The Diego Sepúlveda Adobe, sometimes called the Costa Mesa Estancia or the Santa Ana Estancia, is an

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) 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 use ...

structure in

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

.Costa Mesa Historical Society
/ref> It is the second-oldest building still standing in the county.

History

The adobe was built between 1817 and 1823 to house the mayordomo and herdsmen who tended the cattle and horses from

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''The Califo ...

to the south, in

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva 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 was made a separat ...

. The way-station was strategically situated on the banks of the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...

, some six ''leguas'' ( Spanish Leagues) north of the parent mission, to overlook cattle grazing lands and the

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

villagers of Lupukngna. It served as a lookout post when the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

Hippolyte de Bouchard attacked San Juan Capistrano on December 14, 1818. By 1820 the building and its surrounding lands became an official ''

estancia An estancia or estância is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias are located in the southern South American grasslands of Chilean and Argentine Patagonia, while the ''pampas'' have historically bee ...

'' (mission station), where padres from the mission would visit regularly to bring "spiritual food" to the faithful.; p. 114 After the Mexican secularization act of 1833 the church lost the land and building to the originally Spanish, later Mexican-recognized land grant

Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana was a Spanish land concession in present-day Orange County, California, given by Spanish Alta California governor José Joaquín de Arrillaga in 1810 to Jose Antonio Yorba and his nephew Pablo Peralta. The grant ex ...

. The adobe and its surrounding property, a portion of Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, were deeded by the U.S. government to Diego Sepúlveda around 1868. He was a former ''

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

'' of the Mexican era

Pueblo of Los Angeles Pueblo refers to the settlements of the Pueblo peoples, Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, currently in New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. The permanent communities, including some of the oldest continually occupied settleme ...

Present day

The adobe, which has been restored to its original style using original construction methods, is the second-oldest building still standing in Orange County. The

's "Serra's Chapel" is the oldest. The building then became a

local history museum A local museum or local history museum is a type of museum that shows the historical development of a place/region (local history) using exhibits. These museums usually maintain a collection of historic three-dimensional objects which are ex ...

, operated by the Costa Mesa Historical Society.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Official Costa Mesa Historical Society website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diego Sepulveda Adobe Adobe buildings and structures in California Buildings and structures in Costa Mesa, California Historic house museums in California Houses in Orange County, California Museums in Orange County, California Houses completed in 1823 History of Orange County, California California Historical Landmarks 1817 establishments in Nueva California Santa Ana River Sepúlveda Adobe Tourist attractions in Costa Mesa, California

History

Present day

See also

Notes

References

External links