The Original French Laundry, built in 1927, was located on the north side of University Avenue at 10th Street (now Uptown District). But wasn’t really the “original.” The French Laundry was first established downtown in 1886. The owners must have felt flush with their expansion when hiring Frank P. Allen, Jr., an architect of finest San Diego pedigree who more routinely designed exposition halls, banks and fine hotels (including the Park Manor). This stately Mediterranean Revival building was erected in Hillcrest at a cost of $150,000. The facade featured decorative wrought iron while the interior was designed to accommodate the latest modern washing machines. Allen received an award for the building in 1933 from the American Institute of Architects citing the “praise-worthy collaboration of owner and architect to give decorative front to a useful interior.” The building had a nearby streetcar stop and an expanding local neighborhood.
