History
The Luis Maria Peralta Adobe stands at 184 West Saint John Street in the original civic core of San Jose, the first Spanish civilian pueblo in Alta California, founded in 1777 as the Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe. The adobe is the oldest surviving building in the city of San Jose and one of the few surviving structures from the late-Spanish and early-Mexican periods of the pueblo, which preceded the American conquest of California by more than half a century.
The adobe is associated with Luis Maria Peralta, a Spanish-born soldier who served at the San Francisco presidio and the San Jose pueblo and who in 1820 received the very large Rancho San Antonio grant covering much of the present East Bay between Oakland and Hayward. Peralta himself continued to live in the small adobe in the pueblo for much of his life rather than at the rancho headquarters, an unusual arrangement that gave the building a long association with one of the principal Californio landholding figures of the northern frontier.
Architecturally the building is a vernacular single-story pueblo adobe. The walls were laid up from sun-dried adobe brick produced on or near the site and set on a low stone foundation. The exterior was finished with lime plaster, and the roof was framed in hewn timber and originally finished with hand-split shakes or, in later phases, red clay tile. The plan is the standard small linear arrangement of one or two rooms opening through low doors directly onto the street, characteristic of the modest Spanish-pueblo domestic building of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
The adobe was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 under reference 73000454. It is preserved by the City of San Jose as a public historic site, jointly interpreted with the adjacent Fallon House, and is open as a small museum within downtown San Jose. Within the broader California adobe tradition, the Peralta Adobe is the principal surviving document of the Spanish civilian pueblo building lineage in northern California.
Common questions
What is Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe?
The Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe is a historic adobe building located in San Jose, California, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 73000454. It is associated with Luis Maria Peralta, a prominent figure in early Spanish and Mexican California.
When was Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe built?
The Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe's exact date of construction is unknown from the records available, though it dates to the Spanish or Mexican period of Alta California. It has been recognized on the National Register of Historic Places since its listing under reference number 73000454.
Where is Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe located?
The Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe is located at 184 West St. John Street in San Jose, California. The site sits in the historic core of downtown San Jose.
Is Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe open to the public?
The Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe is recorded as a private residence in current records and is not listed as a regularly operating public museum. Visitors interested in viewing the site should confirm any access arrangements directly with local heritage authorities.
Why is Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe historically significant?
The Peralta, Luis Maria, Adobe is significant as a surviving adobe structure from early San Jose associated with Luis Maria Peralta, an important figure in California's Spanish and Mexican colonial periods. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under reference number 73000454.
