Where the city's adobe stands
Three houses to start with
If you read only three entries before walking Santa Barbara, read these — the highest-tier landmarks in the catalog and the foundation for everything else.
CA-SB-004 · NRHP The Hill-Carrillo Adobe stands at 11 East Carrillo Street in downtown Santa Barbara, a modest single-story dwelling that survives from the city's Mexican and early American periods. Like most surviving Santa Barbara…
CA-SB-005 · NRHP The Janssens-Orella-Birk Building stands at 1029 to 1031 State Street, on the principal commercial spine of downtown Santa Barbara. Completed in 1927, it belongs to the deliberate, comprehensive rebuilding of central…
CA-SB-006 · NRHP The Presidio of Santa Barbara was established in 1782 as the fourth and last of the Spanish royal fortresses founded along the Alta California coast, completing the chain that linked San Diego, Monterey, and San…
Santa Barbara's adobe character
Santa Barbara holds 6 documented adobe properties in the catalog. The catalog mix: 4 Spanish Colonial, 2 vernacular adobe. Dated entries range from 1782 to 1927.
Registry status: 3 National Register listings.
Entries in this catalog
- Santa Barbara Presidio — built 1782, Spanish Colonial; museum (NRHP).
- Janssens-Orella-Birk Building — built 1927, Spanish Colonial; private residence (NRHP).
- Casa de la Guerra — Spanish Colonial; museum.
- Casa del Herrero — Spanish Colonial; private residence.
- Covarrubias Adobe — vernacular adobe; private residence.
- Hill-Carrillo Adobe — vernacular adobe; private residence (NRHP).
The cluster reflects the layered building history of Santa Barbara: the older properties anchor the catalog as documented colonial or vernacular work, while later revival-era entries record how the form was rebuilt and re-styled across the twentieth century.
Suggested walking tour
A route through the documented adobe of Santa Barbara — 6 stops, measured at a researcher's unhurried pace.
A field tour of Santa Barbara
Stops chosen from the catalog and ordered to make a coherent walk. Each stop links to the full catalog entry — addresses, dates, and photographs.
-
Hill-Carrillo Adobe
11 E. Carrillo St.The Hill-Carrillo Adobe stands at 11 East Carrillo Street in downtown Santa Barbara, a modest single-story dwelling that survives from the city's Mexican and early American periods. Like most surviving Santa Barbara adobes, the building was raised within the…
-
Janssens-Orella-Birk Building
1029--1031 State St. · Built 1927The Janssens-Orella-Birk Building stands at 1029 to 1031 State Street, on the principal commercial spine of downtown Santa Barbara. Completed in 1927, it belongs to the deliberate, comprehensive rebuilding of central Santa Barbara in a Spanish Colonial…
-
Santa Barbara Presidio
Roughly bounded by Carrillo, Garden, De la Guerra and Anacapa Sts. · Built 1782The Presidio of Santa Barbara was established in 1782 as the fourth and last of the Spanish royal fortresses founded along the Alta California coast, completing the chain that linked San Diego, Monterey, and San Francisco. Founded by Governor Felipe de Neve…
-
Casa de la Guerra
Santa Barbara, CAThe Casa de la Guerra stands on East De la Guerra Street in downtown Santa Barbara, on the historic plaza that has formed the civic heart of the city since the Spanish period. The house was built between approximately 1819 and 1828 for Jose Antonio de la…
-
Casa del Herrero
Santa Barbara, CAThe Casa del Herrero stands in Montecito, just east of Santa Barbara, and is one of the most fully preserved Spanish Colonial Revival country estates in the United States. The house was designed by the Pasadena architect George Washington Smith and completed…
-
Covarrubias Adobe
715 Santa Barbara StreetThe Covarrubias Adobe stands at 715 Santa Barbara Street near the historic plaza of downtown Santa Barbara, on a site closely associated with the political life of the late Mexican period. The house was built in the 1810s or 1820s by Domingo Carrillo, a…
All 6 entries in Santa Barbara
Documented properties in Santa Barbara, listed alphabetically. Each plate carries the entry's reference number, registry status, address, and date of construction.
CA-SB-001 Catalog 
CA-SB-002 Catalog CA-SB-003 Catalog CA-SB-004 NRHP CA-SB-005 NRHP CA-SB-006 NRHP Nearby cities
Other adobe centers within reach of Santa Barbara. Each links to its own chapter of the Atlas.