Orella Adobes
{{Short description|18th-19th century adobe residences in California}}
{{Infobox building
| name = Orella Adobes
| image =
| caption =
| location = Cañada del Corral, Santa Barbara County, California
| coordinates = {{coord|34|27|56|N|120|02|42|W|display=it}}
| completion_date = {{c.|1798-1841}}
| architectural_style = Adobe
}}
The Orella Adobes at Cañada del Corral on the Gaviota Coast about {{convert|20|miles}} west of Santa Barbara are Santa Barbara County landmarks. The adobes may trace back to the late 18th century, as a tile was found during a remodel in the 1930s imprinted with the year "1798".
Background
The property was originally part of Rancho Cañada del Corral. While owned by Ortega descendants, it was a frequent center of social events and played host to numerous travelers, including John C. Frémont in 1847. Ownership passed to Bruno Orella and his wife Mercedes Gonzalez y Guevara in 1866.
Bruno Orella, was born in the Basque country in Spain in 1830, and came to California at the time of the Gold Rush. He married Mercedes Gonzalez y Ladron de Guevara. The couple established a prosperous farming/mercantile family with extensive holdings throughout the Santa Barbara/Ventura region."Portraits of Basques in the New World", Edited by Richard W. Etulain and Jeronima Echevarria, University of Nevada Press 1999, Chapter 13: "Robert Erburu and Becoming a Postmodern Basque", by William A. Douglass The site of Orella's town-home (known as the "Janssens-Orella-Birk Building") on the State street, main street of Santa Barbara, is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Orellas were patrons of the local Catholic churches and religious orders. All sons of the family attended Santa Clara College and to this day there is an Orella Prize given at that university to the student with highest grades in the sciences.{{Cite web |title=College of Arts and Sciences Awards |url=http://www.scu.edu/academics/bulletins/undergraduate/College-of-Arts-and-Sciences-Awards.cfm |website=scu.edu}}
When the Orellas purchased the adobes, they became their country residence. One of the buildings served as schoolhouse to their children, and a tutor was hired to live on the ranch. Bruno's daughter, Elena Orella Covarrubias, inherited the adobes and remodeled them in the 1930s in Spanish Revival style. Oil was found on her land in August 1929, with the drilling of the "Erburu No. 1" well by General Petroleum Corporation, in the Vaqueros Formation at a depth of {{convert|1446|feet}}.{{Cite book |last=Kribbs |first=George |title=Capitan Oil Field, in Geologic Formations and economic development of the Oil and Gas Fields of California |date=1943 |publisher=State of California Dept. of Natural Resources Division of Mines, Bulletin 118 |location=San Francisco |pages=374–376}} The "El Capitan Oil Field" became one of the richest in the state; production at the field peaked in 1946.{{Cite book |title=California Oil and Gas Fields |work=California Department of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources |page=69}} It was part of Bruno's large landholdings in the region and remained in the hands of his descendants until the property was sold to Exxon Mobil Corporation in 1971.
Contemporary history
On August 17, 1993, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors declared County Landmark status for the Orella Adobes.{{Citation |title=Resolution no. 93-436. |date=1993-08-17 |work=Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Barbara, California}}
On January 20, 2017, a flash flood inundated Cañada del Corral and damaged the historic adobes. A local resident reported that one of the adobes appeared to have fallen into the river.{{Cite web |last=Jan 20 |first=Keith Hamm Fri |last2=2017 {{!}} 2:00pm |date=2017-01-20 |title=Historic Orella Adobes Suffer Extensive Damage in Flash Flooding |url=https://www.independent.com/2017/01/20/historic-orella-adobes-suffer-extensive-damage-flash-flooding/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=The Santa Barbara Independent |language=en-US}}
In 2021, the historic Covarrubias Barn located across the creek from the adobes was destroyed during the Alisal Fire.{{Cite web |last=Life |first=Santa Barbara News-Press |date=2021-12-27 |title=SPECIAL FLASHBACK MONDAY STORY |url=https://newspress.com/special-flashback-monday-story/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=Santa Barbara News-Press |language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- Extensive Orella family records at the Santa Barbara Historical Society, including numerous "Santa Barbara News-Press" articles on the family from the late 19th century to the present day.
Category:Basque-American culture in California