The Leonis Adobe
Essay title: The Leonis Adobe
The Leonis Adobe
The Leonis Adobe was built in stages; however, who and when the original portion of it was built is still under research. At first, there appears to have been a simple adobe farmhouse with whitewashed walls. This original portion of the house is believed to date back to 1844, and if this is so it is almost certain that Leonis did not build it. In any event, about 1880 he extensively enlarged and remodeled the house into the gracious Monterey style mansion you see today, and he and Espirtu moved into it and made it their home.
The building of this project was not an easy one. A great deal of research and studying along with skillful work went to the restoration of this mansion. But there is one or two exceptions. For instance, the present living room was originally two rooms, a parlor and living room, separated by a wall just to the right of the front door. The wall was removed around 1925 and has not bee replaced in order to provide a large room for group meetings.
When Leonis enlarged and remodeled the house, he sheathed the outside front of the house, and paneled the interior living room walls with wood. He walled-in the rear and northeast side porches, both upstairs and downstairs, to add more rooms. He added the Victorian fretwork balcony along the front of the house, and other enhancing details and features. The bright colors that highlight the house were discovered under many layers of paint, and presumably were the ones Leonis used. The paint used to repaint the house was carefully matched to achieve the exact feeling the Leonis Adobe brings.
The present living room, the family portraits hang on the wall where they used to hang, but the mirror originally hung where the dining room door now is. This door was cut through