Rancho Guajome Adobe

2210 N. Santa Fe Ave.
Vista CA. 92083
ThomBros: 1087-F2

Hours: Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Guided tours are scheduled every Saturday and Sunday at 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. Please contact the park staff to make a tour reservation.

Phone number: (760) 724-4082

Directions: From I-5 exit Highway 76 East and drive east for 6 miles. Turn right on North Santa Fe and drive 2 miles to the park main entrance. The adobe is located on the right side of the street just past Melrose Dr.

From Highway 78 East exit Melrose Dr. and turn left and go under the freeway. Take Melrose Dr. 5 miles to North Santa Fe Ave and turn right for one block. Tithe adobe is located on the right side of the road.

From I-15 take Highway 78 West and exit at Vista Village Drive and turn right at the top of the off ramp and drive in to the City of Vista. At the fifth stoplight, turn left on North Santa Fe and drive 3 miles to the park entrance. The adobe is located on the left side of the street, just past Osborne St.

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Features:

The park gardens and grounds can be reserved for weddings, reception and social events. For more information on reservation opportunities click here.

The adobe is surrounded by wetland open space that is home for a variety of wildlife such as raccoons, ring-necked pheasant, white-tailed kites, least Bell's vireo and the great horned owl. Visitors are welcome to explore the grounds, but must stay on established trails and park roads.

Rancho Guajome Adobe hosts special events throughout the year from cars shows to family orientated events. Two of the more exciting events are Fiesta at Guajome held in September and Rancho Christmas held the weekend after Thanksgiving in November.

The park has ample parking and a modern restroom structure.

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History:

In an era when sheep and cattle far outnumbered human inhabitants in Alta California, Mexican Governor Pio Pico granted two Luiseno Indian brothers 2,219.4 acres of land known as Rancho Guajome. In turn, the brothers sold the land to a businessman from Los Angeles, Abel Stearns, for a mere $550. Stearns held onto the land for a few years before giving it to his sister-in-law, Ysidora Bandini, as a wedding gift. Ysidora had just wed Lieutenant Cave Johnson Couts of Tennessee, who was a dragoon with the U.S. Army and had been sent to California to aid in the establishment of the U.S. and Mexican border.

The newlyweds lived happily in Old Town San Diego near Ysidora’s family while their home, “La Casa del Rancho Guajome,” was being built. With two children and another on the way, the young couple moved to Rancho Guajome in 1853, where they would raise 10 children. By the time the Couts family settled into Rancho Guajome Adobe, Cave was already making a small fortune in the cattle industry supplying a ready supply of beef and leather to the Bay Area during the gold rush era. However, being an entrepreneur, he was quick to delve into other markets from sheep to citrus crops to wheat to having his own general store on the property. He had also worked in a number of different arenas from serving as an officer in the U.S. Army to an Indian sub-agent to a surveyor, establishing the layout of San Diego’s first streets.

After Cave’s death in 1874, the Rancho was managed by his son, Cave Couts Jr., along with the sage advice of Ysidora, of course. Cave Couts Jr. made many modifications and renovations over the years from adding the sewing room to enclosing the covered porch to adding the mission-revival style arches by which Rancho Guajome Adobe is known and recognized.

Fortunately, the adobe remained in the Couts family through the Rancho era and the years that followed. In 1936, the Ranch house was listed as California State Historic Landmark No. 940, and in 1970, was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior.

In 1973, the County of San Diego, Department of Parks & Recreation acquired the historic adobe along with 566 acres of the original land grant with intentions of preserving this important piece of California and U.S. History. In 1994, after much research and preparation, the restoration process was started with the last phase being completed in 1996. Since the completion of the restoration process, many of the 22 rooms have been beautifully appointed with period furnishings.

Since opening to the public in 1996, thousands of visitors have seen the adobe through weekend tours, school tour programs, weddings, and special events like Rancho Christmas and the Quilt Shows. Through its unique history and lasting beauty, the adobe has left a lasting and important impression with many of its visitors of the bygone Rancho days.