Hill Construction Co. Selected for Historic Renovation of La Jolla’s Wisteria Cottage

LA JOLLA, Calif. - July 31, 2013 - PRLog -- Hill Construction Co. (http://www.hillconstructioncompany.com/) of La Jolla has been selected as the builder of choice to renovate and restore the iconic Wisteria Cottage, located at 780 Prospect Street in the heart of the Scripps/Gill Cultural District. Built over 100 years ago, Wisteria Cottage is one of the community’s oldest original structures and is now home to the La Jolla Historical Society (http://lajollahistory.org/).

“Over the years, Wisteria Cottage has experienced a number of small patchwork renovations and repairs,” said Ryan Hill, vice president of Hill Construction Co. “Working in conjunction with the La Jolla Historical Society and Ione Stiegler of IS Architecture (http://www.isarchitecture.com/), we’ll be transforming the interior into a world class gallery space, while updating all of the technical and regulatory elements, including adding an elevator for A.D.A. compliance.”

Other than restoring the original entrance from the front to the side of the building, changes to the Wisteria Cottage won’t be obvious from the street.

“From an exterior viewpoint, nothing can change,” said Hill. “Our mandate is to maintain the historical integrity of the building while creating a museum-quality interior environment.”  

Wisteria Cottage was built in 1904 and briefly occupied by the Seaman family before being sold to E. Virginia Scripps, half-sister of La Jolla philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. After Virginia’s death, ownership to the property was passed to her niece, who lived on the property until 1942 when the title went to Ellen Revelle. Mrs. Revelle bequeathed the property to the La Jolla Historical Society in 2008.

“We are extremely pleased to have Hill Construction as our general contractor,” said Heath Fox, executive director of the La Jolla Historical Society. “They bring a great deal of professional expertise and construction management experience to a project that requires special care and handling because of the historic aspect of the building and the public dimension of our organization.”

Site work has begun and completion is expected by spring of 2014.

Hill Construction Co. was founded as a family owned construction company in 1975 and has since restored, renovated and remodeled dozens of historic structures throughout San Diego and La Jolla.

“Our goal is to work with property owners to preserve the aesthetics and integrity of the original architecture while enhancing value and restoring the space to its highest and best use,” said Hill.

The company is headquartered at 2204 Garnet Avenue in San Diego. For more information call 858-272-2975 or visit www.hillconstructioncompany.com.