The Beaton Path

On one of their first dates, Sherry Krulle trekked to the top of Jan Beaton’s Jamul property. “He said he’d show me the most amazing sunset I’d ever seen in my life,” she says. “It truly was.”

They were married there in 1991, in the midst of the chaparral, by a Kumeyaay Indian shaman named Billy Bird. The land sits at the foot of Lyons Peak, one of the largest mountains in East County and sacred to the Kumeyaay. Their language is spoken only, but Bird told the Beatons how he would write the name they had chosen for their new home: We- A-Sha-A-Nok, which means “Rocks Where the Birds Rest.”

Five years later, artist James Hubbell, whose sculptures, mosaics and paintings reflect and connect with the natural world, designed a home for them. The couple had met through Hubbell’s Ilan Lael Foundation, a place for artists to gather and launch projects that integrate the arts, nature and beauty. Sherry is a successful painter. Her vibrant earthscapes, with layers of texture and color, have themes of flowing rivers, carved mountains and leafless trees. Jan is a cartoonist, woodworker and sculptor. He also teaches special education at El Capitan High School.

Hubbell’s work ranges from 18 stained-glass doors for a palace in the United Arab Emirates to sculptures with mosaics for places around the county, such as the shade pavilion at Pacific Portal on Shelter Island, built in 1996. The firm Hubbell & Hubbell is a collaboration of James with his architect son, Drew.

To design a house, James Hubbell first sculpts a clay model of the land. Form, matter, light and shadow at the site all come into play. “I place the rocks and start working,” he says. “Sort of like peeling an onion.

“At the Beaton residence, the land is so strong. Its horizontal lines sort of play off the rocks. Where there isn’t any of that in the natural world, it starts this dialogue.”

Twenty-foot boulders around the site became part of the structure of the plastered, wood-frame building. In the main living room, the rounded boulders protrude into the room in a way that feels completely organic. A twisty column provides support. The fireplace’s decorative mosaic in bright blues and greens was begun by Hubbell and finished by the artists in residence.

In front, a large arch relates to the dramatic landscape, especially Lyons Peak, and the warm southwest light. “I think it was sort of to say to the mountain, ‘Yes, I’m glad you’re here,’ ” Hubbell explains.

At sunset, the exterior glows the same color as its surroundings. The house looks like a natural stone formation— growing more dramatic and layered as its edges darken with shadows.

The home’s low profile and sturdy walls make environmental sense in this still-wild desert bioregion, where temperatures easily reach the high 90s in the summer and drop below freezing in the winter.

The Beatons’ move into their new home in 1996 became a starting point for their artistic collaboration. “We live in proximity to all the things that are inspirational about nature,” Sherry says.

Both are from the East Coast—Jan from Rhode Island, Sherry from Pennsylvania— so they craved greenery. “Even though we appreciated the chaparral, we wanted a forest,” Jan says. They planted leafy trees in the front area and in pots on the porch. They also tried to preserve the natural environment, the manzanitas and fragrant laurel sumac, while avoiding a fire hazard.

Within the house, mosaic designs by Sherry and Jan are decorative floor murals in transitional areas, such as the entrance, and in the courtyard between the main house and the guest quarters. In this two-room structure connected by an arch, mosaic, resembling trickling water, spills down a wall next to a boulder.

Around the property, they have designed extensive stonework with mosaic and embedded artwork: tiered levels in the front yard; fireplaces; back patio; walkways between boulders that lead to spectacular views; and in the side yard, a broch, named after the cylindrical towers built in Scotland during the Iron Age.

After the stonework designs are drawn in clay or pencil, they are often executed with the help of a gifted masonry craftsman from central Mexico, Timoteo Lara Hernandez. Jan goes on endless scavenger hunts, collecting interesting rocks he hauls home to use.

“Jan and Sherry have—with a lot of playfulness—added to the house,” says Hubbell. “It’s a much more interesting building now because of what they’ve done.”

“Having 10 acres, we have a huge palette,” Jan says. “It’s addicting.”

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