Chronicling the Castro Adobe

November Archaeological Work at the Castro Adobe

2010-11-18T09:54:00.001-08:00

Karen Hildenbrand continues to work (along with her dedicated crew of volunteers) on the exact location of the brasero, as well as identifying and cataloging the car parts found in the floor of the cocina.

Dave Calleri and Mike Luther work in the cocina.

Karen Loeffler cleans and catalogs artifacts found at the site.

Below are photographs of a few of the items found:

Car parts found in cocina floor. Image courtesy of Dave Calleri.

1926 newspaper. Image courtesy of Dave Calleri.

Tooled leather.

Early October News at the Castro-Cocina Work Continues

2010-10-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

Archeology work has continued at the Castro Adobe. Karen Hildenbrand and her crew of volunteer archaeologists, Mike Luther, Dave Calleri and Karen Loeffler, have been steadily working on items found in the trash pits inside the cocina. Among the various items identified were a local 1926 newspaper clipping and various car parts. Hildenbrand assumes that most of the items in the trash pit were dumped in at once, not deposited over time. Their work on the identification of the trash pit feature continues.

Investigations also continue with the exact size of the brasero (masonry range). A line of ash debris on the floor (the ash debris is from stoking the fire in the range) serves as the guide by which to determine the width of the bracero. The photograph below is an example of what the brasero may looked like:

Image courtesy of Rancho San Andres Castro Adobe Historic Structure Report. 2003. pg. 97.

New Discoveries at the Castro Adobe-August 2010

2010-08-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Karen Hildenbrand, State Parks Archaeologist, has been working with volunteers on the cocina (historic kitchen) at the Castro Adobe. They have been attempting to locate the original footprint of the bracero (masonry range) in the cocina. She is also interested in the details of construction of the earthen floor in the room.

In the 1960s, the cocina was paved over with concrete in order for use as a formal garage. In early August 2010, the concrete was removed and the top of the earthen floor was exposed. It was here that Hildebrand exposed the stone perimeter foundation and the layers of the earthen floor. See Photo #1 (overall site) and Photo #2 (stone foundation).

She also appears to have found the location of the bracero which was built directly on the smooth earthen floor. In Photo #3, Karen points to the location of the bracero adjacent to the north wall. It was approximately 6-feet long and the width has yet to be determined. This is important because now these measurements and locational data can be used to reconstruct the bracero for interpretive purposes.

Hildenbrand also found two other important historic features in the room. Trenches were dug along the south wall of the cocina which exposed holes for square posts. The use of these posts are not clear, although it most likely relates to the cocina being used early on to board horses. The posts may have supported a storage area for the hay or some other equine use.

The other feature is a trash pit relating possibly to wagon storage and definitely to repair of early automobiles. In the trash pit, volunteers found two metal steps for a carriage, car repair debris, old newspapers and oil along with wood and various other discarded objects. Photo #4 shows the trash pit.

Work continues at the cocina so stay tuned for another update!

-JK

New Article on the Castro Adobe-January 16, 2010

2010-01-16T12:11:00.000-08:00

Today's article on the Castro Adobe in the Register-Pajaronian:

http://www.register-pajaronian.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=8236&page=72

A big thank you to Charlie Kieffer, a local Castro descendant, for keeping the press up-to-date on the progress at the Castro Adobe!

January 2010. Castro Adobe Update

2010-01-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

Last year the work on the first phase of the project was mostly complete. Although the Direct Construction Unit (DCU) crew along with the California Conservation Corps (CCC) crew stopped working due to winter weather in 2008, on-going work continued to take place. In the fall of 2009, the cocina roof was completed (thanks to the California State Parks Sunset Maintenance crew) and the roofing on the entire building was complete. Let’s review this incredible project:

The project started in February 2008 with the intent of seismic stabilizing and possibly repairing some of the cracks in the historic adobe building. The project, through the coordinated efforts of the Direct Construction Unit, California State Parks and Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, exceeded everyone's expectations. As of November 2008, DCU crew had:

1. Dismantled and rebuilt the north wall along with other walls in the cocina.

2. Dismantled and rebuilt part of the south wall.

3. Seismically stabilized the building.

4. Installed a new roof.

5. Repaired, mud plastered and limewashed all cracks on the exterior.

And don’t forget the Castro Adobe Brick Making Project which took place in the summer of 2007. In fact, we are proud to announce that Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks received a California Preservation Foundation Design Award for the work on the project! We are excited and very proud to receive this award!

