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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-28-2017 - TaylorFrc'mdr a! LA LOMA ADOBE A California Von-limtir KNIC Benefit Capnrarion Post Office Box 13253 San Luis Obispo, California 93406 FJ8 2017 ' (� January 18, 2017 COUNCIL MEETING: 1%2L-17' ITEM NO.: _Puts u """'rte Friends oftrr I,olr,rr �dohe Mayor Harmon and City Council, Board ofDirertors The City owned La Loma Adobe at 1590 Lizzie St. is "melting away"! We are bringing to your Patti Taylor, Interim Preride»I attention the urgent need to complete long-term protection for this historic structure as soon as possible. We are also requesting your consideration of being included in the City 2017-19 Goal Robert Jorgensen TreasurerSetting Financial Plan to accomplish this goal. Joan Sullivan The La Loma Adobe is one of the few earthen houses surviving from the Hispanic period of Secretary California history and is one of the few two-story adobes in the City. It may have served as a Ian French lookout post for the Mission, and as a place for John C. Fremont's encampment in 1846 when he Norma Frey occupied the City for the Americans. It was part of a Mexican land grant and has been a home to Nancy 1 lillenberg a County Sheriff/Judge and many other prominent families for over 100 years. Robert Hoover, Ph.D. In 2014, Friends of La Loma Adobe formed a non-profit public benefit corporation in order to Buzz Kalkowski restore, preserve, interpret and create adaptive uses of the historic Adobe while serving as its Pierre Rademakcr stewards in partnership with the City. Friends is actively working with City staff to draft an MOA to formalize the relationship. Robert ltcsscly, P E. In order to reduce City outlays at every stage, Friends' volunteers have already: • Prepared a historically accurate landscape concept for the one -acre parcel that has guided a recent tree safety trimming funded fi-om open space maintenance funds; • Organized neighborhood events focused on Adobe preservation; • Prepared a professional estimate of repair costs; • Contacted expert to produce a geophysical site survey to identify cultural resources; and • Offered assistance for State/Federal Historic landmark applications. Our Vision: Once long-term protection is in place, along with the installation of appropriate landscaping and signage, momentum will develop sufficient to attract grants and donations to restore the interior and exterior. The Adobe can then serve as an interpretative center for all City adobes as well as a gateway trailhead to Reservoir Canyon. Currently the Adobe continues to weaken and the January storms have accelerated the process. Also recently the Adobe has suffered damaging vandalism and remains a neighborhood eyesore, thus possibly encouraging more harm. Friends are concerned and have prepared a professional cost estimate of $450,000 to safeguard and repair the historic Adobe, which includes prevailing wages, repair and re -plastering the walls, incorporation of seismic strengthening and installation of new roof and gutters. Friends propose a pre servation/rebuilding project that reinforces City Goals of neighborhood vitality, cultural heritage and conservation/open space. Please consider our request for inclusion in your 2017-19 Planning Budget. The La Loma Adobe embodies our community history and culture --a treasure we should not allow to "melt away" from neglect or oversight. , Patti Taylor, Interim President �r 7rj January 18, 2017 JAN iCI..O ' FY ERK Dear Mayor and City Council Members, Following is alittle information regarding Maria Boronda (Chono) and her historic ownership of the La Loma Adobe (extracted from a SLO Journal article 10/14). Hopefully it is helpful. Patti Tayl� It began in Monterey, California, 1820, when Maria Concepcion Boronda (aka. "Chono") was born into a family full of California history. She was the daughter of Francisca Castro and Jose Canuto Boronda (a soldier at Mission San Juan Bautista). Her father, at age 90, died in San Luis Obispo. Her paternal grandparents were Manuel Boronda and Maria Higuera. Her grandfather Manuel, born in Spain, was a Corporal in the Spanish army assigned to the Presidio in San Franscisco. Chona's family circle includes many well-known names such as: Donovan, Hames, Dana, Redondo, Carrillo, Valencia and Serrano. Chona was raised in the Monterey area and at age 17, in the Mission San Juan Bautista, she married a French sea captain, Olivier Deleissegues. In 1842, at age 22, Chona Deleissegues acquired a land grant from Governor Alvarado. The land was granted in Chona's name because her husband, a Frenchman, could not hold title to property at that time. Her land grant consisted of approximately 3,500 acres known as the Rancho Potrero de San Luis Obispo. A few years later, the Deleissegues family decided to move permanently to Rancho Potrero. This began the San Luis Obispo segment of Chona's life that would end when she was 85 years of age. Unfortunately, in May of 1849, Olivier Deleissegues died at sea a few months before their 5t" child was born. Awhile later, Jose Munoz, a young educated man from Monterey, arrived in San Luis Obispo where he met a young widow with 5 children living in an adobe. Munoz became Chona's second husband. Five years later, the San Luis Obispo 1854 Tax list shows the Munoz family being assessed for the Potrero Rancho at a value of $2,220. This was also the same year that Chona traded most of her Potrero Rancho to Estevan Quintana for a part of his La Vina Rancho that included a two-story adobe known as "La Loma de La Nopalera". The adobe was named after the Nopales cacti that is still growing at the Adobe today. The Munoz family moved into their new home, a very good trade as the 1860 Census of San Luis Obispo listed Jose Maria Munoz, as a farmer, with a real estate value now of $10,000. Munoz became active in San Luis Obispo politics, was elected Sheriff and later became a County Judge succeeding Romualdo Pacheco, who became California's first native born Governor. Munoz homesteaded the La Loma property during his judgeship. Following Munoz's death, in 1887, Chona sold the La Loma property to John Corbett (Corbett Canyon) and moved to be with her two daughters in Nipomo. Her daughter, Justina Deleissegues, had married adobe dweller, Frank Dana and another daughter, Manuela Munoz, married Frank's brother, Fred Dana. The "Dana" family name is historically significant along the Central Coast. The La Loma Adobe is considered a good example of the Spanish Colonial architectural style and is among the few two-story adobes in San Luis Obispo County. It has been vacant since 1953 and needs "Friends". The Adobe and surrounding property was gifted to the City of San Luis Obispo in 1995. It belongs on the National Historic Register. It is a community treasure to be preserved.