{"nrhp_refnum":"75000433","name":"Leonis Adobe","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"23537 Calabasas Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Calabasas","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":34.157292899000026,"lon":-118.63950489099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Monterey style adobe dwelling at 23537 Calabasas Road in Calabasas, Los Angeles County, California, built about 1844 and restored to its appearance of about 1879, on roughly one-half acre with reconstructed ranch outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a good example of Monterey style adobe, with a very high percentage of original material because later owners mostly added to it rather than disturbing it. It is argued to be the oldest remaining building in the San Fernando Valley apart from the San Fernando Mission. It was also the home of Miguel Leonis and Espiritu Chihulla, and it serves as an educational display of a working ranch.","narrative":"Set on about half an acre in Calabasas, this two-story Monterey style adobe house dates to roughly 1844-46, making it older than any other surviving building in the San Fernando Valley except the San Fernando Mission. It has a pitched shingle roof, porches on three sides, a fieldstone foundation and double-hung shuttered windows. Miguel Leonis, a Basque sheepherder, remodeled it in the late 1870s, and the building has been restored to that period. Later owners mostly added to the structure instead of altering it, so restoration was largely a matter of uncovering original material. Leonis lived here with his wife Espiritu Chihulla, who inherited a rancho and spent sixteen years contesting his will, winning in 1905. The grounds include reconstructed ranch features such as a dovecote, bake oven, windmill and tank house, along with a 1912 barn. Original photographs and 1870s-1880s furnishings add to its value as a teaching site for schools and visitors.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (c. 1844, restored to c. 1879)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Monterey style adobe","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored to its c. 1879 appearance after Miguel Leonis's remodeling; operated as a museum and used for school field trips and group visits. Listed as altered and on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.507792-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/75000433.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000433/ce3eef4ebb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000433/ce3eef4ebb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonis_Adobe,_Calabasas_(2008).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonis_Adobe,_Calabasas_(2008).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859260","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonis_Adobe","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6526640"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/leonis-adobe-75000433/"}