Future 2010 and beyond:

We look forward to continued community involvement in the form of volunteers, donations and support to reach the next phases and work toward the complete restoration of the historic Rancho San Andreas Castro Adobe. Currently, the Interpretive Plan is being prepared to comprehensively plan for the next phase of work and interpretation on the historic Castro Adobe. Check back for information on upcoming events including the highly successful lecture series. Last year’s lectures series included:

· Dr. Jarrell Jackman (Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation) gave us the "dirt" on Earthen Architecture
· Mark Hylkema (California State Parks Archaeologist) an overview of the Californio Period of our history
· Historian Charlene Duval, and Friends Board Member Charlie Kieffer, history of the Adobe itself and the Castro family connection.

Looking forward to 2010 and beyond!

Balcony Roof Complete!

2008-10-24T13:58:00.001-07:00

The roof on the balcony is complete (see Photos #1 & 2 )!

The balcony has been raised 13", close to its original height and can now accommodate a standing person (see Photos #3 and #4 for before and after shots). The next phase of the project will include restoring the balustrade and posts of the balcony but for now it will remain with blocks in place to support the new roof slope.

Before

After

Other work on the Castro Adobe includes finishing the roof shingle installation on the rear overhang and the balcony roof. Work will now focus on the main part of the roof (see Photo #5). The ice & water shield has been installed along with the breather barrier. The next step is to install the shingles on the main part of the roof.

-JK

Balcony Roof

2008-10-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

This week, the DCU crew began the task of raising the balcony roof on the east side of the building. In one of the many restorations/rehabilitations in the 1950s, the front balcony was reconstructed incorrectly and resulted in a balcony with limited headroom and a dangerously low balustrade. (Photo #1 shows the roof removed from the balcony.)

Raising the roof involved tearing off the old rafters and sheathing and raising the roof 13". New 4x4 redwood beams were installed along with new 2 x 4 redwood rafters. The balustrade will stay for now but will eventually be replaced in a later phase of the project. (Photos #2 and #3 show the new rafters in place.)

Other ongoing work includes continued work on the east elevation overhang roof (see Photo #4) and completion of the construction and lime wash of the south wall (see Photo # 5).

-JK

Sept 22-26 Even More Roof Work

2008-09-30T12:26:00.000-07:00

The cocina roof is almost done...we are awaiting the barn shingles which should be delivered from Washington State in the next week or so. As you may remember from earlier posts:

"The roof on the cocina will essentially consists of two roof coverings which will create an accurate historical representation of the roof from interior and from the exterior. From the interior of the cocina, one will see exposed cedar shingles which were originally visible from inside the room of the cocina. These will be topped by painted black plywood sheathing and then barn shingles will be installed on the exterior of the cocina roof. "

Photo #1 shows the plywood being placed on top of the cedar shingles.

Next the barn shingles need to delivered and installed. After that, the cocina roof is complete!

On the east elevation overhang, the new roof shingles are being installed on the 1 x 4 redwood sheeting. Photos #3 and #4 show the shingles being installed by Chris Barazza.

On the main part of the roof, the plywood has been placed and nailed off. The next step is to install the 30lb. felt. The felt underlayment will make the roof water tight. All of the cedar shingles have been delivered and are awaiting installation (see Photo #5). -JK

Roof Work Sept 8-15

2008-09-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, more work on the roof continues. The plywood (27 sheets of plywood!) have been installed on the entire main building. (Due to inclement weather the plywood has been covered by tarps, but can be seen on the interior of the building in Photos #1 & 2.) Next up is the installation of the roof underlayment upon which the cedar shingles will be placed in the coming weeks. The fascia boards and overhangs have also been installed on the building (see Photo #3).

