Avila Adobe

The Avila Adobe, at 10 Olvera Street in Downtown Los Angeles, California, is the oldest surviving residence in the city. Francisco Jose Avila, a rancher who served as alcalde, or mayor, of the pueblo in 1810, built the house around 1818 during the Mexican-era transition from Spanish rule. The one-story adobe once belonged to a much larger rancho complex and was a family home and a gathering place for local society. Over time it was altered, damaged by earthquakes and neglected. After the 1850s the building declined and was used variously as a boarding house and for commercial purposes. In 1928 civic activist Christine Sterling led a campaign to save it from demolition, and the restoration became the catalyst for the creation of Olvera Street as a Mexican marketplace in 1930. Major repairs followed the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, which closed the house for years, and further damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake led to another restoration before reopening in 1999. The Avila Adobe is a California Historical Landmark and part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. The structure is built of thick sun-dried adobe brick walls with a flat roof originally covered in tar from the nearby La Brea Tar Pits, wooden beams, and a covered corridor that opens onto a courtyard with shade trees. Inside, the rooms are furnished to represent a California rancho home of the 1840s, with period beds, a kitchen and a sala. Exhibits also interpret the Avila family, the daily life of rancho households, and the later history of the adobe. The curatorial approach is immersive and room-by-room, with a short introductory display near the entrance and brief explanatory panels. The courtyard garden includes a large Moreton Bay fig tree planted in the 19th century that adds to the atmosphere. Because the house is small, the visit is quick, and it pairs naturally with the Plaza and the other buildings of El Pueblo.