Castro Adobe State Historic Park

Castro Adobe SHP in Watsonville is one of the last adobe houses left standing in California. It is slowly being brought back to life by Friends of the Santa Cruz State Parks and California State Parks. I visited during an open house event when guided tours were happening.  One of the lively volunteers who did the tour happened to be a descendant of the original owners the Castros.  He and his wife showed pictures of the original home and the stories of the people who passed through the house in the 1850s.  The renovations were coming along quite nicely. The house is being built with authentic adobe bricks and engineers are brought in to make the house frames and walls earthquake resistant.  The garden is surrounded by cork trees and the kitchen is fully functional. Activities at the open house include tortilla making and children games.