About
This exquisite mansion just southeast of downtown was built in 1887 for internationally acclaimed musician and author Jesse Shepard.
Lush with Victoriana, it features more stained glass than most churches are blessed with; windows depict Mozart, Beethoven, Sappho, Rubens, St. Cecilia (patron saint of musicians), and other notables. The striking ceilings are of Lincrusta Walton -- pressed canvas coated with linseed oil, a forerunner of linoleum, which never looked this good. Shepard lived here with his life companion, Lawrence Tonner, for only 2 years, and died in obscurity in Los Angeles in 1927.
The San Diego Historical Society painstakingly restored the house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and furnished it with period pieces.
Getting there
Villa Montezuma
A Victorian Painted Lady
1925 K St. (20th and K streets)
(619) 239-2211
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