From The Earth: Adobes of Santa Barbara

NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine Of The Santa Barbara Historical Society Vol, XLVIII. No. 1

Spring 2002

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From the Earth; Adobes of Santa Barbara

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is literally as old as the hills; it is as old as civilization itself. It is a perfect building material in dry climates; it is wonderfully adaptable to places where little or no lumber is to be had. Adobe buildings stay cool in summer,are easy to heat in winter.

Ihey are resistant tofire and termites;they can be surprisingly resistant to earthquakes. Santa Barbara was builtfrom adobe.

The Spanish arrived in lySz and intended to stay. They needed buildings ofsubstance, buildingsfor defense, buildings built to the glory ofQod. The South Coast yielded little in the way oflumber to construct these buildings. The Spanish drew upon their experiences in Mexico and the American Southwest;Santa Barbara would be built brickby adobe brick, Christine Palmer examines this legacy ofover two hundred years duration. Most ofSanta Barbara s surviving historic adobes are now City Landmark^. They are still very much a part ofthefabric ofcity life, being used as museums,offices, businesses,private homes. She also ventures outside the city limits to tell the stories ofsome ofthe significant historic adobes in the county.

All photographs arefrom the collections ofthe Santa Barbara Historical Society unless stated other wise. Front coverphotograph is a detail ofthe east wall ofthe Historic adobe.Image on page 28 and on backcover is a drawing ofEl Cuartel,as it may have looked ca. 188$,by Clarence Cullimore in his book.

Santa Barbara Adobes.

THE AUTHOR: Christine Palmer earned her MA.in Public Historical Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara in iggo. Specializing in historic preservation,she has workedfor the V.S. Forest Service, the Landmarks and Urban Conservation Commissionfor Albuquerque,New Mexico, and the King County, Washington Preservation Program. In iggy she began afour-year tenure as City Flistorianfor the City ofSanta Barbara. Earlier this yearshe launched Palmer Historical Consulting, advising clients on the protection ofhistoric properties. Her publications include the book, New Deal Adobe: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Reconstruction of Mission La Purisima, 19341942. She has written previouslyfor noticias.

NOTiciAS is a quarterlyjournal devoted to the study ofthe history ofSanta Barbara County. Contribu tions ofarticles are welcome. Those authors whose articles are acceptedfor publication will receive ten gratis copies ofthe issue in which their article appears. Furthercopies are available to the contributor at cost. The authority in matters ofstyle is theUniveTsity oi Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition. The Publications Committee reserves the right to return submitted manuscriptsfor required changes. State ments and opinions expressed in articles are the sole responsibility ofthe author.

Michael Redmon, Editor Judy Sutcliffe, Designer © 2002 The Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. De la Guerra Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101 ● Telephone: 805/966-1601 Single copies $5.00 ISSN 0581-5916

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Christine Palmer

The AGeb waLLs covejaeb with cooss Anb cbe biscoLopACion of cime. cbe Afssence OF neebLess OFHAOoenc, Anb cbe FoeLino OF bonoeLiness cbAC pepvAbes evepA FeACupe, aLL combine co ppobuce cbis simple Anb beAuciFul Apcbiceccupe.'

Donald R. Hannaford, 1931

Hbobe IS Hncienc

word reflects the ini luence ot Spanish colo nists from Mexico who brought their own brick-making techniques with them when they settled in the American West at the end of the sixteenth century. Tlie Spanish

Adobe is the original building material. Tlic world’s lirst towns—Ur.Jericho, Babylon, Nineveh, as well as Neolithic villages from 7000 BC—were built primarily of sun-dried mud bricks. Middle Eastern archaeologi cal specialists have surmised that the Bib lical Tower of Babel was built ot adobe.

word, in turn, has been traced through the Arabic word at-tob back to the Egyptian hieroglyphic t’b which means brick. Adobe is the building material of choice in areas where timber is not easily available for con struction: the Middle East, the American

The word adobe originated in the Ameri can Southwest deriving from the Spanish verb atio/xirwhich means"to plaster.” The

Southwest, the Chinese steppes, the South American littoral, the dry plateau of Mexico. Nearly half the people of the world ttxlay live in adobe houses.^ Adobe remains an excellent building material and is enjoying a resurgence of popularity among al fluent homeowners in New Mexico and Arizona. The basic in

Portions of this article have been published previously in Ancestors West,thejoumaloflhe Sd7ita Barbara County genealogical Society, aiid as part of the tour brochurefor the annual Santa Barbara Citizens Planning Association Adobe 'lour.

gredient is soil which has a substantial component of clay. It requires no great skill

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to turn this soil into mud and then to form the mud into bricks. If properly maintained, adobe structures last a long time. Adobe brick walls are laid with a mud mortar com posed of the same adobe soil. No other material has been as successful in bonding adobe bricks. Puddled adobe, which is wet mud placed into structures without form ing it into bricks was used by Pucbloan culture Native Americans in New Mexico lor centuries betore the Spanish arrived.

Many ot these structures are still standing at Acoma and Taos.^

Hbol3€ Cfonscpuccion Techniques for making adobe bricks have remained much the same throughout millen nia. In the American Southwest, bricks were produced in many sizes ranging from 10 x 14 X 4 inches to 12 x 18 x 5 inches. Each weighed fifty to sixty pounds after they were dried. Assembling an adobe building is a se ries ol simple steps, but it entails much dull, backbreaking work. Tlie bricks were made from clay-bearing soil mixed with straw and water. Depending on the consistency of the mud,sand or gravel may be added. Tlie straw acts as a binder to help the bricks shrink more uniformly as they dry. Tlie key to durability ol adobe bricks is the soil-to-clay ratio. If the soil is too sandy, the bricks will melt in a moderate rain. Too much clay causes shrink ing and cracks. Tliese ratios vary greatly de pending upon the source of the soil. Such variation also causes changes in the colors of the dried bricks. Adobe can be yellow, buff, can. brown, grey, or reddish depending on where the soil was obtained.''

Adobe bricks arc dried in the sun and not fired in a kiln, cherclore they are inherently unstable. Walls made from adobe -will shrink or swell according to the water concent in the dried bricks. Tlic wetter the bricks, the weaker they arc. ''Stabilized” adobe bricks

contain cement, asphalt, and/or bituminous materials within the mud mixture, but these difler from traditional adobe bricks in appear ance and strength. Exposed adobe in the American Southwest weathers about one inch

every

ten

years. In

ancient

Mesopotamia, the average house stoixl for about seventy-five years before it collapsed and another built on top of it.^ Adobe building foundations varied with local practices and availability of materi als. They usually were constructed of bricks, lieldstones. or rubble stone, and even seashells, depending on locality.

Adobe walls tend to be massive and sel dom rise over two stories. Often buttresses braced exterior walls for added stability.

Roofs were usually logs which supported wooden poles, and which in turn supported wooden lathing or latias covered with packed adobe earth. Latias are rules (reeds or bulrushes) about two inches in diameter which arc laid on cop of the crossbeams supporting the roof. The latias might be placed lengthwise across the crossbeams or arranged in a herringbone pattern. The wood and latias consisted of whatever plant materials were available locally.^ A watertight roof with proper drain age is the best protection against adobe ero sion from rain. Southern Calilornia settlers turned to curved, kiln-fired adobe roof tiles laid to repel the water. The first California roof tiles were fired in 1781 at Mission San Antonio de Padua. Tile tools for houses became most common in communities where mission and presidio buildings were robbed of their roof tiles following the end ol the Mexican era in California.

The sala was the largest room of an adobe dwelling used for formal occasions.

Traditionally, the width of the sala de pended on the length of the crossbeams available lor the roof. A large sala was. therefore, a long sala.'

