The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Fall 1999, Volume 45, Number 4
Gregg Hennessey, Editor
Page 246. Rancho Guajome in ruins. The rancho is a National Historic Landmark, now restored by the County of San Diego to its original splendor.
Page 248. Mission San Luis Rey, shown in ruins here in ca. 1895, was scavenged by Cave Couts in the 1850s for building materials while constructing his Rancho Guajome. [Photo 81-9922]
Page 249. Cave Johnson Couts. Rancho Guajome Adobe was built by Couts and his wife, Ysidora Bandini Couts, in 1852-53. Couts married the daughter of Don Juan Bandini, the prominent Californio politician, in 1851; Rancho Guajome was given to the bride by her sister’s husband, Abel Stearns. [Photo 89-17384-12]
Page 249. Cave Johnson Couts, Jr., seen here in 1906, restored the family rancho in the 1920s. He may have replaced many of the mission tiles with new tiles. [Photo 89-17384-12]
Page 252. Restored roof tiles. The original mission period tiles did not have nail holes; they were secured with a dab of adobe, and were held in place because of their shape, being tapered at the upper end so they could not slide off one another. [Color Photo]
Page 253. The remains of Rancho Guajome’s cistern. The above-ground cistern next to Rancho Guajome Adobe was built in 1867-68 and is constructed entirely of Type 1 Spanish brick. [Color Photo]
Page 254. The rancho’s bakery oven. The old kitchen and the adjacent bakery were built in 1854 and contain all three types of Spanish brick. [Color Photo]
Page 256. Rancho Guajome’s front entrance since its most recent restoration. New roofing tiles were placed on the structure during the County restoration in 1996-97; the older tiles, having more character, were placed as roll tiles over new pan tiles so that the older tiles are visible from the ground. [Color Photo]
The photographs on pages 252-254 and 256 courtesy of Susan M. Hector, Ph.D.
