Congratulations to our 2020 GEM award winner, Chip & Candice Kislack at 1006 G Avenue!
The Coronado Historical Association is excited to announce the winner of the 2020 Go the Extra Mile (GEM) award. The award honors one local home or business owner for their efforts to Go the Extra Mile to preserve a historic building or home in Coronado.
Each year, the GEM Committee considers historic homes and properties that have been nominated by CHA membership. GEM Award finalists must have completed a recent restoration or renovation project true to the historic character of the home by December 31 of the prior year. The GEM committee researches the history of each home before making its selections. The Coronado Historical Association's 2020 GEM finalists were: 216 H Avenue, 1006 G Avenue, and 1109 F Avenue. These are Coronado’s GEMs. These owners truly Go the Extra Mile (GEM).
The award was created in 2013 to honor the thoughtful efforts of homeowners to preserve and restore, rather than replace existing homes, and turn potential tear-downs into architectural GEMs. The award is given to a home that has restoration completed within the last year. We are excited to announce the 2020 GEM Winner:
This Dutch Colonial Revival home at 1006 G Avenue dates back to Coronado’s aviation beginnings, with its connection to two early Naval aviators. The home was built in 1917 for Commander and Mrs. H. B. Cecil. Commander Cecil was one of the first 50 pilots trained by the Navy at North Island. He served in the Navy Air Force during World War I. Cecil lost his life when the dirigible Akron crashed on April 4, 1933. His widow remained living in the home until it was purchased by another Navy widow in the 1940s.
Mrs. Marc Mitscher made G Avenue her home after the passing of her husband Admiral Marc Mitscher. Mitscher was another pioneer in naval aviation, a contemporary of Commander Cecil. He eventually served as commander of the Fast Carrier Task Force in the Pacific in World War II and rose to the rank of Admiral. Soon after his passing, Mrs. Mitscher moved into the home in 1947 and stayed there until her passing in 1982. She was an active member of the Coronado gardening community, winning many home front prizes in the Flower Show. After Mrs. Mitscher, the home remained in the family until 2017, when Chip & Candice Kislack bought the property. They are only the third family to own it over its long history.
The Kislacks kept a lot of the historic touches to the home, including keeping the original staircase and flooring, and restoring the original windows with a weighted rope system. They left a lot of the character, but had to balance modern needs and upgrades.
Candice explained that the whole aim of the renovation was to “respect an old house but have modern amenities and style.” For example, to keep the historic look of the home, the wood-shingled roof needed replacing, but current codes require a different material. So, they ended up putting wood shingles over a modern roof to have a safety net but not compromise on the historic character.
Other nods to Coronado’s past include historic light fixtures from Coronado High School that a former athletic director saved and the surprise discovery of an underground bunker in the backyard. Though that piece of history was unable to be saved, the Kislacks were able to use the fixtures in their son’s sports themed bedroom.
Congratulations to all nominees and thank you to CHA’s GEM Committee, chaired by Jamie Jamison.