OLD ADOBES 0[bOl3€ ELaSC€12 Adobe surfaces arc notoriously fragile

3 spread of infectious diseases. Stucco, a com bination of cement,sand, and water, did not come into use on adobe until the early twen

and would need frequent resurfacing with mud plaster, whitewash, lime plaster, stucco, or. in the case of floors, fresh ani

tieth century. It is applied with a trowel over a wire mesh nailed to the adobe walls.®

mal blood. Mud plaster is composed of the same materials as the adobe bricks and bonds well to them. It was a time-consum

I3ivinc wicb R[bol3€

ing and laborious process; the plaster is usu ally smoothed by hand with animal skins or small rounded stones. Wliitcwash con

cant adobe buildings in California today, including the 21 missions. As Americans settled in California after the Gold Rush,

sists of ground gypsum, rock, water and clay, and acts as a scaler on the adobe brick walls. It is brushed on the walls and is con

they constructed the architecture they knew from the eastern states and spurned the mud brick buildings of the native Californios. Old adobe structures with thick walls and a well-made roof arc said

sidered easier to apply than mud.*^ Lime plaster is less flexible and cracks easily, but was the coating of preference in the Franciscan inissions of California. It con sisted of lime, sand, and water and was ap plied in heavy coats with trowels. It docs not bond to the adobe and requires the plasterer to first score the walls with grooves. Tlic grooves arc filled with small stone chips w4iich adhere to the lime plaster. Lime was thought to be an effective disinfectant and lime plaster was encouraged to prevent the

There arc only 350 historically signifi

to have a high insulation factor; they arc "warm in winter and cool in summer.”

Those insulation values have been exceeded with modern walls built of 2-by-4 inch studding which has been sheathed with gypsum board and plastered. Yet from Neolithic times to the late nineteenth cen tury. adobe was the best of insulators and remained the preferred building material for human habitation.

A coating of lime plaster and a clay tile roof protected fragile adobe bricks for many years.

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Setecreb St<?mfwanv Sanva Banf3ana Hbobe BuiLbm^s [Thefollowing list is not intended to be used as a comprehensive compilation ofevery adobe struc ture, ruin or site in the City ofSanta Barbara]

€t be Sanra BdRbana 123 East Canon Perdido Street Dedicated April 21, 1782, four years be fore Mission Santa Barbara was estab lished, the Santa Barbara presidio was the fourth and final fort established in Alta California by the Spanish crown. After construction of a temporary chapel, Span ish soldiers and Chumash natives under the direction of the first commander, Lieuten ant Jose Prancisco Ortega, erected a pali saded quadrangle on the site. The palisade structures were eventually replaced by a quadrangle of more permanent adobe build ings.

These single-story adobes were con structed between 1784 and 1788 under the supervision of the second ccnnandantc. Lieu tenant Pelipe dc Goicoechca. Letters writ-

ten between Goicoechca and the governor, Pedro Pages, often described the progress of the presidio construction in detail. Ac complished with the assistance of grow ing numbers of Chumash brought into the community by conversion to the Christian faith, the site grew into a complex of rooms joined by mutual defensive walls four hun dred feet by five hundred feet long, four feet thick, and ten feet high. Roofs were of fired adobe clay tile and walls were plas tered with lime wash.

A letter dated January 4. 1797. docu ments the completion of the chapel exten sion which had begun on April 4, 1796.

Knowledge of the architectural plan of the quadrangle during Santa Barbara's presidio era is limited to three maps: the Goicoechca plan, Pages plan, and Vischcr plan, By 1795, the pueblo of Santa Barbara had begun to expand outside the walls ol the presidio quadrangle. In 1826, during the Mexican occupation of the presidio, Santa Barbara’s first ayuntamiento{zoven council)

S The Rpyal Presidio of Santa Barbara by -Tf* P^sell A. R}iiz, 1963.

P}dz was a direct descendant ofthe second comandance of the Santa Barbara presidio, Felipe de Qoicoechea.

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OLD ADOBES was formed. The establishment oi a mu nicipal government,.separate Iroin the mili tary affairs ot the presidio, rcllcctcd the Mexican government’s emphasis on pueb los and ranchos and de-emphasis on the original Spanish presidio-mission complex.

When Santa Barbara was otficially rec ognized as an American town on April 9.

1850. its appearance was largely unchanged from the description given twenty years earlier by Alfred Robinson. The adobe resi dences were scattered at random around the old presidio with no evidence ot a street plan. Characteristic of European villages, the construction ot the buildings was no ticeably more important than a street sys tem, and buildings were placed where they were most convenient for the residents.

Today the reconstructed presidio tunctions as El Presidio dc Santa Barbara State Historic Park and is managed by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation.

Tlie park consists ot over tour acres of City land and contains two original adobe struc tures from the presidio era: El Cuartel and the Canedo-Wliittakcr adobe. TIic remain ing adobe buildings have been authentically

reconstructed based upon painstaking re search and archaeological investigations conducted since the late 1960s. The Santa Barbara Presidio is a State Historic Land mark and is listed on the National Regis ter of Historic Places. The reconstructed adobes are part ot El Presidio dc Santa Barbara State Historic Park and arc open to the public.'' €t Cucinret 122 East Canon Perdido Street This adobe is the second-oldest structure in California (the oldest is part ot Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County).

Constructed in 1788 as part ot the Santa Barbara presidio, the building forms the last remaining portion of the western wall of the old fort. It was a wing used for the resi dences of the married presidio soldiers and their families. The name El Cuartel means "the soldier’s quarters." and the adobe en compasses what was a little less than oneand-a-half of an old residential apartment.

These apartments were one room with a door facing on the central plaza ol the

El Cuartel, a.s rendered by Henry Chapman Ford, iSS^. Ford execicted images oj several oj Santa Barbara's historic adobes,as ivell as all twenty-one ofCalifornia s missions.

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presidio and a second door facing ouc onto

which were causing harm to the structure.

a semi-privacc yard between the building and the outer defense wall of the presidio.

For many years, El Cuarccl was known

The single-story building has walls two feet thick with a fired adobe clay tile roof. It

which used it as a headquarters. Jose Jesus Valenzuela was deeded this adobe in 1846

stands at an angle to the street reflecting the original position of the presidio’s west ern wall which was not in alignment with the modern street grid. The interior con sists of two rooms where the soldier’s fam

after he retired as a member of the presidio garrison and supported his family by work

ily slept, cooked, washed clothes, and con ducted other daily activities.

ing as a shoemaker. Tlx remaining portions of the presidio were neglected after the Mexi can government ceased to maintain this mili

El Cuartcl is a designated City Land mark, a State Historic Landmark, and is

as the Wenzucla adobe and subsequently belonged to the local Boy Scout Council

tary outpost, and local residents pilfered the roof tiles causing the adobe structures to melt.

East Canon Perdido Street was widened in 1890. as the adobe known as El Cuartcl en

listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently undergoing restoration by State Parks staff, this adobe is not pres ently open to the public.'^

dured incrcnxntai alterations including a fire place, cement flooring, interior partition walls, window and door relocations, and a

Canebo-mbtrraken Hbobe

walled courtyard.

Constructed in 1788 shortly after El Cuartcl. this adobe was built on the inside

Although El Cuartcl has undergone at least two "restorations” in past decades, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Pres ervation is currently undertaking a histori cally authentic program based on thorough research. This program included the re moval of a pepper tree in 1994 the roots of

123 East Canon Perdido Street

of the northwest wall of the presidio quad rangle as the residence of a non-commis sioned Spanish military officer. It is a single-story building with a fired adobe clay tile roof. During Santa Barbara’s Mexican period, the building was granted to retired

T/ie Canedn adobe is the seeond'olde.st building in Santa Barbara. Elmer Whittaker bought the adobe in igzo and began large-scale renovations ofthe Inulding in 19^4./!e abo had a hand in restoring a num ber ofother historic buildings in Santa Barbara inckiding the 'Irussell-Winchcster adobe. Photograph lyy Karl Obert.

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OLD ADOBES Httt-CanRiLto Hbobe 11-15 Ease Carrillo Street

soldier, Jose Maria Canedo. The doors and windows reflect the American influ ence in Santa Barbara during the 1850s.

This U-shaped adobe sits on a raised loundation and has a projecting roof which cre ates an inviting porch along the Carrillo Street side. Only the front portion of the structure comprises the original adobe resi dence built by Massachusetts native Daniel Hill for his Spanish bride. Rafaela Luisa

Englishman Henry Penry and his family lived in this adobe residence as renters in the 1850s when it was owned by the cattlc-ranching Pedro Baron family.

