San Diego
Fact and Fiction in Catherine Karp's Portrayal
of the Southern California City
The Spanish-style depot with its colorful dome tiles replaced an older, more Victorian-looking version of the station in 1915. Passengers still arrive and depart from the same station to this day.
2. Rosaline's Hillcrest Home, Fourth Avenue.
Although Hillcrest was indeed a growing residential community by 1918, Rosaline's particular home is fictional. The style of her "lovely little abode" is based upon the Craftsman-style bungalows popular in early-20th-century San Diego. Drive through neighborhoods such as Hillcrest and Mission Hills, and you'll still see similar places standing.
3. The Milne Home, First Avenue, Banker's Hill.
Banker's Hill, also known as "Pill Hill" and "Gill Hill," does indeed house numerous grand houses from late-19th-century and early-20th-century San Diego. However, the Milne house is actually modeled after the Marston House, located at 3525 Seventh Avenue. Modern-day visitors can tour the Arts and Crafts-style mansion, which has been preserved by the San Diego Historical Society.
4. The Dream Theatre, 755 Fifth Avenue.
The exterior of the Dream is modeled after a photograph of an actual theatre of the same name that stood on the same Fifth Avenue location. The interior, the owners, and the events inside the theatre are purely fictional. The remodeled building is now a restraurant and club.
5. The Spruce Street Suspension Bridge, between Front and Brant, Banker's Hill.
Clara Bloom's deadly crash into the canyon below is a fictional event, so although the lengthy suspension bridge is still a magnificent structure to walk across to this day, don't be on the lookout for Clara's ghost.
6. Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado.
The Voices Airy honeymoon destination is indeed a real-life luxury hotel, built in 1888 on Coronado Island across the San Diego Bay. Visitors can still travel the grounds and reserve rooms. L. Frank Baum, once a resident of Coronado, was said to have been inspired by "the Del's" fairy tale-style architecture when he created Oz's Emerald City.
7. Villa Montezuma, 1925 K Street.
When Joseph says that Rosaline's seances "are going to rival the social events of Jesse Shepard," he's referring to the 19th-century San Diego medium and renowned pianist who claimed to channel the spirits of deceased composers. Shepard held his seances in his beautiful 1887 home, which is nowadays open to the public through The San Diego Historical Society.
8. The Santa Rosa Theatre, Fourth Avenue.
The fictional theatre that Joseph Milne designs is modeled after the Balboa Theatre, built on the corner of Fourth and E in 1924. A former newspaperman named Robert Hicks did indeed own the theatre and was involved in other early San Diego movie palaces.
9. The Whaley House, 2482 San Diego Avenue, Old Town San Diego.
Although the Whaley House doesn't appear in Voices Airy, it is certainly worth mentioning here as an example of San Diego's famous haunted history, which is part of the reason why the novel was set in the Southern California city. The building has been listed as an authentic haunted house by the U.S. Department of Commerce and is the home of numerous ghostly phenomena, including the appearance of a small spectral dog.
Photo Copyright Carrie Proeschel