Etan Does LA 221: Michael White Adobe (San Marino) | Los Angeles history

National Register visit 221: the Michael White Adobe 📍 2701 Huntington Drive, San Marino

This humble home is one of less than 40 historic adobes left in LA County, and the second oldest building in San Marino, after the Old Mill. Today it’s surrounded by the sports facilities of San Marino High School. The pool is just on the other side of a chain link fence, so close that the water polo team has been known to knock wood shakes off the roof during practice. Back when it was constructed though, ca. 1845, there was NOTHING else here.

This was the abode of Michael White, an English sailor and shipbuilder who had moved to LA from Santa Barbara in 1828. Think about how early that was for a non-American foreigner to be settling here. There were only around 2000 people living in LA Count, the vast majority either indigenous and/or of Spanish descent.

There’s a certain Forrest Gump quality to White’s story, in the way that he kept getting swept up in significant political and military events. As but one example: the tract of land where this adobe was built was basically a thank you gift from Pío Pico after White participated (somewhat against his will) in the bloodless battle that won Pico the governorship of California.

After White sold off his last bit of property in 1878, the land and adobe went through a succession of owners. It’s been a farm, HQ for a historical society, even a workshop for a high school pep squad. Currently it’s owned by the San Marino Unified School District, and tended by the nonprofit @friendsofthemwa. They’re working to raise funds to seismically retrofit the place so they can open it more often. The adobe is rarely open to the public. Let’s hope that changes in our lifetime!

I'm visiting all 600+ LA landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. Read more about this one and many more at EtanDoesLA.com: https://etandoesla.com/221-michael-wh...

Image credits:
📷1: w/ water polo players (Historic American Buildings Survey, @librarycongress)
📷2: Pío Pico portrait (PD, via California State Library)
📷3-4: watercolor & east elevation (Courtesy of the Autry Museum of the American West)
📷5-7: 2-story addition & exposed adobe (Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress)

#lahistory #sanmarino #sangabrielvalley #sanmarinotitans #losangeles #pioneers #ranchoera