Penry left to construct the first brick home in Santa Barbara at the southeast corner of De la Vina and Pedregosa streets. Elmer Whittaker of Montecito

Ortega, in 1825. Hill arrived in California on the sailing vessel Epverin 1823. Ralacla was a descendant of Lieutenant Jose Fran

purchased the Canedo adobe in 1920 and conducted substantial renovations to the structure in the late 1940s.

cisco Ortega. Their home had one ot the first wooden floors in town and was a cen

Today, the building has been authen tically refurbished and is used as the visitors center and gift shop for the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation

ter of Santa Barbara’s social and political life from the 1830s until the 1870s. The Hills had fifteen children, with the first six born in this home.

Tlie first child born in California of two

which operates El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park. The

American parents was born in this house in 1833. American Consul Thomas Oliver

Canedo-Whittaker adobe is a designated City Landmark, a State Historic Land mark, and is listed on the National Reg ister of Historic Places. This restored

Larkin met Rachel Holmes aboard the ship Newcastk bound for Monterey, California from Boston. Tlicy began a romance even

adobe is part of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park and is open

though Rachel was already the wife of Dan ish sea captain John Holmes, who was based

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'Ihrougk the decades the I [ill'Cairdlo adobe was [mt to a variety oj'uses. 'Ihe I Ugh Lung Laundry called the adobe home, ca. igoo.

No. 4

8 in Acapulco. Mexico,TIic A^civcastk reached Santa Barbara and Rachel was living with the Hill family in this adobe when her daugh ter by Larkin was born on January 31,1833.

Wliilc pregnant,she learned ot Holmes'death at sea. Rachel baptized her daughter Isabel Ana at the Santa Barbara Mission with Daniel Hill as the godfather. Larkin arrived in Santa Barbara on June 10. 1833. and mar ried Rachel aboard the \ bLmfcerwhilc it was anchored in the channel. Little Isabel did not survive and was buried in the mission cem etery on July 9, 1833. The Larkins moved to Monterey in the autumn of 1833 where his diplomatic career flourished. Tire couple had eight children.

In 1834. the Hills sold the adobe to Scot tish sea captain John D. Wilson and. ca.

1850. constructed a larger adobe on their Golcta rancho (still standing on La Patera Lane), Captain Wilson married Ramona Carrillo Pacheco ol San Diego, whose flair for hospitality made the home a glamor ous rendezvous. The first Santa Barbara City Council convened in this home on April 9. 1850. In 1850. the famous kalian portrait painter. Leonardo Barbieri, main tained a studio in the adobe where he painted Santa Barbarans. including its lead ing citizen. Jose Antonio dc la Guerra. In 1858. the adobe was acquired by Guillermo Carrillo and his wife. Manuela, who main

NOTICIAS is a designated City Landmark, a State His toric Landmark, and is listed on the Na tional Register of Historic Places. This adobe is not open to the public.'■* Casa be to Guenno 11-19 East Dc la Guerra Street Begun in 1818 and completed in 1827. this adobe residence was the grandest home in Santa Barbara during the Spanish and Mexican periods. It was inhabited by the most locally prominent and inllucntial of the native Californio families, the dc la Guerras. Built with Chumash labor under the direction of Jose Antonio Julian dc la Guerra y Noriega, the home is recognized by architectural historians as the progeni tor ol all mcxlern ranch-style residences.

The adobe walls are almost four feet thick and rise almost fourteen feet high. It is a single-story structure with a fired adobe clay tile roof.

Born in Spain, Jose de la Guerra ar rived in Santa Barbara as a military lieu tenant in 1806. He earned promotions to the rank of captain and periodically served as comandantco^ the presidio from 1815 to 1841. He was the most conspicu ous figure ol his time in Alta California exercising a strong political and moral inllucncc. When he and his wife, Maria Antonia Carrillo, moved into the casa in

tained it in their family and saw that it endured as an important community struc ture for decades.

1828, they had twelve children. When Jose died in 1858, his children carried on

By the 1920s. subsequent owner Mrs. Esther Fiske Hammond had remodeled the

his traditions of hospitality in their spa cious adobe residence.

adobe into an art center where noted painter John Gamble met with talented colleagues, including Mary Austin. In 1928, yeast baron and philanthropist Max Fleischmann purchased the home and donated it to be used as the headquarters ol the Santa Bar bara Foundation in 1930. The Foundation still owns and maintains the adobe which

Richard Henry Dana visited the Casa dc la Guerra in 1836 and again in 1859, From his first visit, he described the town and its residents, as well as the casa and the wedding fiesta of Ana Marla dc la Guerra and Allred Robinson, published in his book, 'livo Years Before the Mast. The house was clearlv the center of Santa

OLD ADOBES

9

Barbara's social life and the stopping place

families. After die Calilornia Gold Rush,

for all distinguished visitors. Jose also served as treasurer for Mission Santa Barbara and

the community became more socially dominated by Anglo-American immi

developed a coastal trading business, sellins cattle hides and callow from his exten-

grants and consequently, the casa became less of a social center. In the 1870s, the fam

sive ranch lands. A two-story altito was constructed on the rear of the casa to serve

ily was shorn of its community influence as their fortunes suffered due to a drought which killed thousands of their cattle and three of the de la Guerra sons died.

as a storage space for the family’s com mercial activities.

The casa became the center for such varied town activities as receptions for

The female descendants managed the casa on their own until 1907 when com-

visiting church leaders, military officers, and Anglo-American merchants. Most of the family's celebrations, such as wed

munity leaders formed a Civic League to improve and beautify the city. The League hired Charles Mulford Robinson, a nation¬

dings, dances, the Christmas play. Los Pastores, and pre-Lencen carnivals, were open to the entire community to attend.

The casa also served as a source of sup

ally prominent city planner Irom New York. One of Robinson’s suggestions was

ply lor soap, cigars, medicines, and food for those in need.

By 1860, the casa was owned and oc cupied by de la Guerra sons Pablo, Fran cisco, Antonio Miguel, Joaquin, and their

to preserve the casa as a museum.By 1910, local designer Francis Underhill, who had married a de la Guerra descendant, under took a renovation of the casa as other de scendants continued to live in portions of the adobe home.

By the 1920s, the casa had become the

Mary Stevens Pish arrived in Santa Barbara in i8y^ and studied with I lenry Chapman Ford. Flere she paints the rear ofCasa de la Querra. Note the altito, ivhich served as an office and storage space. Photo graph by 1. N.Cook.

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I-amcd ccfwlxjy artist lldward Borein stands infront of the Oreha aibbe at ly-ig East De la Cjiierra Street, 1922.

symbol ot Santa Barbara’s Spanish heritage and was the scene of numerous Old Span ish Days Fiesta activities every August. Its use shifted Irom residential to commercial as rooms were occupied by gift and curio shops, a tea room, and other attractions.

Onena Hbobes 27-29 and 39 East De la Guerra Street Tliis adobe structure consists of two sec tions, one on the corner and the other ad joining to the west. The corner adobe is

While interior uses changed, the floor plan remained the same. The U-shaped adobe has always enjoyed a three-sided courtyard which faced De la Guerra Plaza. The one-

single-story built in 1849 by Jose de la Guerra: the western portion is one-and-a-

room-wide structure had inter-connecting doors through most of the rooms, as well

fired adobe clay tile roof with dormer win dows is on the 1849 portion and a metal

as exterior doors leading to the veranda and

roof is on the 1858 corner building, A por tion of the adobe wall was removed when

half stories built in 1858 by Caspar Oreha.

Internal doors connect the two sections. A

courtyard. Heavy adobe pillars supported the veranda which faced toward the ocean.

Anacapa Street was paved, A full front

Owned and maintained by the Santa Barbara Trust lor Historic Preservation since

porch extends out over the sidewalk along East de la Guerra Street.

the 1960s, the Casa has recently enjoyed a complete historically authentic rehabilitation.

Caspar Eugenio de Oreha Gomez de Escaudon was born in Spain and immi grated to California in 1842. He married

Tlie Casa de la Guerra is a designated City Landmark, a State Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tliis adobe is maintained as a house museum and is open to the public.

Maria Antonia, a daughter of Jose de la Guerra, and raised thirteen children in this adobe residence. Oreha was trained as a

IS

doctor in Spain, but earned his living in

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OLD ADOBES California with his La Espada cattle ranch located along the Santa Barbara County coast near Point Conception. In 1921. the Orcha adobes were rehabilitated by local architect. James Osborne Craig, and have served for decades as an antique shop un der various owners. The Orcha adobes arc a designated City Landmark. These ado 16 bes arc not open to the public.

