The Enduring Appeal of Bungalow Courts

University Heights is fortunate to be home to 70 bungalow courts built between 1920 and 1950. These courts typically consist of a series of one-story houses built on a deep single or double residential lot and oriented around a common landscaped area or court with a walkway.

Bungalow courts were (and still are) very popular among renters for providing a home-like setting without the maintenance responsibilities. They also offer greater privacy and independence than apartment buildings as well as a sense of community since units face a shared common area.

These mini-homes were built in a variety of architectural styles including Craftsman, Spanish Colonial, Egyptian, Mission Revival, Pueblo, Moorish Revival, Deco/Moderne, and 1950s modern.

Bungalow courts first appeared in Pasadena in the late 1910s and were seen as a way to address the housing shortage that followed the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, and the Panama California Exposition in 1915-16. San Diego’s population doubled from 74,000 in 1910 to more than 147,000 in 1920.

The demand for housing and the falling cost of construction materials and labor contributed to a building boom in San Diego that began around 1923 and peaked in 1926. The surge in bungalow court construction coincided with this building boom.

Bungalow courts were typically constructed within a few blocks of streetcar lines, where small businesses were also being constructed. Easy access to the growing network of low cost streetcar lines allowed bungalow court residents, typically working- and middle-class individuals, to travel to their places of work quickly and affordably.