Avila Adobe - Historic House Museum

Historic House Museum

The present adobe is a historic house museum, with seven rooms left from what used to be a much larger building. Restoration has worked to create an idea of what the original home was like. The largest room, the 'family room,' was a general area for dining, entertainment and social gatherings. The office room was the main business room for Francisco Avila. The sala, or parlour, was reserved for special occasions such as a wedding or baptism, maybe even entertaining special guests. There were sleeping quarters for the parents and another for the children, and a kitchen for food preparation which doubled as a bathing room. Cooking was done outdoors in the courtyard. Sanitation was done elsewhere outside the house. Most of the original furnishings came from other countries with whom Avila did trade.

The adobe consists of a generous courtyard with covered porches for each of the adobe's areas, including stables and a workshop. A more recent archaeological find has revealed a portion of the Zanja Madre (Mother Ditch) which transported water into the pueblo via a brick-laid pipeline from the river.

The adobe is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, a California Historical Landmark (No. 145), and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Access

The Avila Adobe is opened for public touring and is located at East 10 Olvera Street within El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park. The Park office is located at 845 N. Alameda Street, and the Visitors Information Center is at 128 Paseo de la Plaza. The adobe is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is California State Landmark .