The House of Italy (HOI) was founded in May of 1935 in conjunction with the California Pacific International Exposition in Balboa Park. The HOI then became part of the House of Pacific Relations (HPR) which is a not-for-profit community organization dedicated to furthering cooperation between national groups in the United States. The current HOI was formed in 1968 with a group of Italians meeting at local restaurants.
In 1971, the City of San Diego permitted the HOI to remodel the old floral display building. In August of 1973, the doors opened and have remained so ever since, greeting the thousands of visitors with a warm Italian welcome!
To this day, the objectives of HOI remain the same as they were several decades ago:
To preserve and foster the culture of Italy
To extend hospitality to all visitors
To inform visitors about Italian activities in San Diego
To promote a spirit of good will amongst all nations
To have fun!
For detailed information concerning all the national groups in the HPR, please go to: www.sdhpr.org.
For general park information: www.balboapark.org.
