Site information:

El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, Olvera St, Los Angeles

34.057148,-118.238159

Plaque information:

No plaque, but there is an informational sign

Sign text:

Avila Adobe
ca. 1818

The oldest building in the city, the adobe was the home of Don Francisco Avila, mayor (alcalde) of Los Angeles in 1810. After his first wife died, Avila married Encarnacion Sepulveda in 1822. He died ten years later. In 1847, during the Mexican-American War, Commodore Robert Stockton commandeered the adobe for two weeks as his military headquarters. The family moved away in 1868 and after that the adobe served as a restaurant and a boarding house. By 1928 it had fallen into disrepair and was saved from demolition by Mrs. Christine Sterling. Now restored, the building depicts the Californio lifestyle of the 1840s prior to the American occupation.

OHP description:

This adobe house was built ca. 1818 by Don Francisco Avila, alcalde (mayor) of Los Angeles in 1810. Used as Commodore Robert Stockton's headquarters in 1847, it was repaired by private subscription in 1929-30 when Olvera Street was opened as a Mexican marketplace. It is the oldest existing house in Los Angeles.

Registered 6/6/1934