The Sanchez Adobe sits on Don Felipe Drive in Baldwin Hills and everyone knew it was old (it's an LA historic landmark), but some new research suggests it (or part of it) was built as early as 1791, meaning it could be 20 years older than the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street, Los Angeles's current oldest building. According to Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas's website, "The Sanchez Adobe is a plain, somewhat weather-beaten structure with numerous additions and alterations," but it was originally part of the Rancho La Cienega o Paso de la Tijera land grand and it's been owned by Spanish Colonial-era mayor Vicente Sanchez, the Catholic Church, a women's club, and horse racing businessman "Lucky" Baldwin, who brought freed slaves to the property after the Civil War. It's currently owned by the Consolidated Board of Realtists, an African-American real estate group who bought the adobe at the suggestion of the great LA architect Paul R. Williams. The Realtists started digging into its history recently and found out just how old it is. Peyton Hall of the Historic Resources Group tells the supe's site that "Many in his field, architects, historians and preservationists, have no idea the building even exists ... and a detailed study of the structure is the immediate next step toward establishing its place in L.A.'s architectural history." Take a video tour yourself down below. (And for more on the adobe and other notable LA architecture, click over to MRT's website.)
Sanchez Adobe from Mark Ridley-Thomas on Vimeo.
· Sanchez Adobe [Mark Ridley-Thomas]
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