Elder House

I'm planning to shoot some images of the exterior of my studio once I get my new signs, but I thought I could at least show Elder House today! You can see the stairs leading up to my front door in the second picture, and the large deck, and the wonderful skylights that flood my main room with soft beautiful light. And in the top picture you can see my little balcony, and the edge of the deck.

Elder House has an interesting history. According to an article that appeared in the Village News in 1998, it was built as the result of a competition between three local men in 1883. They each were to build a house for under $3000, and the one who built the best house would win. One of these three houses, described as a "beautiful, ornate home," was built on Juniper Street, and later moved to West Elder. It didn't win the contest, but it is the only one of the three still standing.

I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but it's a fairly early shot - probably from before the house was moved to Elder Street. The staircase on the side of the building is long gone, and the house has been extended on both sides, at some point during the last 100 years. But the bay window downstairs and the tiny balcony upstairs look almost exactly the same today as they did when the home was new.

There are stories that one of Fallbrook's first newspapers was located here. In the 1980's it was a popular restaurant, then in the early 1990's a construction company was located here, and in the late 1990's it was first Fallbrook Country Day School and then The New School in the early 2000's. And now it's the home of Fallbrook's Village News downstairs- and I'm very lucky to have the upstairs!

If you'd like to read more about The Building Contest in 1883, go to:
http://www.fallbrook.org/history/building-contest.asp