Other work focuses on the overhangs and balcony roof on the east and west elevations. On the east elevation overhang, the top sheathing will be replaced with new redwood 1 x4 boards (Photo #4 shows the east elevation overhang prior to work beginning on sheathing.)

Work on the west elevation includes reframing the balcony roof to reflect the original roof slope. Photos of this work will be posted next week.-JK

More Roof Work

2008-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

This week, September 2-5, the DCU crew completed the installation of all the stainless steel and the ridge blocks. The ridge blocks sit in between the rafters (see Photo #1). On the exterior, DCU crew member, Pancho Villa, back filled the void created by the ridge blocks with adobe bricks (see Photo #2).

In the cocina, the all thread rods are being inserted from the cocina wall, through the roof rafters and attach to the exterior wall. This will help stabilize the exterior wall. (See photos #3, 4, and 5). Photo #4 shows the rods on the interior (note steel rod in center of photo) while Photo #5 show the rods and how they are attached on the exterior.

Next week the crew plans to install the plywood for the underlayment of the roof. The new roof is getting closer and closer to completion!

-JK

Roof Construction Continues-August 25-28

2008-08-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

Construction on the roof continued this week and last. The idea that a new roof will be on this building in the near future is amazing! We are so happy with the pace of the project and once the new roof is on...we are nearing completion of Phase 1!!

This week, a crane was used to lift the very heavy stainless steel pieces into place on the roof. These pieces will be placed along the rake (top of gable wall) walls and around the top of the adobe walls. On the east and west side some of this stainless steel is 66 feet long! This stainless steel will be locked into the all-thread steel rods which were drilled earlier into the walls of the adobe building. This will serve to tie the entire roof system together and prepare the roof for the eventual placement of roof sheathing and then shingles.

The following pictures show DCU foreman, Chris Barazza, cinching the stainless steel piece down to be lifted onto the roof. The stainless steel is then lifted onto the roof (Photos 2 and 3) and put into place (Photo 4 and 5).

August 11-14, Adobe Walls and Roof

2008-08-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

This week the first coats of the lime wash were put on the east side of the building. In Photo #1, DCU worker, Pancho Villa, paints on the thin lime wash. There will be approximately 3-4 coats applied to the exterior wall.

See the extraordinary results on the west side of the building , which is almost complete (see Photo #2).

Photo #3 shows the new adobe bricks installed on the south gable end wall covered with lime wash.

The cracks in the upper east wall in the balcony are being repaired as well (see Photo #4) and will also receive the lime wash.

On the main roof, the 70 new rafters are in place and 70 pieces of steel have been attached to the rafters to strengthen the wood. On the cocina roof, 80% of the first layer of wood shingles have been installed. Along with shingle installation, the north exterior wall of the cocina (the new wall) is being tied to the north exterior wall of the main house (an original wall) to further stabilize the building. DCU foreman, Chris Barraza, is diligently working on this part of the stabilization and hopefully next week's pictures will be able to show how the walls are actually tied together. Stay tuned! -JK

July 28-31 Roof Work Continues-- Lime Wash Applied.

2008-08-05T10:14:00.000-07:00

Cedar shingles continue to be installed on the cocina roof as seen in Photo #1

(interior shot of cocina which shows the partially covered roof), however, even more exciting is the lime wash which is being applied to the exterior of the building. The repaired cracks get a coat of mud plaster, then a coat of lime wash. Another two coats of lime wash is applied over the entire surface. The new walls of the cocina will get 3 coats of lime wash (Photo #2 shows the lime wash applied to the exterior of the cocina). Looks great!

On the main roof, all the 3 x 8 rafters are installed (Photo #3 ).

