Plans to remodel a historic, 3,998-square-foot, three-story home in La Jolla Shores once inhabited by the late Scripps oceanographer Dr. Walter Munk will proceed — despite family members’ objections.
The additions and expansions of Seiche in La Jolla Shores are being required to adhere to historic designation regulations and coastal requirements — but not to the wishes of the former occupants, according to their daughter, who preferred to avoid a commemoration involving their one-time home.
The Munks lived there from the home’s construction in 1953 until Judith’s death in 2006 and Walter’s in 2019.
The home’s name, Seiche, refers to a standing wave oscillating in a body of water. Munk was renowned for his groundbreaking observations of waves, ocean temperature and tidal energy in the deep ocean, ocean acoustics and the rotation of the Earth. His tidal predictions were successfully used on D-Day during the Normandy invasion, Allied landings in North Africa and the taking of beaches in the Pacific theater.
The proposed renovation of the Seiche House property at 9530 La Jolla Village Dr. was praised by the La Jolla Development Permit Review Committee, which greenlit preliminary plans for the project last month.
But not everyone is thrilled by Seiche House’s redevelopment.
“My parents were dead-set against historical designation of their home,” said Walter Munk’s daughter, Edie Munk. “My whole life growing up, my parents made this desire clear, no historical designation for Seiche ever.
“They told this to me and many others, as many asked — and assumed — they would want their home historically designated.
“They were absolutely against this notion. Dust to dust was their belief system.”
Edie Munk said her father had this directive notarized by his lawyer.
“All the pro-historical designation folks who claimed to admire and respect my parents in life certainly turned against them in death,” she said. “There were many of us who fought hard against this designation, honoring my parents’ wishes. But we were brutally defeated.”
The Seiche House was sold in January 2022 for $6.25 million, and UC San Diego has made it clear that its link to the property ended then.
The property, which was designed for Walter Munk by his second wife, Judith, an artist and architectural designer, is perched high above a protected canyon preserve. It features spectacular ocean views from both the house and garden.
The home is designed to be inclusive, incorporating a number and variety of meeting places. It was meant to be a hub of conversation and creativity as well as a family haven.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the complex features a main house, a guest house, a second-story guest room, a folly amphitheater and thoughtful landscaping. Large expanses of glass, open interior plans, and a clear expression of structure and materials characterize the main house. Vines envelop the mid-century modern structure.
Outdoors features a swimming pool and sunken garden on the east and a west garden.
Current renovation plans for Seiche, designed by La Jolla architect Ione Stiegler, include a 1,125 square-foot addition to the second floor; conversion of a 565 square-foot, detached guest house to an accessory dwelling unit with an additional 375 square feet and expansion of the basement to 1,103 square feet.
Planned additions include an attached 628-square-foot, two-car garage, retaining walls, driveway, landscaping, and new utilities.
Edie Munk, however, has ideas of what she would like to see in the aftermath of Seiche House’s redevelopment.
“I hope that future homeowners, who clearly request that their homes do not fall under historical designation, will be honored in their wishes, in life as well as in death,” she said. “Once my parents passed, the magic of Seiche went with them. Seiche no longer exists without them; that era is over.”
For her, it will be an entirely new home, so she’d like to see a “brand new name” assigned to it.
