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José Serrano Adobe
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| Location: | 25151 Serrano Road, Lake Forest, California |
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| Built: | 1863 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 76000505 |
| Added to NRHP: | May 24, 1976 |
Built by José Serrano in 1863, the José Serrano Adobe is the second of five adobe structures built by the Serranos on the 10,688-acre (4,325 ha) Rancho Canada de los Alisos granted by Governor Juan B. Alvarado in 1842 and Governor Pio Pico in 1846. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1976, the property is interpreted as one of four historic buildings in the Heritage Hill Historic Park.
Serrano and his family lived in the adobe raising longhorn cattle until a series of droughts, beginning in 1863 and continuing intermittently through 1883, forced the family to divide the ranch and mortgage several sections. Dwight Whiting, who played a major role in the development of El Toro, purchased the Serrano Adobe and a significant area rancho in 1884. His son, George Whiting, made extensive additions to the dwelling in 1932, adding a dining room, bedroom, and kitchen. Shortly after George Whiting's restoration effort, the Serrano Adobe was nominated and accepted as California State Landmark #199. The extensive gardens include two pepper trees, both over a hundred years old.
The last private owner, V.P. Baker, used the home from 1958 to 1969, restoring and refurnishing the house as a vacation home and a meeting place for the Aliso Water Company. The Bakers sold the 5,000-acre (2,000 ha) Baker Ranch to Occidental Petroleum in 1969 for $11 million with the requirement that the new owners donate the Serrano Adobe to a public agency for preservation. In 1974, Deane Brothers, a development subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, proceeded to donate 55.9 acres (22.6 ha) round the Serrano Adobe and Serrano Creek to the County of Orange.
Orange County set aside 4.1 acres (1.7 ha) surrounding the Serrano Adobe for the development of an historical park, now dedicated to interpreting the early history of the Saddleback Valley and El Toro area. The Saddleback Area Historical Society formed in 1973 and supported the preservation of El Toro's first church, St. George's Episcopal Mission, and the first schoolhouse, the El Toro Grammar School, by moving these buildings to the Serrano Adobe site in 1976. The Harvey Bennett Ranch House built in 1908 moved to the site in 1978 with the cooperation of the William Lyon Company,developers of the Bennett Ranch subdivision. The José Serrano Adobe site opened as Orange County's first historical park under the name Heritage Hill Historical Park in May 1981. After the completion of the Bennett House restoration, the County rededicated the park in September 1985.
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