Home to one of the state's most distinguished 19th century families, La Casa de Estudillo was San Diego's social and religious center during the Mexican and early American periods. Built during 1827-1829 by comandante José María Estudillo and his son, lieutenant José Antonio Estudillo, this adobe-block townhouse eventually enclosed an inner courtyard. It has twelve rooms including bedrooms, a living room or sala, and a dining room among others.
The family, as well as various boarders and servants, continued to live in the house until 1887. After the family's departure, the house fell into ruin and would have possibly disappeared forever were it not for the efforts of investor John D. Spreckels and architect Hazel Waterman in 1906.
Spreckles turned the renovated property into "Ramona's Marriage Place," a tourist attraction based on Helen Hunt Jackson's famous novel Ramona. It operated as "Ramona's Marriage Place" until the 1960s.
Later, in 1968, the casa became part of the California State Park system and was restored as a house museum identified with the Estudillo family. It has been described as the finest example of a large Mexican adobe townhouse in the United States. La Casa de Estudillo is the only individual site in the park listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of five original 19th century adobes in the park.
