Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) will host its 12th annual Historic Home Tour Weekend from Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16.
The annual event gives San Diegans an opportunity to tour and learn about the history of their city through some of its oldest architecture ” including an emphasis on Shelter Island and Fort Rosecrans in Point Loma.
“We hope through education they will come to feel the same way as most of us do,” said Alana Coons, events and education director for SOHO, “which is that we want to protect and preserve [historic architecture] because it makes up what is unique to the identity and character of San Diego.”
SOHO is a nonprofit organization that has been in existence since 1969, making it the oldest preservation organization in California.
The organization’s goal is to preserve architectural, cultural and historical landmarks throughout the San Diego area.
On Saturday, visitors will have the chance to visit off-the-beaten-path architecture during a tour of Fort Rosecrans.
As part of the tour, some of the sights include Colonial Revival Officer Quarters and Bachelor Enlisted Quarters from 1904-05 and the 1915 U.S. Army Battery White.
“That is a closed base,” Coons said. “That is not a base that you can just go on and visit yourself. There are a lot of fantastic historic buildings up there.”
The Fort Rosecrans tour costs $30 for SOHO members and $40 for nonmembers. It will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with boarding at 9:45 a.m. from the SOHO offices in the Whaley House complex, 2476 San Diego Ave. in Old Town.
Another tour featured this weekend is “Tiki Tour: A Guide to San Diego’s Tiki Modern Architecture.”
In this tour, archaeologists will guide visitors to more than 10 sites on Shelter Island with a lecture and cocktails at the Bali Hai hotel to follow.
“People don’t even realize that Tiki is such a large part of our post-World War II history,” Coons said. “It was a large part of the architecture and the lifestyle after World War II.”
The Tiki tour costs $50 for SOHO members and $65 for non-members. The tour goes from 2 to 7 p.m., with boarding at 1:45 p.m. from the SOHO office in Old Town.
Other tours offered during the weekend include “Bungalow Courts” Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., “San Diego’s Historic Tile” on Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. and “Historic Home Tour” Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A lecture and cocktail party at the Bali Hai will culminate the weekend.
“When people come out and support us in an event like this,” Coons said, “it helps us do the work that in the end all San Diegans are very proud of and very happy with.”
For more information on this year’s Historic Home Weekend or SOHO, visit www.sohosan-diego.org.