The architecturally exquisite Sessions Building in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park is now home to Toby’s Candle & Soap Shop. Originally, however, it was owned by Milton P. Sessions. Beginning in 1929, he operated a flower and ceramic shop out of this building, which was designed by his friend, renowned architect Richard Requa.
Does the Sessions name sound familiar? That’s because Milton was the nephew of the famous Kate Sessions, who is often referred to as the Mother of Balboa Park. She helped him as a young man get his start as a nurseryman.
Should you walk into Toby’s Candles, you can view a couple of old black and white photos framed on the wall left of the front counter. They show what the Sessions Studio looked like almost a century ago.
The La Jolla Historical Society wrote this excellent article on Facebook five years ago about Milton P. Sessions. Among his notable accomplishments, he provided the landscaping for the Roads of the Pacific at the 1935 California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. I blogged about the “forgotten” Roads of the Pacific recently here.
When you visit Toby’s, make sure to watch the skilled artisans making fancy candles! You might see something like this!
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I met Milt about 1990 He was looking at his old headquarters building. I know he had a nursery in the open land behind his shop and across Congress Street. He told me he couldn’t remember whether he had planted any of the trees on the plaza in Old Town State Park. He wanted to know if the tiles he used for his sign on the facade of the building were still there and just painted over. There is/was a slight bump out in the stucco that looked like it might be where he said he remembered the sign being. I got permission to put up a ladder and drill some small holes to see if we could tell whether the tiles were there. The results were negative. No evidence of the tiles.
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Thanks for the memories. I think I saw that long rectangular bump in front of the building. A State Park employee thought that a sign might have once been there.
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I have a photo somewhere of Milt and me, but haven’t found it yet. I did spend an hour looking.
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