Each rafter is braced by structural steel to further reinforce the rafter (Photo #4 and #5)

and will be bolted to the stainless steel rods which were drilled earlier into the adobe walls. -JK

July 21-25 Roof Construction Continues

2008-07-25T11:10:00.000-07:00

Work continued on the construction of the roof on the cocina and main house as seen in Photo #1.

Roof work on the cocina included the installation of the redwood sheeting which was placed on the rafters as seen in Photo #2. Photo #3 shows the interior of the cocina with Chris Barraza (DCU foreman) appreciating a job well done!

The roof on the cocina will essentially consists of two roof coverings which will create an accurate historical representation of the roof from interior and from the exterior. From the interior of the cocina, one will see exposed cedar shingles which were originally visible from inside the room of the cocina. These will be topped by painted black plywood sheathing and then barn shingles will be installed on the exterior of the cocina roof.

The rafters continue to be installed on the main house as seen in Photo #4. Photo #5 shows the interior walls with rafters in place.

The roof over the balcony on the east side of the building will also be reconstructed. Due to various renovations to the exterior, the pitch of the original balcony has been altered and is too low (Chris Barraza expertly demonstrates the low pitch of the balcony in Photo #5).

The balcony roof will be raised in conjunction with the new roof on the main house. -JK

July 14-18 Roof Construction

2008-07-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Construction on the roof of the house has begun. New wood rafters are being installed on the roof framing. Most of the original wood rafters will stay in place but the new rafters will be added which work in conjunction with the new steel rods and metal plates in the adobe walls. In Photos #1 and #2, Bruce Ihle (of Direct Construction Unit, DCU) installs a new wood rafter.

Photo #3 shows the DCU crew on the roof working with the new and old wood framing:

Photo #4, new wood framing in place:

On the second floor, only the minimum amount of the ceiling has been removed in order to protect the interior portions of the building. As you can see in Photos #5 & 6, only a few feet of the interior ceiling have been removed and exposed.

-JK

Roof Construction-July 7-11

2008-07-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

The roof for the cocina is in the midst of construction. As you can see from the photos below the rafters are being installed-- 20 3 x 6 16ft redwood rafters. Photo #3 shows the rafters and how they are connected to the brackets which are welded to the steel plate. The steel plate is anchored to the stainless steel rods in the adobe walls.

Next week construction of the main roof will begin. All the old sheathing and roofing will be torn off by the end of the week and installation of the new rafters will begin. Check back for progress on the roof next week!-JK

Update on Castro Adobe and the Trabing Fire-June 24, 2008

2008-06-24T17:33:00.000-07:00

I finally made my way out to the Castro Adobe today to see the damage from the Trabing Fire. I must say that driving into the intersection of Larkin Valley Road and Buena Vista Road was heart wrenching...seeing all the burned trees and dark pastures combined with the smell of smoke was difficult.

As I got to the intersection of Old Adobe Road it was wonderful to see the tributes and thanks to the firefighters. Thank you firefighters!

Thankfully, most of Old Adobe Road was not damaged. Some of the homes on the west side of the street had fire reach to their decks, but the houses were intact. As we know, other houses on Larkin Valley Road and Trabing Road were not as lucky.

At the Castro Adobe, there was evidence of at least three spot fires. One which burned a small wood shed covering a pump, one at the entrance to Joe Kimbro's property, and one spot fire which burned a pallet of the adobe bricks and melted the plastic on another.

It was obvious that we were VERY lucky. The Direct Construction Unit (DCU) crew and the CCC crew had cut down a lot of the grass, keeping it short, so the fire really had no fuel to burn. Chris Barraza (DCU foreman) said that a neighbor had put out the three spot fires and they never spread to other areas on the property. Thank you neighbor!!!

Chris Barraza had left for the weekend on Friday to his home 5 hours away. Once hearing of the fire he promptly packed his things back up and made the trek back up to the Castro Adobe on Saturday. He was not going to sit by while a fire (potentially) burned the Castro Adobe! Somehow he talked his way up Old Adobe Road and onto the property and proceeded to protect the building, help neighbors, and even gave water to the neighbor's thirsty goats. Thank you Chris!

