Avila Adobe

Francisco Avila built this about 1818 and it is the oldest house still standing in Los Angeles, which is a lower bar than it sounds — adobe does not survive neglect, and most of the pueblo did not. It was taken as American headquarters in 1847. The Sylmar earthquake nearly finished it in 1971, and the rooms you walk through are the restoration that followed. Avila's grandson, Francisco P. Ramirez, was editing the Spanish half of the Los Angeles Star a few hundred yards from here.

What the plaque says

This is the oldest existing house in Los Angeles. Built about 1818 by Don Francisco Avila, it was occupied briefly as American headquarters in 1847. Severely damaged in the earthquake of 1971, the house is now restored as an example of California life style of the 1840's. El Adobe Ávila es la casa más vieja en Los Angeles.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Colorado Street Bridge — 7.4 mi
  Beaux-Arts concrete arches curving 150 feet above the Arroyo Seco, opened in 1913 and later a link in Route 66.
• Mission San Gabriel Arcangel — 8.0 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.
• Santa Monica Pier — 15 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.

More markers nearby

• Los Angeles Plaza — steps away
• Lugo Adobe (Site of) — steps away
• Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles — steps away
• Old Plaza Firehouse — steps away