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A Vibrant Presence
Lilian Rice gets well-deserved recognition in the village she
shaped with astonishing vision
T
HERE'S A NEW "GIRL" IN
town, although her legacy dates back
more than 100 years. A bronze statue
of Lilian Rice, considered the visionary
architect of Rancho Santa Fe, now
rests in North Village Park. e
Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society
commissioned the statue to honor Rice, one of the first
women to study architecture at the University of California
at Berkeley and only the tenth woman in California to be
licensed as an architect at that time.
In the early 1920s, Rice was working in the San Diego firm of
Requa and Jackson when she got "the job of a lifetime," notes
historian Vonn Marie May. e Santa Fe Land Improvement
Company commissioned the firm to design and develop
Rancho Santa Fe, what would become one of the first master
planned communities in California. Requa was busy with
other projects, and Rancho Santa Fe was then two hours
away by car from the firm's San Diego office. Rice got the
assignment, and she made the most of it — and more. "She
blew everyone out of the water," says May, not only meeting
but exceeding expectations as the village began to take shape.
BY ANDREA NAVERSEN
STATUE:
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
VINCENT
KNAKAL
@ranchandcoast ranchandcoast.com
88 APRIL 2022 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE
