The Leonis Adobe :: essays research papers

The Leonis adobeThe Leonis Adobe was built in stages however, who and when the original peck of it was built is still under search. At first, in that location appears to have been a simple adobe farmhouse with whitewashed walls. This original portion of the house is believed to encounter back to 1844, and if this is so it is almost certain that Leonis did not build it. In any event, about 1880 he extensively enlarged and remodeled the house into the nice Monterey style mansion you see today, and he and Espirtu moved into it and made it their home. The mental synthesis of this project was not an easy one. A great deal of research and studying along with skillful work went to the restoration of this mansion. But there is one or two exceptions. For instance, the present living elbow room was to begin with two rooms, a parlor and living room, separated by a wall just to the right of the front penetration. The wall was removed somewhat 1925 and has not bee replaced in order to provide a large room for group meetings.When Leonis enlarged and remodeled the house, he sheathed the out stead front of the house, and ornament the interior living room walls with wood. He walled-in the rear and northeast side porches, both upstairs and downstairs, to add more rooms. He added the Victorian latticework balcony along the front of the house, and other enhancing details and features. The bright colors that high spot the house were discovered under more layers of paint, and presumably were the ones Leonis utilize. The paint used to repaint the house was carefully matched to achieve the exact feeling the Leonis Adobe brings. The present living room, the family portraits hang on the wall where they used to hang, scarce the mirror originally hung where the dine room door now is. This door was cut through in the 1920s. Before that, as in many of the California houses, one walked along the porch to reach the dining room.Both the kitchen and the dining room are board an d batten construction added during Leonis remodeling. The adobe dirty word floors were discovered under modern wood flooring that has been removed. The fireplace in the dining room and stove in the kitchen provided the only heat in the house. The stove, while not original to the house, carries a date of 1875.Out side, at the northwest corner of the house, a large Mexican beehive oven with a shed over it for protection from the rain, was used to bake bread.