533 Stevens

On the back of nearly every Kaypro machine you will find the address

533 Stevens Avenue
Solana Beach, CA 92075

In May 2025 I had the chance to visit Solana Beach so I took the opportunity to visit the campus where Kaypro designed and made their machines. I also met with two of the architects for the buildings on that campus.

Let me begin by thanking Michael and Janice Batter the architects of the Reception Building and the Warehouse Building (Janice is Andy Kay's daughter). Also, Brittany and Marco who work for the Storage Facility that now owns the property. Thomas Brase also needs credit for doing the initial research on this subject.

The pre-Kaypro Days

Non-linear Systems (NLS) bought the undeveloped property and before the 1980s had built 4 long buildings (I will refer to them as the "assembly buildings" on the rest of this page) where they built and tested their meters and multi-meters that they had become known for. They also housed the other departments likes sales and design. These buildings would continue to serve as the assembly areas and offices in the Kaypro era.

There was also a covered building in the back right of the picture for storage.

The Kaypro Days

The sudden success of Kaypro computers required some rapid development of the property to accommodate the growing company.

Three major "structures" were used to make this happen.

The Reception Building and Modified Assembly Buildings

A new reception office was added to the left side of the existing front building with a security office added as a second floor. The first floor was mostly still the existing building.

To replace the loading bay that was lost where the reception building now stood a larger loading area was added to the middle of the front building.

A wall was constructed around the assembly buildings for added security.

"Also obscuring Kay’s spare but functional building tiers is a brand-new reception area designed by his daughter Janice and her husband (who run the Batter-Kay architectural firm). It’s the perfect facade for a nouveau- riche, high-tech whiz-corp like Kaypro today." (San Diego Reader, Jan 19, 1984)

In these three shots notice that there is a blue building running off to the left. This was the existing first office/assembly building.

New Loading Bay

The new loading bay added to the front of the first assembly building.

One final image of the design of the assembly buildings. This one gives a good idea of at least how the remodeled spaces were planned to be used.

Circus Tent

"But competing for the attention of anyone who turns off Stevens Avenue and drives the short block up to the plant is a giant white circus tent erected on the hill at the end of the street. The tent and a fleet of sixty storage trailers hold millions of dollars worth of both completed computers and the electronic components from which they are built;" (San Diego Reader, Jan 19, 1984)

Warehouse

Batter Kay also designed the new warehouse building at the back of the preoperty.

"... the 40,000- square-foot facility which the Kays are planning to build on the site won’t be completed until April." (San Diego Reader Jan 19, 1984)

The post-Kaypro Days

The property today is a storage facility.

The warehouse, the old warehouse (in the North West corner of the property) and the 4th assembly building (See 4th build survival) are the only Kaypro buildings left. The circus tent was taken down once the warehouse was built, the first through third assembly buildings and reception building were demolished to make room for the 5000 block of storage units and the RV parking building (Large building on the right of the image below.)

The office building in the bottom center was built after the Kaypro era. It's architecture is similar enough to the Reception Building that I suspect that they both stood on the property at some point in time. (I am still working on those details.)

Here is an aerial image of the site with the approximate locations of the old buildings drawn on.

Warehouse building

Here are some comparison images of the warehouse then and now.

On the outside the building is mostly the same. When we entered the building it is still a two story complex but rather than being mostly open as a warehouse it has been converted into at least a hundred storage units.

Extra Info

For some more info about the Palm Trees read A Tale of Two Double Palm Trees