Branciforte Adobe

The Branciforte Adobe, also known as the Craig-Lorenzana Adobe, is the only remaining dwelling from the Villa de Branciforte, the settlement that was established in 1797 at the time of the Mission Santa Cruz.[2]

Branciforte Adobe
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Driveway on N. Branciforte Avenue North face: 36.9898716°N 122.0108236°W / 36.9898716; -122.0108236
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Location	1351 N. Branciforte Avenue, Santa Cruz, California
Coordinates	36°59′22″N 122°0′39″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1803
Architectural style	Adobe
NRHP reference No.	79000552[1]
Added to NRHP	January 31, 1979

The only remains from the settlement of the Villa de Branciforte is the two room Craig-Lorenzana Adobe which stands on the southwest corner of Branciforte and Goss Avenues in Santa Cruz. It is the oldest single-family dwelling in Santa Cruz.

Description of structure

The Branciforte Adobe has 2-foot-thick (0.61 m) adobe mud plastered walls which are still remaining, a tile roof classic to the Spanish era later changed to redwood shake, and a veranda on the front rebuilt in the 1980s. The original adobe structure surviving from the Villa de Branciforte was one large rectangular room with two covered corridors (porches) on both length-wise sides of the house. The rear corridor ended adjacent to the fire pit and cooking area.

Over the years the house was modified many times; the most significant modifications were done by Jose Lorenzana in 1848. Lorenzana partitioned a small bedroom from the main room so that he and his wife could sleep separately from their reported 21 children. He "fancied up" the house adding doors, hinges, wallpaper and molding. Jose Lorenzana lived in the house until his death in 1863 ending the reign of Spanish inhabitants.

In the early 1870s Andrew Craig lived in the house. He became the district attorney and opened a law school in it. Craig was followed by the Winchester family who covered the adobe walls with Redwood. After the Winchester family two men, Jim Hawley and Jim Hammond, resided in the Branciforte Adobe. They rebuilt the exterior and porch, and altered the roof to a redwood shake one.

Restoration

Branciforte Adobe was continuously inhabited since its construction and never unroofed, abandoned or moved. It is one of only two adobe structures left in the City of Santa Cruz and the only one remaining from the Villa de Branciforte.[3]

The house was then bought in the 1980s by Edna Emmers (née Cleave) Kimbro (25 June 1948 - 26 June 2005),[4][5] a bachelor of art history from the University of California, Santa Cruz, 1974,[6] named Monterey District historian for the California Department of Parks and Recreation,[7] and her husband, Joseph Rushton Kimbro (August 29 1943 - June 30 2011)[8] who continued the restoration by stripping chicken wire and plaster from the exterior and restored the original adobe. This gave her the opportunity to examine the adobe and the wooden pieces used in the construction. At this point they added two additional bedrooms and two functional bathrooms.[9] Edna Kimbro became very interested in preserving examples of early California History. She sold the Branciforte Adobe and moved on to restore the Castro Adobe, a two-story adobe in the Watsonville area which was built in the mid-19th century.[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]

Edna Kimbro's work on the Branciforte Adobe was a very deliberate and detailed restoration which yielded information compatible with other classic adobe structures as well as revealing other unique characteristics. The Branciforte Adobe remains a private residence.[19]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Silveira, Ed. "Villa de Branciforte Preservation Society". Archived from the original on 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2020-02-11.
3. "National Register #79000552: Branciforte Adobe in Santa Cruz, California". noehill.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
4. "CCPH Newsletter Summer 2005 - Sacramento State" (PDF). csus.edu. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
5. "Survey of Damage to Historic Adobe Buildings" (PDF). getty.edu. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
6. Associated Press. "Edna Kimbro, adobe historian, 57". groups.google.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
7. Eden vol13 no2 2010 - California Garden & Landscape History Society
8. "Joseph Kimbro - Historical records and family trees - MyHeritage". www.myheritage.com. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
9. Branciforte Adobe Photos
10. "Charlene Duval: "The Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park – Through Edna's Eyes" - Santa Cruz Archaeological Society". www.santacruzarchsociety.org. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
11. Edna Kimbro. "The Making of a Preservationist from A to Z" from NOTICIAS DE MONTEREY vol_54_num_4_fall_2005 archived
12. Edna Emmerson Kimbro (1948-2005) - Find A Grave Memorial
13. "Edna Kimbro in remembrance". Park Views Newsletter. Fall 2005. Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks.
14. "Proceedings of the Getty Seismic Adobe Project 2006 Colloquium.pdf - Earthquake Engineering - Earthquakes". Scribd. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
15. Rourke, Mary (11 July 2005). "Edna Kimbro, 57; Restored Historic Adobe Landmarks". Retrieved 24 October 2018 – via LA Times.
16. "History & Historians". Researchers Anonymous. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
17. "SANTA CRUZ COUNTY HISTORY JOURNAL SPECIAL BRANCIFORTE BICENTENNIAL EDITION Issue No. Three, 1997" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2018-10-24.
18. California Historical Society (24 October 2018). "California Historical Society quarterly [microform]". San Francisco, California Historical Society. Retrieved 24 October 2018 – via Internet Archive.
19. A three-hour video made by Edna Kimbro to be kept with the house.