We are continuously amazed at all the local treasures we have failed to discover. On our way to the desert, we decided this was a place we had to explore.
The plaque in front of the adobe reads "Historical Landmark NO. 311 WARNER'S RANCH - In 1844, Governor Manuel Micheltorena granted 44,322 acres to Juan José Warner, who built this house. General Kearny passed here in 1846, and the Mormon Battalion in 1847. The first Butterfield Stage stopped at this ranch on October 6, 1858, on its 2,600-mile, 24-day trip from Tipton, Missouri to San Francisco, the southern overland route into California."The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House has been called a national treasure and serves as a landmark in the history of the American west. The adobe ranch house and barn are associated with several historic events and themes, including the clash of Mexican and American cultures during the early period in the Mexican Republic; the frontier period in the American westward migration; trade and interaction with Native Americans; and the California Gold Rush.
Jonathan Trumbull Warner, a former California State Senator, owned the ranch house in the 1840s and 1850s when it was a camping stop on the Gila Overland Trail to California. Burned during an Indian uprising in 1851, the ranch house was rebuilt by the Carrillo family and served as the Butterfield Overland Mail Stage Station from 1858-1861. The ranch house and barn served as ranch headquarters, bunkhouse and storeroom for major cattle ranching operations, such as the Vail Ranch, until the 1960s.The Warner-Carrillo Ranch House represents one of the few remaining examples of Mexican period adobes in California, and the barn is the only hand-hewn timber barn still standing in San Diego County. In 1961, the ranch house was listed as a National Historic Landmark. In 1964, it became State Registered Landmark Number 311. In 2000, the Save Our Heritage Organisation of San Diego called the ranch house site “the most important unprotected historical site in San Diego County.”
The historic barn has been preserved in a state of arrested decay through permanent wooden structural bracing, replacing makeshift cables and turnbuckles holding the building together. Barn preservation has allowed the structure to be opened for viewing and enabled restoration efforts to focus on the ranch. The hope is to one day restore the barn so it can be toured like the ranch house.
It is incredibly what history can be found near one's home. We have been in Temecula since 1993 and this is our first stop at this ranch house. What other treasures have we yet to discover?
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