Rómulo Pico Adobe (Ranchito Rómulo)

Tataviam, Tongva and Chumash people walked down from the mission to raise the oldest room here about 1834, and no record says what they were told it was for. Eulogio de Celís enlarged it in 1846. Rómulo Pico and his wife Catarina moved in around 1874 and added the upper story and two wings. It stood empty after the 1890s while treasure hunters dug up the floors hunting money nobody had buried. Mark Harrington bought the ruin in 1930 and would not rebuild the walls — he replaced the weathered top courses and left the rest.

What the plaque says

Oldest portion built about 1834 by ex-Mission Indians. Enlarged by Eulogio de Celis in 1846. Upper story added by Romulo Pico in 1874. Restored by Mr. & Mrs. M.R. Harrington in 1930.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Santa Monica Pier — 18 mi
  Where the Mother Road runs out of continent, and where the End of the Trail sign gives the drive somewhere to finish.
• Colorado Street Bridge — 19 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 — 24 mi
  The fourth Alta California mission, built on Tongva land with Tongva labor, rebuilt after arson and now telling that story straight.

More markers nearby

• Brand Park (Memory Garden) — 0.3 mi
• Mission San Fernando Rey de España — 0.4 mi
• San Fernando Cemetery — 3.7 mi
• The Cascades — 4.2 mi