Estudillo House | |
 Main entrance | |
     | |
| Location | 4000 Mason Street, San Diego, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°45′14.32″N117°11′44.81″W / 32.7539778°N 117.1957806°W /32.7539778; -117.1957806 |
| Built | 1827 |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial |
| NRHP reference No. | 70000143 |
| CHISL No. | 53 |
| SDHL No. | 14A |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 15, 1970[3] |
| Designated NHL | April 15, 1970[4] |
| Designated CHISL | 1932[1] |
| Designated SDHL | November 6, 1970[2] |
TheCasa de Estudillo, also known as theEstudillo House, is a historicadobe house inSan Diego, California, United States. It was constructed in 1827 byJosé María Estudillo and his sonJosé Antonio Estudillo, early settlers of San Diego and members of the prominentEstudillo family of California, and was considered one of the finest houses inMexican California.[5] It is located inOld Town San Diego State Historic Park, and is designated as both aNational and aCalifornia Historical Landmark in its own right.[1][4]
Besides being one of the oldest surviving examples of Spanish architecture in California, the house gained much prominence by association withHelen Hunt Jackson's wildly popular 1884 novelRamona.[6] The Casa de Estudillo is one of three National Historic Landmarks inSouthern California that were closely tied toRamona, a novel ofCalifornio life shortly after the American acquisition of California; the other two areRancho Camulos andRancho Guajome.
The large building is a U-shaped structure, measuring 113 feet (34.4 m) on the front side, and 98 feet (29.9 m) on each of the wings.[7] It is constructed in theSpanish Colonial style, meaning that the house's 13 rooms are set consecutively in the building and connected only by an external coveredcorredor (as opposed to an interiorhallway).[8]
The main portion (the center) contains the entrance, facing west. To its left is the chapel and to its right is the schoolroom. Both rooms originally were smaller, with bedrooms located at the ends of building, but a 1910 restoration eliminated those walls to enlarge the rooms. Two bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen (which was added at a later date), and the servants' dining room are in the north wing, while the south wing has three bedrooms and the family dining room. The house is topped by acupola from whichbullfights and festivals in the adjacent plaza could be seen.[5]
José Antonio Estudillo died in 1852, and his family stayed until 1887, when they moved toLos Angeles, leaving the house in the hands of a caretaker. Meanwhile, the 1884 publication ofRamona, a novel set inSouthern California which painted aromanticized portrait ofCalifornio life, generated a nationwide interest in the region. This, combined with the opening of theSouthern Pacific andSanta Fe Railway lines (and the ensuing rate war,[9] which drove prices down to as low as $1 fromSt. Louis, Missouri to Los Angeles[10]), meant that hordes of tourists made their way to Southern California to see the locations in the novel. Unfortunately, Jackson died in 1885 without ever having disclosed what the actual locations in the novel were, which caused a great deal of speculation.[11]
In 1887, a front-page article of theSan Diego Union declared the Estudillo home to be "Ramona's Marriage Place", saying, "To sleepy Old Town (the house) is known as the Estudillos, but the outside world knows it as the marriage place of 'Ramona.'"[10] This was despite Jackson never having visited the house, but in the novel, Ramona was married in a "long, low adobe building which had served no mean purpose in the oldPresidio days, but was now fallen in decay; and all its rooms, except those occupied by the Father, had been long uninhabited".[12] Despite the novel being a work of fiction, visitors flocked to the building thinking it was the actual location of Ramona's marriage. To be clear, theUnion did not simply invent this story; a tourist had already scratched the name "Alessandro" (Ramona's husband in the novel) in one of the walls.[13] The caretaker decided to capitalize on the attendant publicity and began selling off pieces of the house assouvenirs. Naturally, the building's condition began to deteriorate rapidly.[11]
In 1906, the dilapidated building was purchased by theSan Diego Electric Railway Company, owned by prominent San Diego citizenJohn D. Spreckels (who also owned theUnion). In his vision, the house would anchor severaltourist attractions connected via his railway which would realize his twin goals of developing San Diego into a popular locale and generate revenue for his company.[14] To this end, he hired architectHazel Wood Waterman to renovate the house to a condition more closely matching the descriptions in the novel. The original cupola and balcony were removed because there was none mentioned in the novel, and several doors and windows were moved. Waterman was exacting in her specifications: She wanted the building to look aged as well as have the "charm of the work of half-skilled Indian hands",[15] although modern conveniences such as electricity and indoor plumbing were included. Upon its completion in 1910, it was marketed as aRamona-related tourist attraction, and remained popular as such for years to come, drawing 1,632 visitors on one day in 1940.[11]
Spreckels hired Tommy Getz, a theater showman, to manage the property, and it was under Getz's guidance that the property truly gained itsRamona association. He began strongly marketing the property:Tchotchkes of all sorts were labeled with "Ramona's Marriage Place", and morepostcards were printed for the adobe than any otherRamona attraction. Due to its association with Ramona's marriage, the house was used to host weddings as well.[16] Getz eventually purchased the adobe from Spreckels in 1924.
The association with the novel was so keen that the application for National Historic Landmark status was entitled, "Casa Estudillo/Ramona's Marriage Place."[11] One author goes so far as to say that without the novel's influence and the popularity of the house, the historic buildings that make up Old Town San Diego would have been razed.[17] In fact, for a time, the Estudillos' relationship to the house was nearly forgotten.[18]
After Getz's death in 1934, his daughter Margeurite Weiss continued to operate the business for another thirty years, finally selling it in 1964 to the Title Insurance and Trust Company, which then sold it to local businessman Legler Benbough, who donated it to the State of California in 1968.
The statePark Service then set about restoring it to its pre-Ramona state, including the missing cupola. The house now stands as a museum and is furnished as it would likely have been during Estudillo's ownership, but with an added kitchen. The state seemed embarrassed at the property's association with the novel: The long-standing "Ramona's Marriage Place" sign was removed, and brochures printed in the 1970s make no mention of the novel at all. By the 1990s, the state began to acknowledge the long-standing relationship to the book.[19]
Ramona no longer has the same hold on the country's imagination as it once did. It is estimated that only 1% of visitors to the Casa de Estudillo now are aware of the house's ties to the novel.[10]
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