José Castro House

The José Castro House (Spanish: Casa José Castro), sometimes known as the Castro-Breen Adobe, is a historic adobe home in San Juan Bautista, California, facing the Plaza de San Juan. The Monterey Colonial style house was built 1838-41 by General José Antonio Castro, a former Governor of Alta California. It was later sold to the Breen family, who lived there until 1933, when the house became a museum as part of San Juan Bautista State Historic Park.

José Castro House
The Plaza de San Juan façade of the house
José Castro House is located in California
José Castro House
José Castro House is located in the United States
José Castro House
LocationS side of the Plaza, San Juan Bautista, California
Coordinates36°50′40.78″N 121°32′4.86″W
Area1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built1838 (1838)
ArchitectJosé Antonio Castro
Architectural styleMonterey Colonial
Part ofSan Juan Bautista Plaza Historic District (ID69000038)
NRHP reference No.70000141[1]
CHISL No.179
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 15, 1970[1]
Designated NHLMay 15, 1970[2]
Designated NHLDCPApril 15, 1970
Designated CHISLMarch 6, 1935[3]

History
Don José Castro, a former Governor of Alta California.
José Castro House in 1934.

José Antonio Castro's father José Tiburcio Castro was a soldier, member of the Diputación (the legislature of Alta California),[4] administrator of Mission San Juan Bautista after it was secularized, and grantee of Rancho Sausal.

The elder Castro used his position to obtain land grants for relatives and friends. His son was granted land facing the Plaza de San Juan, where he built an adobe house in 1841. José Antonio Castro used the house as an administrative base for his military operations (soldiers' barracks were next door) and let his secretary use it as a residence.[5]

In 1848, José Antonio Castro sold the home to Patrick Breen, a survivor of the Donner Party. His family occupied the home until 1933, when it was declared a California Historical Landmark[3] and purchased by California State Parks, which incorporated it into the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park.

Currently, the park uses the José Castro House as a fully furnished house museum, displaying a snapshot of how domestic life was in mid-19th century California.[5] The house was made a National Historic Landmark in 1970.[2][6]

Architecture
The garden façade of the house.

José Castro House is a two-story adobe home, completed in a Monterey Colonial style. The home is clad in stucco and includes a second-story full-length covered porches on both long sides, characteristic of Monterey Colonial architecture.

The pane glass windows beside the front door of the José Castro House are not typical of Monterey architecture and reflect the influence of Greek Revival architecture, which was also popular in the mid-19th century.

Nowadays, the José Castro House property includes a half-acre orchard and garden, open to the public as part of the state historic park.[5]

See also

References

This article incorporates content in the public domain from the U.S. National Park Service.

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. "José Castro House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on November 14, 2007. Retrieved November 17, 2007.
  3. "Castro House". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  4. Killea; Lucy Lytle (October 1966). "Journal of San Diego History". San Diego Historical Society. sandiegohistory.org. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  5. "José Castro House - San Juan Bautista, California". U.S. National Park Service. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
  6. James Dillon (April 5, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination" (pdf). National Park Service. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) and Accompanying 2 photos, exterior, from 1968. (465 KB)
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