Encinitas Rock and Roll House Artist Richard Margolin Article Encinitas Magazine Feb-March 2015 by Kyle Thomas (Stories of Encinitas CA)

Encinitas-Rock-and-Roll-House-2007

I was remembering the Encinitas “Rock ‘n Roll House”, after coming across photos that I had taken of the once iconic structure, back in 2007. One month after taking those photos, the house was leveled flat, along with the rest of a .77 acre property that was shared with an artist colony. In it’s place was built a 30 million dollar project, now called, “The Lofts at Moonlight Beach.“
The R&R House, once located between A and B Streets, in the alley, west of the Coast Highway, near Moonlight Beach, was a small two story apartment. The entire structure, along with the garage, yard and even the telephone pole, had been transformed into a crazy, wildly psychedelic piece of art.

After learning from another artist, that I could find the R&R House artist, Richard Margolin, in Carlsbad, I decided to go on a quest to locate him.

Armed with good directions, but no address, I trekked to the old “Barrio” section of Carlsbad where I found myself at the end, of a dead-end alley… and there it was. Hidden away from all the world, was a magical looking, old, wooden, double doored gate, embedded with thousands of marble size glass balls. I was immediately excited by what I saw.

After introducing myself to Richard, he graciously gave me a tour and then invited me to sit down to hear his story.

“It began mysteriously and unpredictable. I had never done art in my life. I was 56 years old, living in a motel room in Oceanside, and if somebody would have said, “You’re an artist”, I would have told them, “What the hell are you talking about!”

“I found a little white sterile bachelor apartment in Encinitas, and I was just thrilled to find a place to live. Art was beyond my comprehension.”

“The way it started was, I asked the landlord if I could paint the front door pink, and he said, “Yes.” I think that gave me a green light in my brain. A valve opened up in my brain that had never been open before, which was, “You can”, as opposed to, “You can’t.” Probably fifty years of pent up creativity. I probably was an artist internally and never had any idea that I had any talent, and when that valve opened, it kind of exploded.”

“The place was kind of a representation of that explosion. There’s a lot of spirit and a lot of creativity, probably lacking in a little sense of order. It was kind of a miracle quality. Things like that happen and you don’t even realize that they are happening.”

Richard went on to tell me that having to move on, and leave the Encinitas R&R House, actually turned out to be a blessing, because he had completed that project, and needed a new location to continue the evolution of his art.

With the blessings and support of his current landlord, Richard has created another “Art House”, equally, if not more impressive, than the first.
When I asked his current landlord, who was crazier, him or Richard, his response was quick… “Richard!”

Richard welcomes all guests to visit him at his new location in Carlsbad, but asks that you first, please call him, to arrange your visit.

Visit Richard Margolin’s website at www.richardmargolinart.com/