This special place is close to everything, making it easy to plan your visit. The charming, walkable, and historic neighborhood of University Heights provides a wonderful park, restaurants, coffeehouses, ice cream shop, bars, and markets nearby. Within 2 miles from the San Diego Zoo and historic Balboa Park. 15 minutes by car to Sea World, beaches, or downtown. The open plan of the communal areas of the house makes it a great space for spending quality time with friends or family. If you have any questions or issues Kyle is available to help you. So...where is the university? University Heights was named for the USC College of Arts and Letters that never really took hold. It was later called the Normal School in 1899 and after that, became the origin of San Diego State University. UH is most known historically for being the location of Mission Cliff Garden, a botanical garden developed in 1896 by John Spreckles and designed by the renowned horticulturist and landscape architect Kate Sessions. Sessions was also the designer for Balboa Park's landscape and planted most of the trees that still exist today in the park. If you travel to the opposite end of Mission Cliff Dr, you will see a round-about that used to be the lily pond in the old botanical garden. As you continue to walk around the corner to Adams Ave, you will see a somewhat crumbling wall made from local river rocks with a dark, decorative wood fence on top, which was the outer border of the botanical garden. The large Canary Palms that line the entrance to Mission Cliff Dr from Park Blvd, marked the grand entrance to the garden and the Bentley Ostrich Farm. Unfortunately, there is a destructive beetle trying to kill this species of palms in San Diego and the city has been fighting to keep what's left of them. The Bentley Ostrich Farm occupied the area our house sits on today from 1904-1929. John Spreckles lured Harvey Bentley away from his Coronado location, to open on one end of the botanical garden property. You will see a few references to ostriches around the neighborhood, like Bernadette, the larger-than-life sized ostrich statue who is the mascot of our street. On either end of the University Heights street sign on Park Blvd, you will see ostriches balancing on large eggs. Trolley Barn Park, which is just around the corner to the South East of our house, was the site of the maintenance barn for the trolley line (circa 1907) that used to run down Park Blvd, from downtown and turned East to head down Adams Ave. TB Park opened in 1991, just before we bought our house. It won an architectural award called an Orchid Award shortly after opening. It hosts concerts on Fridays at 6 PM in the Summer months and is a great place for kids to run off steam, play on the playground, or to just enjoy the space. The trolley has become the biggest icon for our neighborhood's identity. Recently, Park Blvd has become a hip hot spot for restaurants and bars and it's just a short 2-3 block walk to enjoy a diverse offering of cuisines: Mexican (El Zarape), Abyssinian (Muzita), Thai (Bahn Thai and Plumeria (vegetarian)) and American fare. Kairoa Brewing Co. has a New Zealand spin on beer and food, and a wonderful upstairs open patio dining space, Madison has lovely, higher-end fare, only open for Sun. brunch and dinner and Park and Rec is a very hip bar, with live music Fri. - Sun. Twiggs Coffeehouse is a favorite for a great cup of coffee and pastries baked in-house, but if you want to save walking an extra block, Meraki Cafe is closer on Adams. If you walk 3 blocks down Adams Ave past Trolley Barn Park, heading East, you'll find Soichi Sushi - a Michelin Star restaurant that requires reservations 3 months in advance and De Nada Cafe next door, serving gluten free pizzas and other Mexican comfort food. Our neighborhood is very walkable to go for a coffee, or a meal, or to pick up some basic staple items at Bud's liquor store located at Park Blvd and Madison Av. For bigger food shopping trips, Sprout's Market is one mile down Park Blvd at Howard Av. The house is conveniently located near the 8, 163 and 805 freeways, which connect you anywhere you want to go in San Diego. Parking is not an issue. There is room for one car in the driveway and street parking in front of the house. The only time there can be scarce parking is when there is a big event in the park, like the Summer concerts on Friday evenings. The pool is solar heated but really only warm enough from around May to October. There is a reverse osmosis cold water dispenser in the fully stocked kitchen. **If you would like the hot tub drained, cleaned, and refilled prior to your visit there will be an extra charge of $100. Please let us know at the time of booking and we will add the extra charge.**