Sanrtaco be to ilbobe 110 East Dc la Guerra Street This 1812 adobe is one of Santa Barbara’s oldest and was built by Santiago dc la Guerra who lived in it during the 1860s.

He was a member of the Spanish-speaking cavalry company who volunteered to fight against Confederate forces in the Civil War.Though extensively remodeled, it re mains a significant contributor to the Span ish character of East Dc la Guerra Street.

The single-story rectangular building has a lired adobe clay tile rool which slopes to a shed on the east side. The brick shed was added to the adobe in 1930. The original adobe portion has only two rooms and the north wall was rebuilt and buttressed with concrete after the 1925 earthquake.

Santiago was the nephew of Antonio Maria dc la Guerra, a former mayor ol Santa Barbara and a state senator. Anto nio recruited eighty-four men for a volun teer cavalry company to join the Union forces in the Civil War. Antonio was cap tain and Santiago was first lieutenant of the company. They rode from Santa Bar bara in the summer of 1864 to Wilmington.

California where the U.S. Army supplied them with horses. They traveled eastward as far as Arizona when they received word that the war had ended. They were mus tered out from San Francisco and then re turned to Santa Barbara. The Santiago dc la Guerra Adobe is a designated City Land 17 mark. It is not open to the public.

Luco Hbobe 114 East Dc la Guerra Street Constructed in the 1820s by a retired Santa Barbara presidio soldier for his family, this adobe was one of several resi dences built outside the fort’s walls as the pueblo grew. Some owners after the Lugo family vacated the residence were josefa Lourcyo. Francesco Nardi , Bernhard Hoffmann, and A.C. Postcl. In

T/te Lugo adobe today is the cen terpiece oj the Meridian Stu dios at 112-116 East

De

la

Querra Street.

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12 1922, Hoffmann remodeled che adobe

NOTICIAS

ot the Lugo adobe.

The Arrellancs family transferred the prop erty to the Kirks in 1872. Carved on the doorjamb of the adobe arc the initials ”CK” for Carlos Kirk, eldest son of Frank and

From 1925 until 1932. the Lugo adobe was the office of architect Carleton M.

Angustias. The adobe passed out of the Kirk familv in 1886 and has had numerous

Winslow. From 1932 until 1942, it was the ottice of architects Edwards & Plunkett.

Winslow and Plunkett were two of the

adobe is a designated City Landmark. Tliis

and began construction ot the Meridian Studios for artists, which stands in front

primary proponents ot Santa Barbara’s sig nature Spanish Colonial Revival architec

subsequent owners. The Arrcllanes-Kirk adobe is a private residence and is not open 19 to the public.

tural style developed after the destruction of the town’s commercial core in the June 1925 earthquake. After the architects, the building housed a tea room and commer cial shops. By the end of the 1970s. the

CoRbcRo Hbobe 906 Garden Street

Community Arts Association headquar tered in this adobe. It is currently the of fice ot a local landscape architect. Tlic Lugo adobe is a designated City Landmark. It is not open to the public.''^

1828 by Refugio Cordero, or in 1850 by Jose Cordero. Initially the home was one large room, but was later divided into two

HnR€tLaneS'K>nk Hbobe 421 East Figueroa Street Built in the mid-1860s for Barbara Dominguez Arrellancs, only one room of the original adobe residence remains: the 17 X 34 foot sala. Wood frame additions were added to the home in increments over

Conflicting historic documents report that this adobe residence was constructed in

rooms with a wooden partition. By 1940, it had been owned by a variety ot people and was very dilapidated. In that year, the adobe was acquired by Lyla Harcoff who replaced the tile roof with wotxlen shakes and applied board and batten redwood sid ing to the exterior walls in 1946. The sid ing consists ot vertical 1x3 inch battens

the last 150 years. The structure is sec back

with board widths varying from 8-to-lO inches. This replacement siding has dis guised the adobe, but served to preserve the original walls beneath. Harcoff added mod

far from the street on a large, landscaped lot and its fired adobe clav tile roof was

ern plumbing in a new bathroom and kitchen, and recreated the adobe into a

replaced with wood shakes after che 1925 earthquake,

western cottage. Also in 1946, she added a wood frame garage.

By the 1960s, the property was home to a number of offices. The current owner/

Barbara Dominguez’s 1839 marriage to Francisco Arrellancs linked two important California families. The first Arrellancs in the New World arrived in Mexico with Hernando Cortes, and the first Dominguez arrived in California in 1781 to serve at the Santa Barbara presidio. Barbara and Francisco’s fifth child. Marla dc las Angustias, married American Frank Kirk in 1866 and moved into the adobe home.

occupant is the Environmental Defense

RiC/Z /’/: liafael Qonza/e.s

u member ofthe

garrison oj the Santa Barbara lyresidio and ivas later alcalde ofthe tcnvn.lle built thejamily home in the mid-iSzos. Note the barren hills oj the Rjviera in this photograph, ca. 1895.

13

OLD ADOBES Center which maintains its library in the original adobe portion ol the building. The wooden garage is used as a meeting room.

The Cordero adobe is a designated City 20 Landmark and is not open to the public.

shape. When chc home was built, Laguna Street did not exist; as a result, the origi nal front of the building is now the rear.

Gonzales became alcalde oi Santa Barbara

Gonzates-Hammez Hbobe

in 1829 and enjoyed considerable promi nence in the pueblo. His daughter, Ventura, married Cristobal Ramirez in 1830 and in

835 Laguna Street

herited the home upon the death of her

Constructed in the mid-1820s by Ralael Gonzales for his bride. Maria Antonia Guevara, this adobe residence was L-shaped until a 1956 addition extended it into a U-

parents. Her daughter,Salome, lived in the home until her death in 1922. At that time, it was sold to local arts patron Mrs. A.L. Murphy Vhay who conducted a restora tion. In 1937. the adobe was selected by

y ●

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ik^

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14

NOTICIAS

the Historic American Building Survey for recordation as one of six houses that typify early California architecture.

Built on the eastern edge of the Santa Barbara presidio, the Gonzales-Ramirez adobe stands on a low rise surrounded by dense vegetation which shields the prop erty from any modern intrusions. The neighborhood was originally known as Las bktas because a seasonal lagoon swelled with winter rains(and gave Laguna Street its name). In especially rainy years, the la goon extended from the beach to what would become Anapamu Street, creating small islands of land where higher ground projected above the water.

Zj^guayi, stands on the north elevation. The adobe walls are two feet thick on three sides of the residence and lour feet thick on the south elevation as a weather protection.

The rooi is of fired adobe clay tiles. The 1956 addition to the house contains a rare book store. The Gonzales-Ramirez adobe is a designated City Landmark, a State Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is not open to the public.^' Covannubias Hbobe 715 Santa Barbara Street Domingo Carrillo built this adobe in 1817

A veranda extends along the length of the adobe structure on both the eastern and

for his bride, Concepcion Pico, sister of the last Mexican Governor of California. Pio

western elevations. A carriage entrance, or

Pico. Domingo’s father, Jose Raimundo

7his photograph ojthe Cot’arrubki,s adobe locis tal{en shortly after the l^incheros Visitadores bought the budding in Karl Olyert.

The arched gateivay to the right ofthe adobe ivould shortly be removed. Photograph by

OLD ADOBES Carrillo, was regarded as the founder of the Carrillo lamily in Calilornia. The adobe passed into the hands of Jose Maria Covarrubias, after his marriage to Domingo Carrillo’s daughter. Maria, in 1838.

Covarrubias was a native of France and a naturalized citizen of Mexico. Trained as a

15 a fireplace and chimney in 1941. The Covarrubias adobe is a designated City Landmark,a State Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of His toric Places. This structure is owned and

school teacher, he was the first federal elec

operated by the Santa Barbara Historical Society, which acquired it in 1964, and is 22 not open to the public.

tor to the U.S. Congress from California in 1852. His son, Nicolas Andres Covarrubias, was a noted horseman who

Hisronic Hbot3€ 715 Santa Barbara Street

served as Santa Barbara County Sheriff and as U.S. Marshall.

