Diego Sepúlveda Adobe

Three plaques at the adobe give it three birth dates: the 1820s, about 1823 to 1825, and about 1820. Most accounts settle between 1817 and 1823, when Mission San Juan Capistrano built it six leagues north of the mission to shelter the herdsmen of its cattle. Diego Sepúlveda, a former alcalde of Los Angeles, held it in the 1860s. It survived because the next owner, Gabe Allen, built a larger ranch house around it rather than pulling it down. The Segerstroms gave the adobe and five acres to Costa Mesa in 1963.

What the plaque says

A station of the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Constructed about 1823–1825. Also known as Diego Sepulveda or Gabe Allen adobe. Plaque placed in commemoration of early California settlers by Colonel William Cabell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution 1966 Diego Sepulveda Adobe This home of early Spanish Californians, erected in the 1820's, once served as an "estancia" or station for mission herdsmen. It was dedicated in 1963 for public use by the Segerstrom family and restored by the City of Costa Mesa. It is jointly maintained and operated by the Costa Mesa Parks Department and the Costa Mesa Historical Society. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 227 Plaque placed by the City of Costa Mesa on July 20, 1969, in observance of the 200th anniversary of permanent settlement in California The Diego Sepulveda Adobe This adobe building was constructed about 1820 as part of an outlying mission stock headquarters to shelter the herdsmen who cared for the cattle from Mission San Juan Capistrano. After secularization, the property continued as a cattle ranch through the 1860s when Diego Sepulveda, after whom it is named, occupied it. Floods and drought ended the cattle industry by the 1870s and the building served as a farmhouse until 1963 when the Segerstrom family donated the adobe and 5 acres of land to the City of Costa Mesa. The building was restored and opened as a community museum in August 1966 as California Landmark Number 227. Dedicated November 15, 2014 by the Native Sons of the Golden West Timothy L. Tullius, Grand President GPY 138-5

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Puvungna — 13 mi
  The Acjachemen and Tongva place of creation: twenty-two acres of open ground on a university campus, still not in the hands of its people.
• Terminal Island and Furusato — 20 mi
  Three thousand Japanese Americans built a village here they called Furusato, and in February 1942 were given forty-eight hours to leave it.
• Drum Barracks — 20 mi
  The Union Army built its Southern California headquarters in a county that had voted against Lincoln two to one, and stabled the Army camels here.
• The Port of Los Angeles — 20 mi
  The busiest container port in the country, sitting on ground that was dredged into existence: marsh, then landfill, then Pier 400.

More markers nearby

• Old Landing — 4.2 mi
• McFadden Wharf — 4.5 mi
• Balboa Pavilion — 5.3 mi
• Site of First Water-to-Water Flight — 5.4 mi