Page 6 - hssc1928belderrain

68 Historical Society of Southern California

Don Francisco built his first house at the foot of the
it was a large house of five rooms, built of adobe,
bluff ;
and here some of his children were born. Nearby were the
granaries, workingmen’s quarters, tool rooms. There was,
also, a plateria (silver smith shop) where two men made silver
and gold filigree jewelry. The house had a long, wide
corridor and in front was a large, shady grapevine arbor,
the floor of which was kept covered with white sand. Many
a joyous re-union took place in this charming arbor. 7
In the year 1855, Don Francisco enlarged his already
extensive holdings by the addition of a twenty-five acre
orchard with all kinds of profitable fruit trees, sugar cane,
and a vineyard. This property adjoined the original tract
on the north side, extending his land north to Aliso Street,
now Summit Avenue, and on the east to where Pleasant
Avenue now runs. He acquired several other parcels of
land by buying when good opportunity to do so was afforded.
Don Francisco’s second house was built in the year
1858 on the high bluff, the site being seventy feet from
the edge of the bluff. Here I was born. It was built of
adobe and faced the dear, blessed town of Nuestra Senora
de Los Angeles. The house had five spacious rooms, all
nicely finished. The ceilings were of white canvas, adorned
with pretty designs. Light-colored wood was used for the
floors; the walls were white. A mopboard six inches high
ran all along the walls of the parlor. It formed the base
of a deep border about two and one-half feet high, imitating
brown marble, headed by a brown moulding making a nice
finish, and also serving as a protection for the wall, as the
chairs were placed close to the wall. This room was about
thirty feet long. It had two doors of exit, a French door
with heavy wooden shutters. This faced the town. Be-
sides the bolts, there was an iron bar which was laid across
at the middle of the door on the inside. There were two
large windows with twelve panes each. Since then I have
taken a great dislike to paned windows with so many sharp
corners. These windows had stout shutters. At each end
of the parlor, a door opened into a bedroom. These had
An arbor or ratnada was a common feature
7. of California country houses.