Chateau La Jolla unveils newly renovated building with a circus celebration

Chateau La Jolla went to the circus — in theme at least — to celebrate the reopening of one of its buildings Dec. 8 after a four-year, $2.5 million renovation to the interior.

Chateau La Jolla is an independent senior citizen community for people 55 and older at 233 Prospect St. It was built in 1973, and one of the buildings was in need of an upgrade.

“When I got here there were only five residents in this whole building and it was run-down, dark and not really very appealing,” said Managing Director Wendy Matalon. “The other buildings were much more occupied, and they were trying to figure out how to renovate these apartments. So they were going to renovate them one at a time. We decided it would be more expeditious to move the five people from this building into the other buildings and just do the whole thing.”

The fourth-floor hallway of a newly reopened Chateau La Jolla building leads to a series of renovated residential units.

(Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

So four years ago, those residents were moved and the building had been vacant since to accommodate the work, designed by architect Mark Steele.

The second, third and fourth floors had “everything” redone, including in-unit fixtures, appliances, lighting, flooring and plumbing, and the ground-floor dining room was renovated.

“The only thing we didn’t change is the heating system,” Matalon said.

In all, 21 units were redone. “We were able to do a lot of things we would not have if we just did them one at a time,” Matalon said.

To celebrate, Chateau La Jolla hosted an open house with a circus theme, including stilt walkers, fire jugglers, games, carnival food and more, in the center courtyard of the complex.

Christina the Snake Charmer dances with a friend as part of Chateau La Jolla’s circus-themed open house.

(Ashley Mackin-Solomon)

To learn more about Chateau La Jolla, visit chateaulajollainn.com. ◆