La Valencia Apartments

This two story building in the Monterey style was built for multiple investors, one being Barron Millard, one of the early planners and developers of the Rancho Santa Fe golf course. It accommodated rooms for short term rentals upstairs with offices below. Lilian Rice had her offices here. It retains much of the original beautiful facade. Today various businesses occupy the space.

As part of the second wave of development that included the Joers/Ketchum store, the La Valencia Apartments were constructed. Built on the corner of Paseo Delicias and La Granada, it was completed in 1928. 

Designed by Lilian Rice, the building and its lot were originally purchased by George A. C. Christiancy, a retired New York banker. Because of his ownership of the lot that the building resides in, it is the second in the area to be developed under private ownership, the first being the Joers/Ketchum store. 

The two story building was designed in the Monterey style and the original purpose of the building was for mixed use, much like the rest of the early buildings in Rancho Santa Fe. The La Valencia apartments originally housed three offices on the first floor and three rental apartments on the second floor. One of the offices was used by Rice herself. In addition, some of the apartments were used by her hired draftsmen as housing space because of her increasing workload in the 1930s.

Overtime, the building has undergone slight remodeling, but much of its original charm remains. Currently, the building houses a variety of businesses and is mainly used for commercial purposes.

Diane Y. Welch, The Life and Times of Lilian J. Rice, Master Architect. (Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 2015), 102-104.

Historic American Buildings Survey, National Park Service Department of the Interior, 29.