in Joshua Tree, and the Onion House in Kona, Hawaii.

Kellogg’s distinctive aesthetic has been described as “an architecture so full of life that it seems to breathe,” and his residences have been chronicled as “the Sydney Opera House meets Stonehenge.”

Said Kellogg: “To realize truly creative architecture you need clients with the vision and imagination to make the most of any site. Great clients are those who allow an architect the latitude to give them what they didn’t know they wanted until they have it. They are willing to risk being unique.”

BABCOCK RESIDENCE