In 1922, Lilian Rice planned the administration building
and commercial group in the Civic Center. The buildings
in the first block along Paseo Delicias still retain
much of their original design. Special features include
decorative ironwork around the windows and roofline
accents which enhance the Spanish design yet retain
the simplicity so characteristic of Lilian Rice's
architecture.
On the corner, the first building with its embedded
towers and flattened domes on top resembles in some
ways elements found in San Diego's Spanish Village,
Designed by Richard Requa. This section housed the
Santa Fe Land Improvement Company Offices from about
1932 to 1945. The next building features a lovely
arcade with the arches supported by round pillars.
The arcade, which once sheltered a covered walkway,
now forms the entrance to Mille Fleurs. This building
has contained commercial shops since about 1923.
The administration building on the corner Paseo
Delicias and Via de Santa Fe served as the home of
the Santa Fe Land and Improvement Company from about
1923 to 1932. In 1939, Robert Francisco, who came
to Rancho Santa Fe from Escondido a few years previously,
bought part of this structure. He brought in Fred
Ashley as a partner to run the grocery store. Although
the Ashleys left a long time ago, Francisco ran a
grocery store named Ashley's Market which was replaced
in 1991 by Coldwell Banker Real Estate.
The administration building, a bit more formal and
elegant in design than other structures in the Civic
Center, features an angled entrance with quoins around
the opening. A quatrefoil opening with grillwork pierces
the facade above the entrance.
Properties
on the Market 
