Reyes Adobe
Agoura Hills
April 11, 2015
We decided after our recent art excursions with Margaret that it was time to take her to another historical site for variety. Using the Passport 2 History, we picked out the Reyes Adobe. As with many historical homes, it is only open on a very limited schedule, in this case the second and fourth Saturday of each month in the afternoon. This visit fell on a second Saturday, so the outing worked well with our schedule.
The Reyes family is one of California’s oldest. Juan Francisco Reyes was a soldier on the 1769 expedition led by Portola which also included Father Junipero Serra. A descendent of his, José Jacinto Reyes, married Maria Antonia Machado. Maria bought the land from her uncle, and one of her sons built this adobe home in 1850. It stayed in the family for many years, then was purchased in 1935 by Dr. Malcolm McKenzie. The McKenzie family made various repairs and restorations.
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The next owner made some modifications in the mid 20th century which were unfortunate from an historical perspective, and which have since been removed for the most part. She ultimately sold the land to developers, and the adobe remained vacant for several decades. It was nearly torn down but eventually rescued by the local historical society. After a long fundraising campaign, the adobe was restored and opened as an historical site in 2004.
There are some artifacts on display in an outbuilding which the McKenzie family built as a barn. We started there, chatted with the docents, and looked at photos, maps, and artifacts. We also watched a video about the history of the building and its site.
We proceeded with Hank, one of the docents, over to the adobe. (No one is allowed in the building without a docent.) He was very knowledgeable and told us a great deal about the Reyes family, adobe construction, and the history of the area – you name it, he knew about it!
The building is not wheelchair accessible, because it has a very high (original) threshold. With our assistance, Margaret stepped up on the threshold and down into the first room, then we moved the wheelchair in for her to sit down. The first room was used primarily as a children’s bedroom and occasionally as a bedroom for visitors. It is outfitted with mid-19th century furnishings, including some artifacts which had belonged to the family. There is a high threshold between the children’s room and the main room or sala also, and we did not want to tire Margaret unduly, so Meredith and Margaret stayed in the bedroom and looked through the doorway into the main room, while Hank and Bob went into the sala and Hank explained some of the items in that room.
Admission is $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for children. The building is situated in a nice park setting, and there is sufficient parking, which is free. In addition to the twice monthly openings, there is a three day festival there in the fall.
There is no café or restaurant on site; the park is located in a residential neighborhood. The adobe does not open until 1:00 so we had our lunch first. We had scouted out local restaurants on line ahead of time, and settled on the Rabbit Hole Café on Thousand Oaks Blvd, a vegetarian eatery. The interior is decorated with Alice in Wonderland prints. There are a number of vegan items on the menu, but the fare is not restricted to vegan items. The restaurant also offers many gluten free options. Margaret had a roasted vegetable shepherd’s pie; Meredith enjoyed a frittata; and Bob had a “chick’n” and brie sandwich. The staff was very pleasant and helpful, and we were quite happy with the food.
Over lunch, we brought Margaret up-to-date on our recent doings. She shared with us correspondence she had received recently from her brother, her cousin, and Bob’s aunt. We told her about the Padres games we had been to this past week, and then talk turned to baseball generally, one of Margaret’s favorite things.
After we had finished at the Adobe, we ran a quick errand, then met up with Meredith’s sister Kathleen for coffee. We had not seen Margaret since her birthday late last month, so we gave her some presents which she unwrapped there.
