This article is a follow-up to the Sept. 19 story in the Light about Scripps Health’s 100th anniversary.

The story of 464 Prospect St. in La Jolla is one of resilience, vision and transformation.

It all began in 1917 when nurse Ada Gillispie, wife of La Jolla’s first physician, Dr. Samuel Gillispie, encountered Ellen Browning Scripps at a small local sanitarium. The facility, a modest six-bed operation, was inadequate for the growing needs of the community. Ada’s passion for providing better medical care and her determination to improve local health facilities convinced Ellen that La Jolla deserved a larger, more modern hospital.

By early 1918, Ellen had purchased three lots on Prospect Street for $5,800 and allocated $25,000 to build a new sanitarium, with Ada at the helm. Architect Will Hebbard was hired to design the new facility, envisioning a structure that was both functional and inviting.

The one-story facade facing Prospect Street belied the three-story back that extended down toward the ocean.

Hebbard’s plans featured eight patient rooms and three nurses’ rooms, all with south-facing French windowsopening onto a porch. A solarium and a rooftop fitted with awnings and cots allowed patients to recover in the fresh ocean air.

Despite Hebbard’s thoughtful design, Ada soon realized that the $25,000 budget was insufficient, especially with wartime constraints driving costs higher. Undeterred, Ada and Ellen pushed forward, and in June 1918, Ellen approved further expenses to ensure the facility could be completed as envisioned.

By November that year, the new La Jolla Sanitarium opened just in time to serve the community during the deadly influenza pandemic of 1918-19.

The hospital’s services quickly proved vital, and in 1922, Ellen herself experienced its care firsthand after breaking her hip in a fall at her home. Carried on a stretcher two blocks to the sanitarium, Ellen convalesced there, using the time to discuss with doctors the need for an even larger, more advanced hospital. She envisioned a facility that could serve La Jolla for many years to come and earmarked land adjacent to the sanitarium for that purpose.

Construction began on the new Scripps Memorial Hospital in November 1923 under the direction of contractor J.H. Nicholson, with a budget of $175,000. Louis John Gill, nephew of renowned architect IrvingGill, designed the hospital in the “Spanish Eclectic” style, reminiscent of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition buildings in Balboa Park.

The grand hospital, featuring a distinctive mansard roof of Spanish tiles, opened in September 1924 at 464 Prospect St. with 57 beds. The old sanitarium was repurposed into the Scripps Metabolic Clinic, which opened in December 1924, designed to provide a homelike atmosphere for its patients.

Ellen’s commitment to health care didn’t stop there. In 1925, she funded a third building on the north end of the hospital campus to house nurses.

By 1928, the front section of the original sanitarium was redesigned with a Spanish-style facade to match the new hospital, though the rear of the original 1918 building remained until it was demolished and reconstructed in 1951.

As La Jolla’s population soared, Scripps Memorial Hospital continued to grow, adding a new wing in 1950. But even this expansion was a temporary fix, and by the 1960s, it was clear that a larger facility was needed.

In 1959, the hospital’s board of directors voted to relocate from Prospect Street to a 40-acre site east of U.S. 101 at 3770 Miramar Road (now Genesee Avenue). To comply with the terms of Ellen’s bequest, the new location had to be incorporated into the 92037 ZIP code.

The move was not without controversy. Many La Jollans opposed it, arguing that Ellen had intended the hospital to serve The Village in perpetuity. Despite legal challenges, the hospital moved, and by 1964, the vacated Prospect Street site was purchased by Scripps Clinic, which by then was a separate entity.

The following year, the site was renamed The Copley Center after a $550,000 donation from newspaper magnate James Copley. It offered outpatient care, and in 1969, it was joined by a luxury hospital unit, the Kiewit Pavilion.

By 1977, Scripps Clinic relocated to North Torrey Pines Road on land donated by Dow Chemical Co. Two years later, the Prospect Street buildings were leased to Science Applications Inc. (now SAIC),a government contractor.

Local architect and civic activist Tony Ciani challenged the lease, arguing that the facility’s use had shifted from health care to commercial, requiring a coastal permit. The California Coastal Commission agreed, imposing conditions that included providing community-serving uses onsite. Among those uses was an art class taught by Francois Gilot, wife of Jonas Salk and former muse of Pablo Picasso.

SAIC remained on the site until 1987, when the complex was left vacant. The existing buildings, known as the “Scripps and Copley” buildings, were designated as San Diego Historic Site No. 234 in April 1989.

Over the next decade, several redevelopment proposals were considered, including one for a 115-roomresort and another for 30 condominiums above a 340-space underground parking garage. However, those plans never fully materialized, and the site remained largely unused.

After a period of vacancy, the historic buildings in 1999 underwent a meticulous transformation into the luxury condominiums that stand today. The project, led by Desert Troon Investments Inc. and consulting architect Jim Alcorn, balanced preservation with modern upgrades, maintaining the historical facade while adding contemporary features like balconies and terraces.

The redevelopment plan included reusing the Scripps Clinic building for 33 condominiums and building a new structure to house 14 townhomes above the existing subterranean parking garage.

“There was flexibility in the way we worked with the historic staff,” Alcorn said. “We turned up the volume on the historical asset and were able to use it as an asset instead of a liability.”

Though the frontages were designated historic, the architects were able to add balconies and terraces. The back of the building, not considered historic, allowed for modifications to create additional views. The renovations were completed in 2002.

Today, 464 Prospect St. is more than just a beautiful residence, it’s a testament to the power of vision, adaptation and community spirit. From its beginnings as La Jolla’s first proper hospital to its current status as a coveted address, the building continues to be a beloved landmark. Its walls have seen countless stories of care and recovery, and even today, residents occasionally feel the weight of history as they walk thesame halls where doctors, patients and even Ellen Browning Scripps once tread.

— Stacy Cabrera is general manager of 464 Prospect St., La Jolla. ♦