Getting to the Ilan-Lael Foundation is not easy. Once you leave Highway 78, you’re on a dirt road for a bit before you arrive at the former home and studios of famed San Diego artist James Hubbell and his family.
Even if you have an inkling of what to expect, being at this place leads to questions both simple and profound:
What is this place? And — why is this place?
Ask AI and you get an answer that’s rather unsatisfying: 10 acres of integrated natural landscape and art structures.
It is 10 acres and the 14 structures on this land are certainly designed and made with art in mind, but why?
Ilan-Lael Foundation Executive Director Marianne Gerdes has the best answers you’re likely to find, and they all relate to its creator, Jim Hubbell.
“When Jim was really a child, he decided to seek beauty, but never try to define it. Those are his words, not mine,” Gerdes said. “What that means is he was going to use his ability to make art as a balance to some of the negativity that existed in the world. You see that in so much here in this place, this world he wanted to live in. It’s filled with beauty because that’s what nurtured his soul.”
Here, you can say you came to see the art — and the buildings — and they mean exactly the same thing.
Gerdes explained that the property is broken into two pieces. The dividing line was forced in 2003 by the disastrous Cedar Fire. But from the ashes arose a series of new structures that have propelled Ilan-Lael forward in its mission.
Those new structures include the place where the public enters Ilan-Lael and can take tours of the property. There is space where workshops and public events are held, and it’s also where the Foundation has its offices and keeps an archive of Hubbell’s work.
On the other side of the divide, you’ll find original buildings that survived the fire with little or no damage.
“(And those) represent Jim and Anne’s original home, and that’s the historically designated part of the property that comprises their residences where they lived, the studios where Jim made his art, and two galleries where he displays a lot of his art and used as a place to store artistic creations,” said Gerdes.
Jim and Anne’s home is off limits, but all the other buildings are open to visitors.
That includes the Boy’s House. Gerdes said it’s a favorite and you can see why, especially when you step inside. This is where the four Hubbell sons grew up. Calling it magical is an understatement.
“(It’s) a marvelous example of the inclusive nature of the way Jim designs architecture,” Gerdes said.
A smile crossed her face as she continued describing the Boy's House. “So everything from the dome-shaped exterior with the beautiful sculpture of a woman with her hand in front of the sun, shielding her eyes to the elaborate interior with handmade tiles on the floor and mosaics of birds and other creatures and abalone shells in the bathroom, stained glass throwing light all over the rooms at different places at different times of the year. It’s just a jewel.”
All four Hubbell sons are involved with the Foundation, with three of them sitting on the board. That includes the youngest, Brennan. He was on site the day KPBS was there. We talked to him in the Boy’s House about what it was like growing up in this place.
“It was fun to have the mountains to … walk around in and explore, to have nature so much a part of our lives. You might notice the buildings are really small, so you have to walk outside in order to go to the dining room or your bedroom,” said Hubbell.
The youngest Hubbell is an artist and one of the places he creates is where his father created as well. That is the Big Studio. But this space is not just for Hubbells.
On the day we were there, we found an artist doing arc welding as he created an elaborate metal sculpture. In the middle of the studio hung a huge stained glass window that used to be in the Triton Restaurant in Cardiff. It will soon make its way to the San Diego History Center, where it will be on permanent loan.
Gerdes said keeping this place alive with newly created art was important to Jim Hubbell.
“We have artists in our employ, and actually everybody here practices some art. It’s just in the nature of wanting to be here. Creative people are drawn here … We’re actually hoping that someday this will be an artistic landmark for artists to come from all over the world to be inspired by this place, to utilize it, to make their art of their own choosing,” she said.
For Brennan Hubbell, there is another dimension to being here that is very personal and spiritually special.
“It’s nice to be remembering my parents and their presence here and my childhood here,” he said.
Jim Hubbell died in 2024. Anne Hubbell is still alive but no longer lives at Ilan-Lael, the place she and her husband created.
Ilan-Lael can be translated from Hebrew in a couple of ways — “a tree that belongs to God” or “a tree that unites the physical and the spiritual.” That latter descriptor may come about as close as you can to describing this exceptional place.
