Itinerary: Historic Adobes

Adobe, that most simple of building materials, recalls Southern California’s early days as a land of ranchos and missions.

Most surviving local adobe houses were built in the mid-1800s and remain intact thanks to the care of park authorities, government agencies and historical societies. The bricks of dirt, water and straw took a serious hit from the 1994 Northridge earthquake, however. But after years of rebuilding, most local historic adobes are restored and open for visitors.

Friday

The oldest remaining house in Los Angeles is part of El Pueblo Historic Monument in downtown. The Avila Adobe (on the east side of Olvera Street, opposite the Visitor’s Center, is open daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. [213] 680-2525). It was built in 1818 by Francisco Avila, onetime mayor of the fledgling town. The furniture inside--most of it reproductions--re-creates the home of a wealthy Los Angeles family in the 1840s.

On the other end of the plaza sits the Pico House, which while not adobe, is worth a look. Built in 1870 by Pio Pico, the last governor of Mexican California, it was a hotel with 82 bedrooms and indoor plumbing, and was the first three-story building in Los Angeles.

Have lunch or dinner at Casa La Golondrina, which occupies the lower floor of the Pelaconi House--a brick house built for the Italian family in 1855.

Saturday

Home to many of the huge ranchos that covered California during the Spanish era, the San Fernando Valley is the site of several adobes.

In Mission Hills, Andres Pico Adobe (10940 Sepulveda Blvd. [818] 365-7810) is the spot where Pico’s son and daughter-in-law lived. It’s believed to have been built in 1834, when the couple was newly wed. It remained a private residence until 1957, and is now home to the San Fernando Historical Society.

Lopez Adobe (1100 Pico St., San Fernando. [818] 898-1290) is a bit newer, built in 1882-83. The two-story house had three bedrooms originally, but was remodeled in the 1930s to add two more bedrooms. It was built by Valentin Lopez for his sister Catalina and her husband, Geronimo,

The couple opened a general store, post office and school at the adobe, which was conveniently along the stagecoach line that later became the railway. It remained a family residence until 1961, and now belongs to the city of San Fernando.

Miguel Leonis, the “king of Calabasas” as he was called, built a castle that you’d hardly know was originally adobe. The walls of Leonis Adobe (23537 Calabasas Road, Calabasas, [818] 222-6511) are covered in wood inside and out. Built in 1844, the house has been open to the public since 1964. The Reyes Adobe in nearby Agoura Hills (31400 Rainbow Crest Drive, [818] 597-7300) is much older--dating from about 1797. Earthquake repairs have been completed, but it is not yet open to the public.

Sunday

The San Gabriel Valley, likewise, is home to many impressive adobes that have become museums. In the City of Industry, the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum (15415 E. Don Julian Road, [626] 968-8492) has a particularly interesting adobe. The Workman house was built with the help of the San Gabriel Indians in 1842--but in 1872 it was remodeled to look like an English manor house.

Adobe de Palomares (491 E. Arrow Highway, Pomona, [909] 620-2300) is a T-shaped residence with 13 rooms built in 1854. Since 1940, it has been open as a museum, refurbished to look as it might have in the mid-1900s with period furniture. The gardens, too, have been planted as the Palomares might have had them.