ENCINITAS — The Encinitas Preservation Association is stepping up efforts to save the city’s historic boathouses with a May 10 fundraising event to help fund urgent structural repairs critical to preventing foreclosure and demolition.
The nonprofit purchased the two nautical-themed homes — SS Encinitas and SS Moonlight — to prevent their replacement with apartment buildings. The acquisition, backed in part by the city, included a requirement that the attached apartment units remain designated as low-income housing, a condition still in effect today.
While the apartments continue to generate rent, the iconic boat-shaped homes are currently uninhabitable due to severe structural damage. One structure is leaning precariously despite temporary bracing, and the bow of the other is collapsing.
“We’re falling further behind financially, and we do not have the money as a nonprofit to do the structural repairs necessary,” said JT Knowles, a board member of the Encinitas Preservation Association.
Built in the late 1920s by local architect Miles Minor Kellogg, the boathouses were constructed from reclaimed lumber salvaged from a Prohibition-era hotel, nightclub, and bathhouse. They are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and have long stood as symbols of Encinitas’ eclectic coastal charm, but today, they sit empty and deteriorating.
Knowles said the group’s ultimate goal is to fully restore the homes to their original appearance, though that will depend entirely on how much funding can be raised.
“The ideal goal, if we raised enough money, would be to restore them to their original historic aesthetic that they have in all the old photos,” Knowles said. “That’s the ultimate goal. But we don’t know — it depends on how much money we can raise.”
Knowles estimated the cost of restoring each boathouse at $800,000 to $850,000, with stabilization alone projected at $220,000. The association hopes to eventually return the homes to the rental market to support ongoing preservation efforts. Without repairs, the properties remain at risk despite their protected status.
To help cover costs, the association is hosting a fundraiser at the American Legion Hall. Initially planned as a private event, it has since been opened to additional guests. Those interested in attending can RSVP by contacting organizer Twink Bumann at [email protected].
Donations will be accepted via Venmo during the event and are tax-deductible.
In the short term, the association’s top priority is stabilizing the structures enough to make them livable again and collecting rent to relieve financial strain.
“The most important thing is we get them back on the market and earn rent from them so that we can keep paying the mortgage,” Knowles said.
He also cautioned that failure to raise adequate funds could result in the loss of the historic properties.
“The alternative is just going into default and losing them to the bank, and then they get torn down and put into apartments if they can’t be saved,” Knowles said. “That can still happen — even with our historic designation.”
