The residents of Alvarado Estates would like to congratulate San Diego State University on its 125th anniversary.

It’s a great achievement for those affiliated with the university and a meaningful milestone for this adjacent neighborhood as well. Alvarado Estates (AE) shares some wonderful historic as well as present day connections with the university. Many of our residents have been SDSU employees or students.

It was actually the vision and efforts of university professors who helped to first plan and develop the neighborhood in the late 1940s and 1950s. In fact, about one third of the 85 original lots were purchased by then San Diego State College professors who shared a dream of “country living within the city.”

One of those professors was Ilse Hamann Ruocco, the wife of Master Architect Lloyd Ruocco.

She taught painting, ceramic arts and industrial arts at SDSU between 1934 and 1967. Together, they constructed one of the first homes in AE as their own residence (Pictured is the living area of Lloyd and Ilse Ruocco’s personal residence at 5481 Toyon Road, c.1955; they designed the interior, photographed in 1967). Considered by many to be the father of modernism in San Diego, Ruocco used his knowledge of architecture and urban planning to design their house and to influence the design of the neighborhood. Considered an expert in textile and interior design, she masterfully planned the interior spaces of their home while teaching future artisans and bringing modern decorative arts to San Diego.

Lloyd and Ilse Ruocco were very important contributors to the history and development of Alvarado Estates and the whole region. In a future article, we’ll look to local historians and curators to help share more about their legacies of modern design, the arts and community planning.

Alvarado Estates has always been the home of current and retired SDSU professors and SDSU graduates.

Dr. Judy Price, a psychology professor from 1972-2008, knew about AE even before she moved there. She was fortunate that her brother and sister-in-law already lived in the neighborhood and were able to help care for her infant daughter while she was working on campus.

Dr. Price said, “Without the Alvarado Estates connection, I never could have managed.” She moved into Alvarado Estates with her family in 1978. Her new neighbors across the street happened to be Ethelyn and Dr. Sorenson, her former San Diego High School history teacher and a SDSU art professor, respectively.

Other residents became familiar with the neighborhood while they were SDSU students. Wayne Breise studied business management at SDSU. He played basketball for one year and spent four years in the Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He graduated with the Class of 1963, following the famous commencement speech given by President John F. Kennedy just months before he was assassinated. Wayne used what he learned to start an aviation business.

Among his college memories is the story of how he came to live in Alvarado Estates. “I became familiar with Alvarado Estates when I brought female companions up here to park on Palo Verde to count stars! My dream was having a home here in the Estates. It took me until 1972 to realize that dream.”

For some 70 years the residents of Alvarado Estates have been sharing the dream.

They take pride in their historic connection to SDSU and recognize the ongoing benefits of living in the College Area near the SDSU campus.

– Karen Austin writes on behalf of Alvarado Estates.

(Photo by John Oldenkamp)