14 SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | NOVEMBER 2020
By Berkie Harris, Resident
Rich in the history of old California is Rancho Guajome Adobe
and its surrounding San Diego County Park. This historic hacienda
is just an hour south on the I-15 outside of Vista. It is an easy day trip
for those of us who wish to venture out but are still wary of staying
overnight in hotels.
The hacienda was originally built by Cave Johnson Couts, a young
Army lieutenant from Tennessee and his wife Ysidora in 1852.
Ysidora was the daughter of a prominent landowner from Mexico.
She received the 2219 acres that the hacienda and ranch sit on as
a wedding present from her family. She and Cave developed an
extensive, prosperous ranch on the property and had many children.
Rancho Guajome Adobe was designated a National Historic
Landmark in 1970.
The hacienda is nearly 7,000 square feet and contains 28 rooms.
The rooms are not large, however, so a self-guided tour can easily
be done in one and a half to two hours. That would include a stroll
around the grounds and a visit to the adjoining church. The rooms
are authentically staged with furniture, artifacts and pictures from
the period, so it is easy to get a sense of what it was like to live and
work there in the mid-1800s. They ask for a $3 per person donation
to enter which includes a six-page printed handout that includes
a map of the property and descriptions of each room. Docent led
tours have been suspended because of COVID-19 so self-guided
tours are all that are available at the current time. You can take
one from Wednesday to Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm. The address
is 2210 North Santa Fe Ave., Vista, CA 92083, (760) 724-4082.
Also check the San Diego Parks and Recreation website for more
information: www.sdparks.org/content/sdparks/en/park-pages/
RanchoGuajomeAdobe.html
Day
Tripping
Rancho
Guajome
Adobe
at the
