It appears that finally the Red Roost and Red Rest beach cottages are going to rest in peace in the memories of what was once La Jolla's new seaside artist colony.  The California bungalow-style cottages purportedly influenced the styles of renowned architects Irving Gill, who built many homes in La Jolla, and Frank Lloyd Wright. 

Located at 1179 and 1187 Coast Boulevard, these two homes have been the center of legal disputes for years.   Apparently the owner wanted to bulldoze them and develop the land into timeshare units and the city and historical society wanted to keep their historical integrity intact.  So these historic cottages, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, sat for over 25 years in disrepair and litigation.  It is widely rumored that the owners had withheld maintenance in the hopes that the cottages would simply disintegrate.  If true, the owners almost got their wish when the cottages became the target of vandalism and large chunks of concrete were thrown onto the roof of the cottages.  An arsonist was arrested on charges of trying to burn the cottages down in 2002. 

While many have criticized them as "eyesores", there are those of us who remember when they were beautiful red California beach bungalows that signified the seaside lifestyle of La Jolla.  With the legal challenges finally settled a new chapter will begin for the valuable land where they have sat for over 110 years.

According to the real estate agency handling the sale, the asking price is $10 million per property.