The Hodges House
2112 Santa Barbara Street
Santa Barbara, CA

Style	1921 Mediterranean Style
Architect	Winsor Soule (original plans)
Contractor	Samuel Hunter (July 23, 1921 permit logbook)
Cost	$44,000 (July 23, 1921 permit logbook)

Exterior style features: flat façade; 2-story symmetrical building and 1-story wings with parapet and flat roof; low-pitched hipped-and-gabled tile roof; stucco walls; arched recessed entrance and arched windows above; wooden casement mullioned windows; decorative ironwork including upper story balconets; in the rear, five pairs of arched French doors leading to the terrace and formal gardens with fountain

The Mediterranean style is a West Coast derivative of Classical Revival Style and includes light-colored stucco walls, tile roofs, window grilles and carved wooden doors, with elaborate ornament around openings, especially doors and important windows, and painted ceilings. Formal landscaping including courtyards, patios, terraces, fountains, vine-covered arbors and trellises, and tropical plantings are typical.

This was one of the largest and most impressive residential commissions for the firm of Soule, Murphy & Hastings. Winsor Soule (1883-1954) designed the building's classic formal floor plan. The formal grounds are directly related to the house, from the circular drive between sandstone walls continuing the home's symmetry, to the rear garden with a direct sightline from the front entrance through the terrace doors to the fountain at the rear. Soule was a diversified architect; previous tours have featured his designs of Colonial, Monterey and Spanish Colonial Revival style homes. He was prominent in advancing the latter style as the city's signature appearance, especially after the earthquake. Enlarged copies of his plans for this home can be viewed on the terrace.

In the rear garden, the Ficus pumila (creeping fig) hedge continuing in an arbor to the left is very likely original. It is one of the few plants that attach themselves like barnacles to underlying support. Close inspection of the hedge will reveal a hidden wall inside, undoubtedly intended for attachment by the growing fig. Many of the plantings are presumed original, including the eugenia hedge with very large trunks and the large trees on both sides of the property. The formal gardens at the rear are divided into garden "rooms," separated by tall, vine-covered walls and hedges, each with its own special personality.

While the interior has been changed much over the years, many elements remain. The grand coffered ceiling seen in the gallery was not painted originally and was matched by now absent floor-to-ceiling beautiful mahogany paneling, lining the walls of the first floor common rooms. The doors off the gallery into other rooms are interesting in that each side is paneled differently. The former dining room, with a beautiful crystal chandelier, is now a conference room. Down a few stairs is the pantry and behind it is the largely original kitchen. The kitchen was not originally connected to the grand stairway -the stairs up from the kitchen were added by the current owner. The former servant quarters lie beyond the kitchen.

According to 1930 census records (see lines 83-86), the house was valued at $70,000. W.E. and Caroline E. Hodges lived here with their cook, Ellen K. Neary (age 46) and maid, Jane M. Rowley (age 34).

Caroline E. Hodges died in 1935 and W.E. Hodges passed away in 1942. W.E. Hodges' son Robert Hodges and his wife Betty inherited the house, and put it up for sale. The home was purchased in 1943 by Frances and Leo Sanders, a real estate investor and owner/operator of Stearns Wharf Company. They and Frances' mother lived in this home for 8 years.

The property ceased to be a private residence in 1951, when the Sanders sold the home to the Jewish Temple B'nai B'rith. It was followed from 1969-83 by the new age Church Universal & Triumphant, when the building was painted inside and out in bright and sparkly colors. In 1983, the Santa Barbara-founded Fielding Institute bought it and made changes to return the building to a more decorous look, adding offices and restoring the gardens. With its new president in 1999, it became Fielding Graduate Institute.

Thanks to Cathy Closson for most of the above information.