The Covarrubias adobe is L-shaped with one section single story and the re mainder one-and-one-half stories, ft is roofed in fired adobe clay tile with a porch extension on the north elevation. Four rooms make this an unusually spacious Santa Barbara adobe with a v55-foot-Iong sala. Local designer Joseph j. Plunkett added five buttresses along the south elevation and

This adobe was built by Juan Male in 1836. ft was originally located at 924 Anacapa Street and was used for a time as headquar ters for the Santa Barbara Natural History Society. In 1921, it was necessary to relo cate it to provide space for the Margaret Baylor Inn, now known as the Lobero Building, Owner John Southworth moved the adobe to its present location adjacent to the Covarrubias adobe. It was acquired

7/it’ Roc7ii?r adobe is a prime example oj the Victorian-era practice ofcovering adobe ivalLs ivith ivood siding. Ihe building to the right is the Anna S. C. BLike Manual 'H-aining School,jorcrumier oj the University oj California at Santa Barbara.

NOTICIAS

16 in 1964 by che Santa Barbara Historical Society and is leased to Los Ranchcros Visitadores, which uses it as an office.

The Historic adobe is a single-story, rectangular-shaped building with a fired adobe clay tile root, Its placement adjacent to the Covarrubias adobe allowed for the

wooden additions extending into the rear yard from each of the living units.

The Birabcncs’ daughter, Leoncine, in herited the Rochin adobe ironi her parents.

She was an accomplished pianist at two local churches and with the Potter Hotel orchestra, and also worked as a film editor

creation of an attractive patio, fountain, and pergola between the two buildings which che Historical Society uses for nu

at the Flying A Film Studios at che corner of Mission and Chapala streets. In 1915, she married Robert Phelan who worked as

merous public and private events. It is a designated City Landmark, a State Historic Landmark, and is listed on che National

a Flying A cameraman. The Rochin adobe was their family home, as well as where they scored their collections of Chumash

23

Register of Historic Places. ilochm Hbobe 820 Santa Barbara Street

Built by Jose Maria Rochin in 1856 as a home for himself and his wife. Lorenza Ordaz. the adobe bricks for this residence were salvaged from the melting Santa Bar bara presidio. Lorenza was a descendant of the first presidio comandante,Jose Francisco Ortega. The property was located on the former parade ground where presidio sol diers had practiced drills. Rochin paid thirty dollars for his land where he erected a threeroom residence. Their niece, Solcdad, was raised in the adobe, married another Ortega descendant. Francisco Leon Birabenc. and then inherited the home 1 rom che Rochins. who were childless.

The Birabcncs covered che adobe with wood clapboard siding in 1895 to make it appear more modern to their Victorian eyes. They rented the adobe while they lived at their grocery store located at 523 State Street. The adobe’s wooden front porch had to be narrowed when Santa Bar bara Street was paved. Probably to increase che rental income,sometime between 1903 and 1907. che Birabcncs converted the Rochin adobe from a single-family resi dence to a duplex. They provided it with

artifacts, Ortega family memorabilia, and silent film industry collection. They were enthusiastic participants in Old Spanish Days Fiesta every August, and Robert was a charter member ol Los Rancheros Visitadores. Robert died in 1966, but Leontine lived to the age ot 101. During her widowhood, she opened her home pe riodically CO schoolchildren to view the Phelan collections of artifacts.

Wlicn Leontine died in 1994, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation purchased the Rochin adobe as part of its property acquisition program to recon struct che Santa Barbara Presidio. The Rochin adobe is a designated City Land mark, a State Historic Landmark, and is listed on che National Register of Historic Places. Currently undergoing repairs, this 24 adobe is not open to che public.

ODRUsseLL-tDCmcbesreR Hbobe 414 West Moncccico Street Constructed in 1854, this building is an Anglicized shingle-roofed adobe with some additions and parts sheathed in clapboard.

The house has a wood-shingle roof with a veranda across most of the front elevation.

Constructed by Captain Horatio Gates Trussell of Orland. Maine, portions of the construction materials came from the

17

OLD ADOBES wreck of the Winjictd Scott on Anacapa Island. Captain Trussell worked in mari time trade between California. Hawaii, and the East Coast. He came to Califor nia on the first steam-powered ship to enter the Santa Barbara Channel, and married native daughter Ramona Burke in 1851. Horatio was forty-two and Ramona was sixteen, and the couple had ten children.

The Winjidd Scott was enroute from San Francisco to Panama carrying Gold Rush miners with their gold dust when it wrecked in 1853. Much of its cargo was salvaged before the ship broke up and a portion of the ship's timber was used as roof beams and floor boards for the Trussell adobe. Captain Trussell had previously served as a ship’s carpenter and did the

Katherine I

woodwork himself. Acquired by the Win chester family in 1882, it was the residence of Santa Barbara school teacher Sarah Winchester,and subsequently her brother.

Dr. Robert Winchester. This is the same Dr. Robert Winchester who planted the Norfolk Island Pine "Tree of Light" at the northwest corner of Carrillo and Chapala streets in 1878.

A Winchester family descendant be queathed the Trusscll-Winchcster adobe to the Santa Barbara Historical Society in 1955. This adobe is signilicant lor its em bodiment of the transitional period in Santa Barbara from Mexican to American rule.

It is a designated City Landmark. Oper ated as a house museum by the Santa Bar bara Historical Society, this adobe is open 2S

Sunday afternoons for tours.

mailed this channing Christmas greeting ivith its depiction oj the Ihcssell-Win'

Chester adobe in u)^o. She maied the adobefrom igz6 until her death in 1955, ivhe^i it passed into the hands oj the Santa Barbara / listorical Society.

18 IPlCO Hbot3€ 920 Anacapa Street, behind 916 Anacapa Street Constructed circa 1850, this building is a small but picturesque adobe where eleven children were once raised. It would have been located Just outside of the northwest corner of the presidio walls.

NOTICIAS the arrival in Alta California of Felipe Santiago dc la Cruz Pico, a soldier with the 1775-1776 dc Anza expedition.

The Pico adobe’s steep gabled roof is covered with wood shingles and extends to lorm a Iront porch. Originally, it had a Carrillo Street address. In 1875, the house was sold to Civil War surgeon Dr. Samuel B, Knox,and alter a succession of owners, the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Pres

The original owners were presidio sol dier Buenaventura Pico and his wife,

ervation acquired it in 1976. The wooden

Ana. who became parents of thirteen children. The Pico family dates back to

gates of the surrounding fence were sal vaged from La Barranca, the Mesa home

7/ie Pico adobe lies sheltered behitid the Lobero Building to the west and the B^creation Center to the north. Plwtographby VV. Ldwin Qledhill, igbi.

OLD ADOBES of noted cowboy artist Edward Borciii, when it was demolished in 1972. The Pico

19 Greek Revival detail may be seen on the windows and doors. It was the last home of Daniel A. Hill who also owned the HillCarrillo adobe in downtown Santa Barbara.

adobe is a designated City Landmark.

Owned and occupied by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, this build

The last Mexican California Governor. Pio

ing is surrounded by a high wall and is not 26 open to the public.

Pico, granted him the Rancho La Goleta in 1846. The rancho was bounded on the west

BorttLen-GRanb Hbobe 1023 Bath Street

by what is today Fairview Avenue and on the east by Hope Ranch.

Hill was born in Massachusetts in 1797 and became a merchant mariner at an early

French immigrant Pascual Botillcr acquired this land at this location in 1843. He con structed the two-story adobe residence in 1844 and converted the surrounding land into a vineyard with a winery. His descen dants continued to live in the home until 1938 when a succession of owners occu pied it. This building is the only two-story historic adobe still standing within the City of Santa Barbara. It boasts a long shed-roof porch facing the street, a wood-frame ad dition on the rear, and attractive landscap ing. Tire rtx)f is covered with wood shingles and the adobe walls have been stuccoed.

The Botiller-Grand Adobe is a designated City Landmark. Tliis structure is a private 27 residence and is not open to the public.

Selecreb HjsrontcaiLy StQmftcanz Counry Hbof3€S [Ihe JolUywmg list is not intended to be used as a comprehensive compilation ofevery adobe structure,ruin,or site in the County ofSanta Barbara] HtLL ITbobe 35 La Patera Lane, off Hollister Avenue in Goleta.

