Adobe Flores by Dr. William Deverell | SPPF 2023 Annual Meeting Presentation at 'Republic of Lucha'

Presentation: Dr. William Deverell, Director Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West talks about the Adobe Flores in South Pasadena, California.

South Pasadena Preservation Foundation Celebrates
El Adobe Flores’ History, Architecture, Art, and Owners

The public is invited to celebrate South Pasadena’s 184 year-old El
Adobe Flores “The House that was in México” and owners who
preserved it over the years at the South Pasadena Preservation
Foundation’s Annual Meeting, Sunday, June 25, at 5:30 p.m. at
Republic of Lucha, 1020 Mission St., South Pasadena.


Following a brief meeting to elect officers for 2023-24 and a report
on SPPF by President Jim Tavares, the evening will showcase El
Adobe Flores’ history, art, architecture and owners with remarks,
pictures, memorabilia, and Mexican refreshments.

Adobe Flores owner Jane Burzell will be honored. In the 1960s her grandparents, Wallace R. and Jane
McCloskey, bought the adobe to save it from developers. She visited often as a child and bought it as an
adult. Her family continues the legacy of owners who have the adobe since the 1800s.
“South Pasadena’s oldest building, El Adobe Flores was added to the National Register of Historic Places
50 years ago this June,” said Tavares.

”It’s where California history was made in 1847, has been painted
and photographed since the 1800s and architecturally restored more than a 100 years ago.”
The adobe was built as a ranch house on Rancho Rincón de San Pascual in Alta California, México in
1839. Later it was used as a tea house, golf clubhouse, real estate office and private residence.

The
Republic of Lucha represents the continuing presence of Latina/os in what became South Pasadena.
Also featured are presentations by Cal State LA art history faculty member Lori Rusch, who has
researched the adobe’s art and architecture, and USC Emeritus Professor Félix F. Gutierrez, who has
published articles on El Adobe Flores history.

Both are SPPF members and long-time South Pasadena
residents.
The adobe was a key place in California history in 1847 when Californios meeting there under Comandante
General José María Flores decided to negotiate a peaceful end to bloody battles with invading U.S. forces
during the Mexican-American War. Two days later Californio leader Andrés Pico and Lt. Col. John C.
Frémont signed a treaty ending California warfare and promising Californios rights equal to U.S. citizens.

The adobe building, patio and gardens were preserved by owners over the years and restored in 1919 by
architect Carleton Winslow. In the 1920s artist Norman Chamberlain produced four paintings of the
adobe, which has been painted or photographed by others since the late 1800s.

The South Pasadena Preservation Foundation (SPPF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. SPPF’s mission is to foster an awareness and appreciation of
the historic heritage of South Pasadena and to advocate and facilitate preservation of significant examples
of that heritage. For more information about SPPF, visit sppreservation.org.

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