The Rafael Gonzalez House is an

historic house A historic house generally meets several criteria before being listed by an official body as "historic." Generally the building is at least a certain age, depending on the rules for the individual list. A second factor is that the building be in ...

in the historic center of the city of

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. Built in 1825, it is one of a small number of surviving adobe houses from the Mexican period of California history. It was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

on April 15, 1970, and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. and

Description

The Gonzalez House is located north of Santa Barbara's central business district, on the south side of Laguna Street between East Canon Perdido Street and East De La Guerra Street. It is a single-story

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

structure, with seven rooms. It is built in the U-shape (with the longest part being parallel to Laguna Street) and stands on a hill, separated from both Laguna and Canon Perdido streets by garden walls. Its walls are up to thick, covered with lime plaster, and its long sides are sheltered by wooden verandas. When built, it had packed-earth floors, which were tiled during restoration in the 1920s. The roof, now shingled, was historically covered in terra cotta tile.

History

The building was constructed in 1825 by Rafael Gonzalez, a landowner who in 1829 became an

alcalde Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...

of Santa Barbara. At this time, Santa Barbara was a part of

Mexican California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

. After his death, in 1866, the house was inherited by one of his daughters, Francisca Ventura Gonzalez de Ramires. She lived in the house until 1923, when it was sold out of the family. It has seen mainly commercial uses since then.

Gallery

File:Rafael-gonzales-veranda-2.jpg, Veranda along one wing. File:Rafael-gonzales-veranda-1.jpg, Veranda along the other wing. File:Rafael-gonzales-plaque.jpg, Plaque commemorating Rafael Gonzales House history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Rafael, House Adobe buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures in Santa Barbara, California Houses in Santa Barbara County, California History of Santa Barbara County, California Houses completed in 1825 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Historic Landmarks in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Barbara County, California 1825 establishments in Alta California