CALABASAS : Lenonis Adobe Repairs to Cost About $250,000

Earthquake repairs to the Leonis Adobe will cost about $250,000 and keep the historic home closed for at least six months, the museum’s president said Monday.

“One thing I’ve learned from running this place for 30 years is patience,” said Ray Phillips, president of the Leonis Adobe Assn. “In the meantime, we are not closed. The Plummer House is still open, the barn is open, all the animals are there and you can see the house from the outside.”

The adobe, also known as Los Angeles’ Cultural Historical Monument No. 1, suffered severe cracks in the walls on the southeast corner of the house, including the restored living room and, upstairs, the bedroom where settler Miguel Leonis and his wife, Espiritu Chijulla, slept more than 100 years ago.

The longhorn cattle and other animals and the restored Plummer House, moved in 1983 from Plummer Park in Hollywood, still attract tour groups from schools and elsewhere, Phillips said.

Cracks will be filled with the same mixture of mud and water used in the construction of the house in 1845, but will be injected with a motorized pump, Phillips said.

Most of the work, 90% of which is covered by earthquake insurance, involves placing wood supports along the top of each wall in the attic to strengthen the whole building. Before work can begin, architectural plans must be drawn and approved by the city of Los Angeles. “We’re hoping it will look exactly the same,” Phillips said. “If you look closely, though, you’ll be able to see where the earthquake damage was. It’s part of the history of the house.”