Location:
Historical Significance:
This property was a historic land grant in 1845 from the Mexican government to Felipe Surbria, a neophyte Luiseno Indian from the San Luis Rey Mission. The original home was a small adobe building. The land was used for cattle ranching and farming. For much of the early years, the property was a privately owned rancho. In 1931, the rancho was purchased by Harry and Margarita Fisher Pollard. She was a Hollywood actress.
Historic Marker:
- Marker Organization: Vista Historical Society
- Marker Date: 2010
- Marker Text: Vista Historical Site 4 Rancho Buena Vista. The Adobe was granted to Felipe Surbria in 1845. The grant was 1184 acres in size and consisted of much of what is downtown Vista today. The buildings were constructed over many years. There were several owners of the rancho before it was purchased by Vista in 1989.
Designations:
- City Landmark
Funded By:
City of Vista owns and maintains the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe.
Information for the Visitors:
What you need to know if interested in visiting this destination:
- Open to the Public - Yes: 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Thursday to Saturday
- Admission Fee - $4, $3, $1
- Is it Family Friendly - Yes
Acknowledgements:
Rancho Buena Vista DAR has supported the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe since 2004.
DAR Archival Work:
This Adobe has a wonderful collection of over 7,000 catalogued objects. We have been working for fourteen years with the Adobe's volunteer archivist to organize, photograh, and preserve the historic collection. The collection includes period appropriate furniture, household objects, textiles, clothing, quilts, toys, games, kitcen objects and ranch related objects such as brands, ropes, and saddles. We have provided many hours of volunteer time to clean, catalogue, label, repair, and photograph the many objects. Archival materials, tissue paper, and containers have been purchased by DAR to help ensure the longevity of the collection. This project had been very time consuming as we are still meeting monthly to do the archival work. We still have several rooms to complete!
We do an annual deep clean at the Adobe prior to the Christmas Open House at the Adobe. For fourteen years we have decorated one of the rooms at the Adobe with handmade ornaments and decorations. The ornaments and decorations are designed to be appropriate to the time period of the Adobe - usually 1860- 1900. We meet monthly to create the many ornaments and decorations. This year, we created a quilt as part of our decorations. The home tour has been a popular event for many years.
DAR Conservation Committee:
The Rancho Buena Vista DAR Conservation Committee worked with the original gardener at the Adobe in identifying the antique roses. Labels were purchased to help visitors identify over twenty varieties of historic roses. This committee also worked to restore the Native Plant Garden. Twenty new native plants were planted and provided with labels. The committee members trim and weed the gardens at regular intervals. Recently, a brochure was created for the Adobe titled "The Birding Checklist" which allows visitors to name the many birds in residence at the Adobe. Currently, there is a project in process to have the Adobe labeled a butterfly preserve.
Tours at the Adobe:
The Adobe provides tours to the public: Thursday and Friday 10:00-4:00 and Saturdays 10:00-12:30. Over a thousand people toured the Adobe during the public tours.
Paranormal evening tours are available for small groups by reservation.
School tours are available with a curriculum designed for 3rd and 4th graders. Seven thousand students tour each year. The students are from San Diego County and Orange County. The curriculum is focused on the rancho time period and include: candle making, leather work, branding of leather, roping, weaving, and native american crafts.
Girl Scout Curriculum: Girl Scouts and Brownie groups come to the Adobe to work on a Native American Try-It Badge and a Folk Art Patch.