Watching the fire unfold was terrifying and if there is one thing that Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, DCU crew and State Parks has learned --it is that we are all very dedicated to this building! That was evident from all the frantic phone calls, e-mails, etc. As we launch into the 'Save the Castro Adobe' campaign this summer, this fire so clearly illustrates the importance of saving the Castro Adobe. Not only is it an incredible historic resource today but the thought of its destruction mobilized so many people, proving how vital it is to our future.

And now the work continues! Chris and the DCU crew are working on crack repair in the cocina wall. Next week, the construction on the cocina roof is slated to begin.-JK

Castro Adobe is Safe!

2008-06-20T21:58:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to report that the historic Castro Adobe at Rancho San Andres Castro State Historic Park has survived the Trabing Fire still burning near Watsonville. Thanks to the efforts of CalFire firefighters, the fire was held to grass areas near the two-story Monterey-Colonial-style structure."We are thrilled with this news and incredibly grateful for the efforts made by CalFire firefighters," said Randy Widera, director of strategic development and partnerships for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Check back later for more information regarding the Castro Adobe and the Trabing Fire.

Mud Plaster, Lintel Repair and Roof Removal-June 9-13

2008-06-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

The DCU construction crew has completed the mud plastering of the interior of the new cocina wall. Photo #1 shows the interior wall with mud plaster and Photo #2 shows the corner shelves anchored to the new wall (to the left) and the original wall (to the right).

They have also completed the scratch coat of the mud plaster on the exterior of the cocina walls (Photo #3). The next step is to apply a smooth plaster coat which will look similar to the interior cocina walls.

The lintels (wood support members above a door or window) above the windows and doors are also being repaired. A few of the lintels are damaged and wood members have been replaced and/or repaired with epoxy. They will be plastered over to match the existing plaster.

With the core drilling complete, work is shifting toward the roof. The CCC crew is removing the roof sheathing to prepare the area for construction of the new roof.

This should begin next week!-JK

June 2-6, 2008 Core Drilling Almost Complete

2008-06-06T14:27:00.001-07:00

Core drilling of the adobe walls is almost complete. Nichols Concrete Cutting has moved very quickly with two crews of four and they should be done on Friday. There are quite a few pictures in this post because the core drilling was fascinating and I hope to capture it.
The first task is actually drilling the hole for the stainless steel rods which you can see being done in Photo #1 and Photo #2. This crew has to wear a fairly substantial mask due to the dust.

While the crew is working on the top of the roof, another crew member drills two small holes, one about 2/3 way down the wall and another about 3 feet from the bottom of the wall (see photo #3).

These two holes are used to relieve pressure as the drill comes down creating the hole. The dirt and dust that is created in the drilling process needs to be allowed to escape and these holes allow that to happen. The end result of the dirt/dust blasting out of the hole is remarkable. Not only does quite a bit blast out of the hole, but it comes out fast (see Photo #4).

Once the hole is complete it is vacuumed out and the stainless steel rod is inserted and later epoxied. The east and west wall are almost complete. The last photo is the west wall with the rods in place.-JK

Core Drilling Begins! May 20

2008-06-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

Core drilling of the adobe walls has begun. Work started on the new cocina walls and has now moved to the east wall of the adobe building. Nichols Concrete Cutting is a company that specializes, among other things, in core drilling. Having much experience in drilling adobe walls, Nichols' work is moving along nicely. Photo 1 shows the crew on the roof beginning drilling into the east wall.

The process includes a hole which is drilled through the adobe walls and a stainless steel rod is then inserted into each hole. The hole and rod run the vertical height of the wall. The rods are spaced roughly 1- 1/2 feet apart and filled with epoxy. Photos #2 and #3 shows the new cocina wall and existing cocina wall with rods in place.

This will make the structure much more stable in a seismic event. -JK

More Crack Repair-May 15-May 30

2008-06-01T17:25:00.000-07:00

Crack repair continues on the adobe walls. The west wall has undergone quite a bit of repair. In Photo 1, Pancho Villa removes the unstable adobe and cleans out between the bricks and mortar.

