Casa de Adobe Reveals Rancho Life Style

Casa de Adobe, 4605 N. Figueroa St., operated by the Southwest Museum, was created by the founders of the Hispanic Society in 1916 to depict rancho life as it was under Spanish and, later, Mexican rule. This would be from about 1800 to 1850. After Mexican independence from Spain, its flag was replaced by the colors of the Mexican Empire on April 11, 1822, in garrisons from San Francisco to San Diego.

This was a period historians call the pastoral era, when cattle raising was the principal industry and social life was centered around the numerous ranchos where affluent families lived. Many of the landowners had received sizable grants from the Spanish Crown. While these haciendados were habitually short of cash, the land was bountiful. Fiestas were held at the drop of a sombrero to alleviate the monotony, and it was soon discovered that the abundance of hides they were accumulating had a ready market. American vessels were bringing a wide variety of goods to California ports to exchange for hides and tallow.

Started in 1917

Construction of Casa de Adobe began in 1917. Adobe bricks were formed from earth dug at the site. The adobe used to plaster the kitchen walls was mixed with goats’ milk to give a smooth and durable finish. World War I interrupted construction, and the Hispanic Society was dissolved. Ownership was transferred to the Southwest Museum in 1925. Four years later, the museum had the house filled with furniture and artifacts. Decorative arts of the period are seen in the family chapel, kitchen, dining room, parlor and bedrooms. Changing exhibitions of Latino art from the museum’s collection are shown in a small gallery.

The decor of the house was created to represent changing styles, from objects originally brought from Spain and Mexico to articles made in California. The trade with Yankee merchantmen later introduced many American products to the Californians.

Entering the patio garden of Casa de Adobe, the visitor will discover that every effort was made to find plants, trees and shrubs that would have been grown by the Spanish settlers. Pomegranate and fig trees planted in the 1920s remain. Pausing by the fountain after viewing the eight historic rooms filled with furnishings that were typical of an upper-class rancho home, one wonders what life really was like during that era.

Various explorers, such as the English sea captains George Vancouver and Frederick Beechey, left detailed accounts of life in early California, but it remained for a young man troubled with poor vision to possess the most observant eyes of any visitor.

A Writer’s Trip

On Aug. 14, 1834, Richard Henry Dana shipped out of Boston on the brig Pilgrim, bound for Cape Horn and voyage into the Pacific. Suffering from weak eyesight, which forced him to discontinue his studies at Harvard, he had signed aboard the trading vessel as a seaman.

When Dana wasn’t aloft or attending to his shipboard duties, he entered his impressions of the voyage in a journal. These provided the notes for his “Two Years Before the Mast,” a remarkable account of life at sea during the age of sail. In addition, his book contains one of the best descriptions available of California and its inhabitants during the final decade of Mexican rule. It was first published in 1840.

The Pilgrim reached Monterey, where her cargo of merchandise was bartered for the hides that the cattle-raising Mexicans had in abundance. Wide-eyed, they came aboard to stare at the goods on display. Dana wrote: “. . . Our cargo was an assorted one; that is, it consisted of everything under the sun. . . .”

Homeward bound on another vessel in January, 1836, Dana’s ship stopped in Santa Barbara, where there was great activity ashore. A wedding was to take place, and this was sufficient reason--or excuse--for the pleasure-loving Californians to organize a celebration of the sort they enjoyed the most: a fiesta. There would be music, dancing, a great feast, and, although the temperate young Dana refrained from reporting the matter, the local brandy reserves were generally depleted. A fiesta could last several days, and on occasion the festivities continued for a week.

Museum Events

The Casa still is the scene of Southwest Museum fiestas and celebrations, including the annual presentation of Las Posadas, a traditional Mexican and Mexican-American Christmas observance (for members only). Museum docents offer afternoon classes for neighborhood children, in which they learn the culture of the earliest residents of Los Angeles and Southern California. Casa de Adobe is a visual recognition of the city’s rich Mexican heritage.

Casa de Adobe is a few blocks below the Southwest Museum (exit Avenue 43 off the Pasadena Freeway). Hours are Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays. Admission is free but donations are accepted. Information: (213) 221-2164.