Built in ca, 1850. this building is a wood sided. gable-roofed adobe with a shedroofed porch running along one side. Mild

age. In 1822 he arrived at the Ortega family's coastal Rancho Refugio, west of Santa Barbara, and met Rafaela, the 16year-old daughter of Jose Vicente Ortega.

Hill married Rafaela in 1825, and opened a mercantile business in Santa Barbara after learning Spanish and converting to Catholi cism. He became a successful rancher and helped to rescue the Santa Barbara mission after it was secularized by the Mexican government in 1834. He and Rafaela had fifteen children. Hill died in his Goleta adobe in 1865. The adobe is a designated County Landmark.^'* It currently houses the Pacific Materials Laboratory.

BaLLoRb Hbobes 2411 Santa Barbara Avenue at intersection with Alamo Pintado Road, Los Olivos, Lakeport, New York native George W Lewis established the Alamo Pintado Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley in 1856, where his property manager was William N. Ballard. Ballard was a superintendent for the Santa Barbara stagecoach line of the Overland Mail Company and set up a stagecoach stop on Lewis' ranch. He built an adobe in 1860 with a dining room and two horse barns to serve as the Alamo Pintado Station.

In 1866 another adobe joined the group and by 1870, Lewis returned to manage the

20 ranch. Ballard died the same year and Lewis married his widow, but by 1880 the stage coach route was altered and bypassed the adobe station. Lewis founded the community ol Ballard in 1881 to honor his old friend.

Tlie two adobe buildings remain tcxiay as a private residential complex cared lor by out ers who formerly chaired the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society. Tlie adobes arc a 29 designated County Landmark.

Cora itbobe. also known as Sanra ilosa SCbobe 415 Mail Road. Lompoc Located about eleven miles cast of Lompoc, this adobe became part ot the 1839 Santa Rosa Rancho grant ol over 15,000 acres to Francisco Cota who used the land to graze his herds ol cattle and sheep. The

NOTICIAS adobe was constructed c. 1848 by Don Maria de Jesus Olivera dc Cota on the crowTi of a prominent knoll overlooking the ranch. The adobe residence was built with an L-shaped floor plan, a veranda, and was surrounded by shade trees. The milled lum ber on the adobe's wood trim and shutters came from an early Santa Barbara planing mill. In 1913 the rancho was subdivided into twenty-acre parcels. In 1938. the adobe was offered as a gift to the County contin gent on authentic restoration, but the County declined. Hollywood iilm director John Ford owned this adobe lor a time in the 1960s. Through subsequent ownership changes, the adobe remains in private hands in an agricultural setting, although it is se verely altered and now stands with a Ushaped floor plan. This adobe is a desig nated County Landmark.

OLD ADOBES

21

Juanez-Hosmen Hbobc 461 San Ysidro Road, Montccito.

Located between Schoolhousc Road

rounded wich a, picturesque, romantic gar den shielding it from view from the street.

The architecture of this adobe features a

and East Valley Road.

second Hoor balcony characteristic ot the Monterey Revival style ol architecture.

The Masini adobe is a designated County Landmark.

Built by the Juarez family c, 1830, this adobe was purchased by prominent Montccito pio neer. Colonel Bradbury Dinsmorc, in 1872.

His daughter, Frances, married Thomas Hosmer. and they moved into the adobe.

Tliomas also enjoyed a career as a local poli tician. Tlie adobe originally had an earthen floor camped with car from a natural seep in Carpinceria. Tlic adobe gained a wooden ad dition in 1907 and a fireplace in 1925. The windows arc small and lew because ol a lormcr County policy which required out ers to pay taxes on them, Hosmer family descendants still retain ownership of this resi dential property. This adobe is a designated County Landmark.^' Masmi 129 Sheffield Drive, Montccito This adobe was constructed around 1825.

Pedro Masini obtained the land grant lor this property in 1868, after this two-story adobe residence was already well-known at the corner ol Ortega Hill Road and Sheffield Drive, A murder occurred in this adobe in 1881 when thieves broke into the home and killed owner Giovanni Trabucco for his gold hidden on the property. In Helen Hunt Jackson's lamous romantic novel about Hispanic California. Ramona (1884). the title character spent her weddins nisht at the Masini adobe. The corner lot setting of this property remains sur-

LBFl: 7/ie adobe home of Daniel Hill on La Patera Lane Ls the second-oldest building in the Cjoleta Valley. Only the SanJose Winery on Vine yard Epad foredates it

Oi^eLLa 12000 Callc Real, Golcta, In Corral Canyon between El Capican and Refugio State Parks, Contained within a secured ExxonMobil natural gas and petroleum facility.

These two adobes were built by Jose Dolores Ortega and his son Ygnacio when they received the land as a grant Irom the Mexican government in 1841, Bruno F, Orclla. a Basque from Viscaya, Spain, and his wife. Mercedes Gonzales y Guervara. acquired Rancho Canada del Corral wich the adobes in 1866. The larger adobe was their residence and the smaller adobe was used as a schoolhousc lor their thirteen chil dren. Their daughter had inherited the property when the El Capitan Oil Field was discovered at the sice. Humble Oil. now ExxonMobil, acquired the sice in 1968. It is estimated there is enough natural gas in the canyon and its offshore deposits to sup ply 125.000 Santa Barbara homes for one hundred years. The adobes are a designated County Landmark and arc owned and maintained by ExxonMobil, They arc not available lor public acccss.'^^ San ystbRo Hbob€, aka OLjvena Hbobe 900 San Ysidro Lane. Montccito Currently maintained as pare of the San Ysidro Ranch hotel and restaurant complex in Montccito, this property was originally used as a way station for traveling

22

NOTICIAS

Franciscan padres in the late 1700s. Tomas

They turned the hotel into an cxcusive

Olivera, son of a presidio sergeant, con structed an adobe building here around 1825 as a ranch house which is now known as

hideaway for friends and celebrated guests.

Bing Crosby,Jack Benny,Audrey Hepburn.

Groucho Marx, and Gloria Swanson were

the San Ysidro adobe. Only one room of the original adobe remains.

among those who escaped the glare of Hol lywood at the ranch. Vivian Leigh and Lawrence Olivier married at the ranch and

In 1868. Montccito pioneer Bradley Dinsmore purchased the ranch and planted the first citrus grove in the community. In 1883, John Harleigh Johnston of Glouscester. Massachusetts and Taylor Goodrich of San Francisco purchased the San Ysidro Ranch property and planted more groves of citrus trees. Johnston opened a hotel for forty people in 1892 at the site and it began to attract affluent guests from eastern states.

In 1935, the Johnston family sold the ranch to Hollywood film star Ronald Coleman and his partner, Alvin Weingand.

John and Jacqueline Kennedy honeymooned there.The sandstone citrus packing shed became the Stonehouse Restaurant for the hotel property

Ozhen Hbobe SrnucruRes anb K.ums m Sanra Banbano Counry [ihe jolloiving list is not intended to be used as a comprehensive compilation ofevery adobe structure,ruin or site in the County oj Santa Barbara]

The Cota adobe on the Rancho Santa Rpsa was built around i8^8. '^ :« 4 \: ‘i - i

.C'U ‘I'.i:

OLD ADOBES

23

4

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Ihc Masini adobe in Montecito is one of the oldest two-story adobes in Southern California. Vie mwxler of Qiovanni Trabucco, lohick tookplace here in iSSi, ivas never solved.

Las CRUces 3Hbobe

vices to travelers and became even more

9476 San Julian Road, southwest of inter section of Highway 101 and Route 1.

popular with the construction of Gaviota Wharf in 1875 as farmers brought their

This adobe is a protected ruin and dates from 1833. Miguel Cordero received 8,888 acres at this site inland from Gaviota as a

goods for shipment. Tlic community of Las Cruces grew up around it and the adobe continued to function as a stagecoach stop until the Southern Pacific Railroad com

land grant in 1836 when he retired as a Santa Barbara presidio soldier. His father had been a member of the Portola expedi tion through California in 1769.

Miguel's heirs continued to develop the property and constructed this adobe in the 1860s to serve as a stage coach stop on the route from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo. The adobe prospered with its ser-

pleted its coastal route in 1901.

