By ELAINE ALFARO | La Mesa Courier

Seven days, seven neighborhoods and numerous opportunities to learn more about the communities and architecture of San Diego. This year, La Mesa citizens will not have to go far to participate in the upcoming Oh! San Diego Open House Tour. La Mesa will be making its debut appearance as a destination on the architectural tour March 5-12.

This event is put on by the San Diego Architectural Foundation, whose mission this year is to explore the intersection of design and community. San Diego is an official Open House Worldwide city and only four cities in the nation participate. This year, a multitude of locations in San Diego will be showcased in addition to La Mesa. In support of La Mesa’s involvement with the event, La Mesa City Council has approved a $500 sponsorship to the program.

It is not only an investment into this organization but also into the city’s architecture and heritage. According to co-chair of Oh! San Diego, Anne Militante, “We looked at La Mesa and we just saw this rich history of a very tight-knit community. We want people to come in, even if it’s your own neighborhood and you’ve been there before, to really learn about what these buildings are and what their history is.”

Militante and the foundation want to celebrate the various time periods represented specifically in La Mesa’s buildings.

James Newland from the La Mesa Historical Society coveys how versatile La Mesa is when it comes to architecture.

“La Mesa has a very similar architectural heritage to other well-known communities (like La Jolla, Coronado, etc.). We have small homes from the early 1930s and 40s to custom modern homes and victorian ranch houses,” he said. “La Mesa’s architectural heritage rivals any other community in the county.”

To further clarify the richness of the city’s history, Newland explained that the vast majority of historical landmarks in the county and incorporated areas are in Grossmont and Mount Helix (which the La Mesa Historical Society covers).

In reality, “It’s one of those hidden things that we hadn’t paid attention to before. If we dig hard enough, look what we find,” he added.

Jennie Sullins, a participant who attended in previous years, shared her excitement about the home tour extending to multiple locations, in particular, La Mesa.

“What is really fun about the event is that it expands your normal area that you know about,” she said. “I’ve lived in San Diego for about 10 years and I have just discovered Mount Helix and La Mesa. I honestly never thought of La Mesa as having architecture. I think expanding the tour event was a brilliant idea this year because I think it probably wasn’t on the radar to do before.”

Sullins further explained that one does not have to be an architect or design guru to navigate and enjoy the event.

“What I loved about the San Diego Architectural Foundation is that I always talked architecture and talked design, but I had never felt that I could be a part of that world because I wasn’t an architect or practicing in the field. The foundation made it really comfortable and made these events that anyone could go to,” she said.

In addition to the tours that will be occurring in person and virtually, La Mesa will also be having a panel of speakers discuss the future of La Mesa, growth planning, and sustainability. To top off the event, a short film will be available to the public on Mar. 5. It features James Newland and Michele Hottel from the La Mesa Historical Society, local business owner, Toran Grays, who owns Extraordinary Banana Pudding, and La Mesa citizen and film producer Stephen Brucher. The purpose of the film, according to Militante, is to highlight actual stories from the community.

Newland and Militante project that more people, after attending this event, will learn about La Mesa and all it offers as a historic town and connected community.

“We would really like people to come away with learning more about their community, their history and really going back to our mission of learning how to get involved with our built environment and the built environment being connected with ourselves,” Militante said.

— Elaine Alfaro is an editorial intern for the San Diego Community Newspaper Group.