2422 Alcott Court, San Diego, Calif.
For sale: $1.77 million
Grand and imposing on its cul-de-sac lot, this historic home has sat overlooking downtown San Diego and the Pacific Ocean for over 100 years.
"The home is rife with history," said listing agent Markus Feldman. "Sprawling grounds, lush landscaping... the house is a magnificent estate."
Amelia Timken Bridges, daughter to roller-bearing inventor Henry Timken, built the Point Loma property for a substantial $130,000 in 1911.
In the 1940s, the home served a national purpose as "Building X" for the University of California Division of War Research. At the time, the U.S. created divisions within universities to research how to upgrade submarine technology.
After World War II, the home returned to private ownership, with only two owners until its current return to the real estate market.
The main estate is 3,900 square feet, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms. A carriage house on the property provides additional space.
The carriage house also has its own history, once operating as the laboratory for Royal Rife, the inventor of the monochromatic microscope lens. Rife worked as a handyman for Bridges and received financing from her and Timken to continue his research in the 1930s. Today, the carriage house rooms are rented out as apartments.
Using Zillow's mortgage calculator, a monthly payment on the home would be $6,348, assuming a 20-percent down payment on a 30-year-fixed mortgage.
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