Use of the adobe changed through the decades—cafe and tavern, gas station, store, and inn as three shingle roofs were placed over each other to protect the adobe walls. As the route of Highway 101 altered away from the adobe, the site fell into ruin and is protected today as part of Gaviota State Park. State Parks

24 staff has recently obtained a grant to de 33 velop and interpret the adobe ruins.

Joe Doven Hbobe East Yanonali Street

NOTICIAS beside Mono Creek in the Mono Camp ground. this 1908 adobe formerly served as one of the ranger stations in the Los Padres National Forest. The site was an ancient trail intersection from Santa Bar

between Salsipuedcs and Nopal streets.

bara to the Cuyama Valley, and from the Santa Ynez River to the Calicntc and

Thisc. 1865 building was the family home ot noted local stonemason Joe Dover(born

Blue Canyon areas.

Used as a ranger station since it was constructed, the adobe received a tele

1861). It had a 12 x 18 foot floor plan and was described by Dover in "Fifty Years and More in Santa Barbara.” as told to Michael Phillips. Augusts, 1922.^®Joe Dover’s stone work can be appreciated today in the walls, curbs, stairs and balustrades along the streets of Santa Barbara's Riviera neighborhotxl. The William Dover adobe, built c. 1860. stood at 725 East Yanonali Street and is also nonextant.

phone line in 1911, the first phone line placed in the Santa Barbara backcountry.

Ranger Tom Dinsmore's family lived with him at the station and. since 1908 was dry year, draft animals and wagons could easily ford the river to bring in the roofing, windows frames, doors, and hardware for the adobe. The Forest Ser vice stopped using the adobe as a ranger station in 1933 and the property suffered

Mono Hbobe Los Padres National Forest Pendola-Camucsa Road

from neglect for the next thirty years.

In the 1960s. the Native Sons of the Golden West worked with a Dinsmore descendant to restore the adobe with a

Located three miles from Gibraltar Dam.

Forest Service permit.-^^

Stv.

'Flic adobe at the San Ysidro I(anch was budt lyy Founds Olivau about 1825.Flis stepdaughter, Lduanla, later matried William Benjamin Foxen.

OLD ADOBES

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ys

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What i^ left ofthe Las Cruces adobe is noiv adyninistered by Qaviotu State Park.. Ihis plwtograph oj the Indldingwas taken in the 1940s.

Hnromo OLivenci/iRocbm/Sanra Luc»a Hbobe S>re Vandenberg Air Force Base

The cwo sold cheir holding in 1841 to Jose Maria Valenzuela. Pedro C, Carrillo pur chased the houses Irom Valenzuela in 1847 Carrillo and his wife, Josefa Bandini dc

Also known as the Santa Lucia adobe, this Rochin adobe takes its name Irom Jose Maria Rochin, who leased the adobe in the late 1870s. Tlie site is believed to have been the home of Antonio Olivcra and his son Jose, tw'o ol the three original Jesus Maria land grantees. Records suggest that they began residing at this site between 1835

Carrillo, occupied the house alter the Olivcras. Pedro Carrillo sold the tract to Lewis T Burton in 1852. The area had be come known as Santa Lucia by this time, and Lewis Burton leased out the adobe to various tenants.

Jose Maria Rochin resided in this adobe residence from 1877 until 1880. Born

and 1836. before they received the land

March 19,1822 in Sonora, Mexico, Rochin

grant on April 8, 1837 The Olivcras ini tially constructed a temporary wood build ing, and then an adobe house. They im proved the site with corrals lor horses and cattle, and conducted subsistence larming.

learned g(ddsmithing and precious metal dealing. He came to California during the Gold Rush, worked the Sierra Nevada mines for three years, and then moved to Los Angeles in 1853. Rochin married

26

NOTICIAS

Lorcnza Ordaz who bore him a daughter.

Tlic couple moved to Santa Barbara in 1854 and Jose began operating a stock business dealing in cattle and high-quality horses.

Rochin specialized in selling scallions for run ning and trotting. During the 1870s, he kept herds of cattle, cows, horses, and sheep, which averaged approximately 1,000 ani mals, Rochin both rented and owned land in Santa Barbara and Los Alamos. No stand ing portions of the adobe remain; the site is located on a secured military facility and is 38 not open to the public.

Ory of Sanra UanboRa Hbobes on 1963 Sanborn Tme Insurance Map

3v525 Madrona Drive 530 East Mason Street 805 East Mason Street 809 East Mason Street 713 West Micheltorena Street (rear) 717 West Micheltorena Street (rear) 1001 West Micheltorena Street 27 North Nopal Street 108-110 North Nopal Street 725 Olive Street(rear) 827-829 Olive Street 3011 Pasco Del Refugio 7901 Paseo Del Refugio (rear) 2901 Paseo Tranquillo 22 Pine Drive 2607 Puesta del Sol Road

624 Alameda Padre Serra

2636 Puesta del Sol Road (rear)

830 Alberta Avenue

124 Quarancina Street

801 Anacapa Street 810 Anacapa Street (within El Presidio Building) 723 West Arrellaga Street 1023 Bath Street 1011 Cacique Street(two structures)

200-202 Quarancina Street 22 St. Francis Way 1423 San Andres Street 1601-1603 San Andres Street 1700-1702 San Andres Street 1006 San Diego Road (two structures)

17-21 East Carrillo Street (rear)

1129 San Pascual Street(two stories)

2209 Chapala Street

826 Santa Barbara Street (behind Rochin

2215 Chapala Street 1729 Chino Street

1440 Santa Rosa Street

1446 Cliff Drive

451-453 Scenic Drive

1500 Cliff Drive

1520 Shoreline Drive

1517 Cliff Drive

323 East Sola Street

1518 Cliff Drive

105 South Solcdad Street(two structures)

1525 Cliff Drive 1542 Cliff Drive

3022 State Street (rear) 714 Union Street

525-527 East De la Guerra Street

812 West Valerio Street(two structures)

611 Westjunipero Street(three structures)

814 West Valerio Street(two structures) 834 West Valerio Street

917 Laguna Street (rear)

Adobe)

2902 Verde Vista Drive

240 Las Alcuras Road (two structures) 2620 Las Encinas Road

628 North Vbluntario Street

725 Lawrence Street

121 South Voluncario Street (two struc

727 Lawrence Street

tures)

OLD ADOBES

€nbnores 1 Donald R. Hannatord and Revel Edwards. Spanish Colonial or Adobe Architecture ojCalifornia iSoO'iS^o (Stamford, CT: Architectural Book Publishing Company, 1931), 31.

2 Charlie Steen, "An Archaeologist's Summary of Adobe,” El Palacio,(Vol. 77. No, 4): 3; "All About Adobe,” Old House Journal,{DcccmhcT 1982): 32.

3 Steen, 2; "Conserving Earthen Archi tecture.” CRM,(V>1. 22, No. 6): 10.

4 Steen, 23.

5 "Preservation of Historic Adobe Buildings.” Preservation Briefs No.5.

Technical Preservation Services, National Park Service, USDl, 1978, 7-8.

6 "Preservation ol Historic Adobe Buildings,” 8; Steen, 23.

7 Ibid, 8 "Preservation of Historic Adobe Buildings. 8.

9 Ibid.

10 State Office of Historic Preservation.

"Directory of Properties in the Historic Properties Data File,” Sacramento, CA September 20. 1999; David Gebhard and Robert Winter. A Quide to Architecture in Los Angeles and Scruthern California(Santa Barbara; Peregrine Smith, 1977) 245.

11 Adobe file. Gledhill Library. Santa Barbara Historical Society; City of Santa Barbara Planning Division, Historic Landmarks Commission.

City Landmark Files; www.sbthp.org.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 Gebhard and Winter, 245; Michael Redmon. "History 101,” Santa Barbara Independent, 7 September 1995, 22 January 1996. 10 April 1997;

27 www.sbfoundation.org.

15 Adobe file, Gledhill Library: Gebhard and Winter, 255; Hannaford, 31; City of Santa Barbara Landmark Files; www.sbthp.org.

