Subterranean personal museum hosts fascinating collection
Images by John Straub
Jonathan and his wife, Wendy, have been improving the skyline and living conditions of San Diegans for over 30 years, and every project is another step up and step forward. Both for them and the city. As an architect, Jonathan has uniquely positioned himself as the designer, builder, contractor, and owner for all of his projects.
“The ability to handle an entire project from start to finish allows for relatively seamless production, it simplifies a lot of matters that could otherwise be more cumbersome,” said Jonathan.
Their company has built several buildings in the San Diego area, providing housing, commercial, and retail space for a variety of purposes. In three of these, Jonathan has included space for his car collection, this latest edition being a fantastic take on automobile storage and display. Designed with a serious showroom or museum overtone, highly polished concrete floors meet solid concrete walls and mirror a concrete ceiling that hosts a number of gallery lights to illuminate the space and sustain the museum ambiance. Many of the cars are parked upon stands, giving them more presence thanks to the slightly higher line of sight, but also continuing the gallery feel. Imagery is limited to just a couple of areas including a lounge space where modernly styled furniture and décor creates a relaxed atmosphere, perfect for enjoying cocktails and conversations. A built-in display case provides ample room for a collection of various diecast cars, while a bevy of pictures cover the walls and even line the floor, and a large array of books entice quiet study time to let the brain wander and disengage with the daily grind. It’s easy to focus and unplug in this garage, considering the absolute silence that ensconces it and the lack of windows, two elements largely reserved for subterranean environments such as this one.
“Each space I have built has been a learning curve for the next,” said Jonathan. “For the next space, I want it to have easier access to the cars, this one is great, but it is a few stories below the building itself, which makes it very secure, but you’ve got to use the elevator to get the cars in and out and that can be time consuming.”
Known as The Batcave, sadly, Jonathan didn’t engineer a pole to slide down when people want to pay a visit. Instead, an elevator descends to a lengthy hall lined with awards and interesting nuggets that represent Jonathan, his cars, and his company. At the end of the hallway, a corner guides visitors to their right giving them a diagonal view to the opposite corner, creating a sensation of extensive width and length before them. The space gives the impression that it is absolutely monstrous. Interestingly, most of the cars are in sight, maybe not in full, but you know they are out there, waiting for a visit. Because the gallery lacks a lot of visual eye candy, the cars are the first read, many of them beyond rare, some of them famous among car circles.
“I enjoy many different designs, but gravitate to cars that are seldom seen, or forged design cues for others to follow,” he said. “Some of the first cars you see when you come in are Corvettes, which aren’t exactly appreciated as forerunners for much of anything. But when you stop and consider many of their designs, the elements within the designs, the overall shape, you can see what forward-thinking cars they have been. They often defined generations, and rarely, if ever, get credit for it. On top of that, Corvette often chartered new engineering territories unseen before in the automotive realm.”
Amid the Corvettes are a Porsche Carrera and Ford GT, Ferrari Daytona and 250GT Lusso, Mercedes-Benz 300SL Roadster, Porsche 356 Coupe, a Maserati A6GCS Spider, and two relatively famous cars, a 1950 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Ghia Supergioiello Coupe, which took the O-2 Postwar Touring Class at Pebble Beach in 2019, and the ‘Baillon Barn Find’ 1956 Maserati A6G 2000 Gran Sport discovered among other ultrarare classics in a French barn a few years back. Indeed, some interesting and respectable machinery, and greatly understandable as to why he lets them stand largely alone, unaccompanied by wall art and décor. His daily driver is also something fabulous, a 1966 Cadillac Convertible in black with a white top and interior.
“The Cadillac is a wonderful car, it’s a lot of fun, it’s very comfortable, glides down the road, everyone loves it and gives it thumbs up,” he said.
Interesting how his description of the daily driver somewhat mimics The Batcave. Did I mention it was black?
