Marston House — Attraction in San Diego

Even as a native San Diegan, I only just recently discovered this architectural gem on the edge of Balboa Park. This stretch of 7th St is gorgeous and dominated almost exclusively by beautiful homes designed by Irving Gil in the early part of the 1900s. Gil was a Quaker and appropriately reminds me of a less decorative Frank Lloyd Wright. The docent did an amazing job pouring out Gil’s unique details throughout the tour of the house’s first and second floors and I learned a lot about his style. The tour is also provided a wealth of information about the Marston family - who you learn was influential in the growth and development (and preservation) of San Diego from starting the turn of the century. This family besides being endlessly generous to the community was remarkably ahead of their time socially. All around, the tour of the Marston house was a great and engaging learning experience that I would highly recommend to every resident of San Diego with any interest in history or just pretty old houses. I was able to visit on a weekday for a 3pm house tour and was the only guest so i lucked out and got a personal tour. The lady staffing the gift shop is incredibly nice and also full of interesting...

I highly recommend visiting the Marston House to tourists and locals alike. I'm a big fan of Arts & Crafts architecture, and this house is an exquisite example. I visited with my kids 7 & 8 at the time, and we had fun exploring the house with an informative guide. Our tour group was small, and the docent shared historical details about the Marson family and their philanthropic endeavors. She was knowledgeable and happy to answer questions. I've lived in San Diego a long time and still managed to learn historical facts that surprised me. I appreciated that the tour was interesting for both children and adults. Be sure to check out the gift shop which has books about the Arts & Crafts movement, artifacts, and souvenirs. Museum open hours are limited, and guided tours sometimes fill. If you can't get inside, you can still walk the grounds, check out the exterior, enjoy the gardens, and visit the gift shop...

10/7/14

We recently stayed with a friend in San Diego who lives across the street from this home at Balboa Park. We walked past it several times as we walked her dogs and I really wanted to check it out.

Unfortunately, the day we made it over to look around was the day we were leaving and had limited time. We were told the tours are guided and take 45 minutes. Declining the tour, we opted to walk around the pretty gardens instead.

Before leaving the property we visited the gift shop. The woman working was very familiar with the famous homes near our house (Galindo House, John Muir's home, and the Bancroft Gardens). They had really great gifts in here, including unique vintage games, jewelry, and books.

We'll definitely take the tour next visit, but I was glad we were welcome to walk around and see a little of the property on our...