16 Adobe file, Gledhill Library; Clarence Cullimore, Santa Barbara Adobes (Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Book Publishing Company, 1948), 37; Gebhard and Winter, 255; Hannaford, 31; City of Santa Barbara Landmark Files.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 Adobe file. Gledhill Library; Cullimore. 48; Gebhard and Winter, 255; Hannaford, 31; City of Santa Barbara Landmark Files.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

28 Redmon; Gebhard and Winter 261; Clarence Cullimore. "Hill Adobe at Goleta has Romantic History” Santa BarbaraiNewS'Press,6 September 1942; County of Santa Barbara Planning Department, Historic Landmarks Advisory Commission, County Landmark Files.

29 Elaine Harrison, "Old Adobes Rcllect History, Heritage of Santa Ynez Valley," Santa Ynez Valley News. 23 December 1971; County ol Santa Barbara Planning Department; Gebhard and Winter, 265; Sally Cappon, "History Lives at Ballard Adobe,” Santa Barbara News-Press.

24 September 24 1994.

30 Applied Earthworks. Inc., "Phase 2 Historical Study: Cota Adobe,” Santa

28

NOTICIAS Barbara Couiiry Planning Departmenc. May, 2000, 82; Bob LcRoy, "The Oldest Adobe in the Valley” Santa Barbara Magazine, NovemberDcccmber, 1991; Gebhard and Winter, 266; County ol Santa Barbara.

31 Clarence Cullimore. "Hosmer Adobe House Built Century Ago,” Santa Barbara Neivs-Press, 23 August 1942; County of Santa Barbara Planning Department; Redmon; Gebhard and Winter, 266; Adobe file, Gledhill Library.

32 Adobe file, Gledhill Library; Santa Barham j\^eivs'Press 2S March 1937 33 Pandora E. Snethkamp. Archacologi' cal Investigations on the Corral Canyon Floodplain,(Santa Barbara; Office of Public Archaeology, University of California at Santa Barbara. 1983), 31-49; Jay E. McCord, Maintenance Supervisor, ExxonMobil Corporation, Corral Canyon. Personal communica tion with author, 7 March 2002.

34 Clarence Cullimore, "Single Room Remains of San Ysidro Adobe,” Santa Barbara Neivs-Press. 14 September 1942; County of Santa Barbara Planning Department; Adobe file, Gledhill Library.

35 State Office of Historic Preservation; Redmon; Chester King, Technical ylppendix Q,Cultural Resources: Draft Bnvinmmental Impact Importfor Shell I lercides Project, Santa Barbara County,County ot Santa Barbara.

July 1988. 20-39.

36 Ibid.

37 Herbert W Andrec,'IheMoyio Adobe: A Building Survey Report, Los Padres National Forest, Golcta, CA. 1977 210; Adobe file, Gledhill Library 38 Kevin (Lex) Palmer. Central Coast Continuum—From Rflnchos to Rochets:A Plistoric Overview joran Inventory and Evaluation ofHistoric sites, Buildings, and Structures, Vandenberg Air Force Base. Califor nia, 1999.

'V

-A

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SANTA BARBARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY 2001 MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS The Santa Barbara Historical Society wishes to thank and to acknowledge with pride the following individuals and institutions for their generous contributions in 2001.

GRAND PATRONS

BENEFACTORS

SPONSORS

($25,000 and above) Mericos Foundation Harold A. Parma Estate

($250 to $499) BEGA/US

Smith-Walker Foundation

{S.SOO CO S999) Robcrc & Sally Archur Wiley & Susanne Blair Arthur & Ruth Bromficld

PRESIDENTS CIRCLE

John & Patricia Broome Ernest & Gloria Bryant

($10,000 to $24,999) Spaulding 6i: Ruby Randall Birss LawTcnce & Astrid Hammett Hutton Foundation Liselotte Kuttler Trust Ruth Brtxiks Scollin Tlic Janeway Foundation Wallis Foundation MAJOR BENEFACTORS ($5,000 to $9,999) Philip & Leslie Bernstein Mr. & Mrs Mario Borgatcllo Louise Duc[uc Brant JAmyM. Brown Charles & Patricia CIcck

Scan Capelli Mary Louise Case Castagnola Family Foundation Alger & Marge Chane\’ Robert A. Chick Janet Milligan Crary Richard & Alexandria Crissman David & Melissa Dvorak Frank Schipper Construction Priscilla K. Giesen Jean Smith Goodrich Ftrri Harcoutt Thomas & Eleanor Harriman

Thomas Bollay Dora B. Bradley Innis Bromficld Ed Cassano/Santa Barbara Maritime Museum City of Santa Barbara Louise Clarke Jamie & Marcia Constance Ben & Betty J. Conway Oswald & Kathleen Da Ros Molly W Dolle EdwardS'Pitman Architects Leni Fc Bland Frank 6c Elizabeth Lee Ferry Gordon & Constance Fish Valeric L. Fish Richard 6c Kay Glenn Mrs. Richard Grant

Harry & Joy Heron Richard E. Hughes Istituto Italiano Di Cultura

Nancy G. Gray Chris & Dee Gronbeck

Josiah & Karen Jenkins Philip & Colleen Kirst Thad & Laurie MacMillan

Stanley 6c Betty Hatch Rose Ann Hill Nelson & Elizabeth Howard

Paul 6c Leslie Ridlcy-Trcc Harold C. Simmons Foundation The Towbes Foundation

Richard & Marilyn McCtiok Roland & Dolores Messori Thomas & Eileen Mieiko Donn L. Miller

Barbara D. Ingram Nancy Luton Jackson J. Blake 6c Ann Kocplli Jean T Leonard

The Wocxl-Clacvsscns Foundation

Jack & Kathy Moseley

Henry & Joan Lesy

Donald 6: Jo Beth Van Gcldcrcn

Chapin & Cynthia Nolen Donald & Jane Patterson Michael & Joann Rodrigue Santa Barbara Airport Santa Barbara Bank & Trust

Marbtirg Industries John & Barbara Merritt H. Travers & Joanna Newton

John & Josephine Hunter Frances D. Larkin Carrie Belle McFic Gary 6c Anna Nett

PATRONS ($1,000 to $4,999) Stewart 6c Katherine Abercrombie Arizona West Galleries Michael 6c Sheila Bonsignorc Patrick & Marilyn DeYoung Roy 6c Elizabeth Edwards Richard 6c Katherine Godfrey Harry 6c Leslie Hovey Junior League of Santa Barbara, Inc. Bill & June Lipc Nancy Balch Marston Lee McGrath Hugh 6c Ann Rhett Merrill Jane Rich Mueller Myers Family Foundation Rena Redmon

Teresa Wagstaf Sicbert Eleanor Simpson Barbara W Spaulding Robin & Stefani Taliaferro

Starbuck, Ti.sdalc & A.ssociates The Ann Jackson Family Foundation The Cramhlii Foundation Paul Tziourvaras/ Mechanical Engineering Consultants Ivano Paolo Mt

Robert 6c Nancy Fbwer S. Wayne 6c Ruth Riwers J. Edward & Plattie Quest

Hugh & Mary Thorson Vos Family Foundation Marie M Wangeman John S: Stuart Watling Albert & Cicely Whcclon Adele Wilder

Jane Rieffel Dorothy B. Roberts Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation

Jonathan & Eileen Winters Elisabeth S. Youkcr

Gary Shattuck & Carla Amussen Molly M.Smith Tlie Rord Foundation

Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Yzurdiaga

Ricoh Business Systems. Inc. F. Michael Rogers Richard & Robin Schuttc

Margo Oshcrenko John 6: Flarrict Pitman Alexander & Hcloisc l\>wct

Miiseum ^Library 136 East De la Quara St. Santa Barbara, CA g^ioi Telephone:8o^/g66-i6oi

C. William 6c Nancy Schlosscr Arent 6; Jean Schuyler

Frank 6c Kay Stevens Wiliam & Barbara Tomicki Unico National Santa Barbara Chapter Carol L. Valentine Alice Van dc Water Sander 6c Virginia Vanocur Jim 6c Marlene Vitanza Hubert & Susan Vos Betsy Blcekcr Wallace Shirley A. Wilson

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NOTICIAS Quarterly Magazine of the Santa Barbara Historical Society 136 E. Dc la Guerra Street Santa Barbara, California 93101

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CONTENTS Pg. 1: Old Adobe Buildings of Santa Barbara