The International Cottages of Balboa Park have welcomed the world since 1935. This is the home we are working toward — and why it matters.
Visitors sometimes go to Balboa Park looking for our door — but there isn't one to find yet. We are a candidate house, and for now we represent Afghan culture through the events we host, with a regular monthly presence growing in the Hall of Nations. The only way to experience the house today is to join us there.
A founding board, a name, and a place among the cultures of San Diego — accepted as a candidate of the House of Pacific Relations.
Launch our programs, a monthly presence in the Hall of Nations and December Nights, a new website, and the Canon — proving an active, sustained house.
A permanent home among the cottages of Balboa Park. The waiting list runs well over a decade — so we build everything else while we wait for the door.
In the heart of Balboa Park, a circle of small houses has stood for almost a century. Each belongs to a culture; together they form the House of Pacific Relations— a living gathering of the world's peoples, open every Sunday to anyone who wanders in.
More than thirty cottages host music, food, dance, and conversation year-round, and together they animate December Nights, the park's largest celebration. To hold a cottage is to hold a permanent seat at that table — a small house with an open door, flying one culture's welcome beside all the others.
Cottages are few and rarely vacated, and new houses join through a waiting list and a candidacy that can take years. The House of Afghanistan is a candidate member — recognized, active, and gathering in the Hall of Nations and at December Nights while we wait for a cottage of our own.
We are building everything a cottage requires before the keys arrive: a board, a membership, a calendar of programs, and the Canon itself. When a cottage opens, we intend to be the most prepared house on the list.
Every member and every volunteer strengthens our candidacy. Stand with the house in waiting.