Wednesday, February 29, 2012

California Historical Landmark #72

I wandered by here while we were in San Diego for the USTSA World Series in last July.

Casa De Bandini
California State Historical Landmark #72

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This landmark is located at northeast corner of Mason and Calhoun Streets, Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, San Diego, California. There are 71 other California State Historical Landmarks in San Diego County. The GPS coordinates for this location are N 32° 45.276 W 117° 11.795.

You can log your visit to this landmark at waymark.com.

California Historical Landmark #72

This adobe house was constructed about 1827 by José and Juan Bandini. The single story, thatched-roofed adobe was built on the plaza’s southeast corner. Originally, it had seven rooms, a zaguán or entrance hall, an enclosed courtyard, a corral, and several sheds.

The Casa de Bandini had built-in, adobe-layered cornices and unexposed roof rafters—Spanish Colonial architectural features usually found only in the designs of California’s missions. The rooms had thick adobewalls, ceilings of heavymuslin, and deep-set windows with shutters.

As headquarters of Commodore Robert F. Stockton in 1846, it was the place where Kit Carson and Edward Beale delivered their urgent message of December 9, 1846, calling for reinforcements to be rushed to the aid of General Kearny.

In 1869, ten years after Bandini’s death, Albert Seeley, a stagemaster, converted the old adobe into the L-shaped Greek Revival Cosmopolitan hotel. Funded with money from his wife Emily, Seeley renovated the first story and added a wood-framed second story and balconies.

The second-story balcony featured turned wooden columns and was enclosed with turned baluster railings. The clay tile roof was replaced with a wood-shingle hipped roof.

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