In Photos 2, the wall is cleaned and new brick will be inserted in between the courses along with new mortar.

The final result! After the new bricks and mortar have been inserted, the wall is plastered. This is the final stage before the wall is whitewashed. -JK

Crack Repair, Cocina wall and South wall

2008-04-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Since there is so much work being completed all at once, this entry is chock full of photos.

Exterior Walls:

The exterior walls are undergoing crack repair. As you can see in the following pictures the cracks are first scraped to remove loose mud and plaster. After they have been scraped and vacuumed, DCU crew member, Bruce Ihle, sprays water and wets the cracks. He then uses a grout bag to inject mud into the cracks. In photo #4, DCU crew member, Pancho Villa, coats and scores the mud plaster over the cracks. It will dry for 3-4 days.

Cocina Wall:

The cocina wall is almost complete. These photos show the wall during construction including the wall being constructed with the historic opening to allow smoke from the bracero to escape. The last pictures shows work progressing this week. The rake of the roof is being constructed with the adobe bricks.

South wall:

The DCU and CCC crew has also been working on the top gable end of the south wall. The gable end is at the top of the south end of the building and therefore the scaffolding for the project is a serious feat. A large ladder leads to the top of the scaffolding where the work is taking place. -JK

Cocina Walls are Almost Complete!

2008-04-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

Last week (April 7-11) work on the Castro Adobe focused on the cocina walls. Most of the work was concentrated on the north cocina wall. Last week the first courses of the wall were laid by brick making volunteers from last summer. Later, the DCU and CCC crews continued work on the wall (see Photo #1). Work is expected to be completed on the north wall in the coming week.

On the interior of the cocina wall, the original shelves were incorporated with the new adobe wall (see Photo #2).

The doorway which led from the cocina to the modern kitchen was filled-in (historically there had been no door from the interior of the cocina to the main building) utilizing new and original adobe bricks (see Photo #3).

The east wall (where the bathroom in the cocina was previously located) was completed (see Photo #4).

-JK

Brick Making Volunteers Lay a Brick

2008-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, April 2, over 20 volunteers from the summer 2007 brick making project were given a great opportunity to be able to lay one of the bricks in the north cocina wall. The adobe bricks laid in the wall were the bricks volunteers had made in July and August 2007. Along with the assistance of the DCU (Direct Construction Unit) and the CCC crew, the volunteers were able to spread the mortar and help set the brick in place. We will post pictures of the event soon, but both the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Register-Pajaronian were on site to document the incredible event. Check back for pictures of the event. Thank you to all the volunteers who made the bricks last summer...and made the seismic stabilization project a reality!-JK

Follow these links to the newspaper articles:
Santa Cruz Sentinel http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8793274

Register-Pajaronian http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=3881&page=72

Finished South Gable Wall

2008-03-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

This week (March 24-28) work focused on the completion of the south gable wall (see photo #1 and #2 for before and after).

Work also continued on the north cocina wall. More of the original river cobblestones were installed at the foundation base and a few of the adobe brick courses were completed (see photo#3 and #4).

Also this week, construction began on the east cocina wall at the doorway. These pictures (photos # 5 and #6) show Bruce Ihle and CCC crew carefully cutting the bricks while Pancho Villa lays the bricks in courses. Photo #7 shows the wall a little over half way completed.-JK

Work Continues on South Gable End Wall and Cocina Foundation

2008-03-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

This week (March 17-March 20) work continued on repair of the south gable end wall. As you can see from Photo #1, much progress has been made on the wall.

Reconstruction of the corners of the adobe building can be the most technical and time consuming as the new adobe bricks must be 'stitched in' with the existing adobe bricks (see Photo 2).

Other on-going work includes the reconstruction of the cocina foundation wall. The rebar cage was constructed and installed into the deep hole which will become the base of the cocina wall. Concrete was pumped in on Monday March 17 (see Photo #3 and Photo #4).

A day later the originial cobblestone rocks were inserted back into the new concrete foundation to maintain the appearance of the original foundation wall (see Photo #5).-JK

South Gable End Wall

2008-03-17T09:47:00.000-07:00

Work for the week of March 10-14th focused mostly on repair of the south gable end wall of the adobe. The wall had partially collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The Direct Construction Unit (DCU) crew removed the adobe brick until a sound surface was located. Here is where they began the difficult task of rebuilding the adobe wall with new bricks (made on site last summer by dedicated volunteers and CCC staff!) and new mud mortar. Photo #1 shows DCU crew, Pancho Villa (yes, his real name), standing next to the existing adobe brick wall which is partially whitewashed. Above the whitewashed wall is the new adobe brick and mortar.

The next set of photos shows the process of pouring the mud mortar by DCU crew, Bruce Ihle,(Photo #2), spreading the mud mortar (Photo #3), scoring of the mud mortar before placement of the brick (Photo #4) and placing the heavy bricks (approximately 85lbs) into place (Photo #5).

Work on the wall continues this week. Look for updates on the cocina foundation wall and graffiti documentation later in the week.-JK

North Cocina Wall

2008-03-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

On March 3 -5th, work continued on the north cocina wall. As the wall was dismantled, the river cobblestone foundation was exposed (see photo #1).

Archaeologist, Karen Hildebrand, explained that the foundation appeared to consist of various layers and courses of river cobblestone throughout the north wall. The west end of the foundation is composed of cobblestone which is two layers thick and three courses across (see
photo #2).

The east end is similar in layers yet but only consisted of two courses at the perimeter of the base (see photo #3). This type of foundation is quite different from the rest of the building.

After the cobblestone was recorded through photographs and detailed drawings, the stones were removed and a 30-inch trench was dug to accommodate the new foundation of concrete and rebar (see photo #4).

The new foundation will not be visible in the reconstruction and the existing river cobblestone will be integrated to maintain the appearance of the original construction.-JK

Earthquake Damage #1

2008-03-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

March 3, 2008 Work continues to to uncover the many layers of history and the project archaeologists Karen Hildebrand is on hand so that each layer is understood and captured. Here we see that earthquakes have forever been a nemesis to the adobe. -RW

Work Begins!

2008-02-26T20:13:00.000-08:00

Work has begun on the Castro Adobe! The long awaited seismic stabilization is underway.

On Feb 21st work started with a group of California Conservation Corps (CCC) members and Direct Construction Unit (DCU) crew setting up scaffolding for the project. What a difference a week makes! The DCU foreman, Chris Barrazza and his crew are moving quickly. (Photo 1 shows interior of cocina wall with gable end dismantled. Photo 2 shows CCC member carefully removing historic corner shelves from cocina.)

The cocina (historic kitchen) wall is about to be dismantled, the fireplace is being dismantled as well as the other non-historic interior features of the building. Part of the south gable wall is exposed and is being assessed for the best way possible to maintain the original adobe bricks and integrate them with the new adobe bricks made in summer 2007.

Today, the State archaeologist, Karen Hildebrand was rapidly finishing her documentation of the cocina wall before the DCU crew dismantled the damaged wall. Volunteers from the Santa Cruz Archaeological Society assisted Karen by removing the plaster from the interior north wall. Karen was excited to locate the original vent holes, view smoke stains, and holes for cooking tools in the cocina wall. Locating these will ensure the correct placement of the bracero (masonry range) in the interpretive plan in the future. (I apologize for the video orientation...but it was such good information I felt I had to post it!) We hope to update the blog more frequently now that work is proceeding ...so check back often! -JK

January 16, 2008-Brick Maintenance

2008-01-21T20:03:00.000-08:00

A few of us ventured out into the cold Central California winter to do some upkeep on the bricks and perform weed control around each pallet.The first job was to clear the quickly growing weeds surrounding the pallets. We also attempted to clear the dirt underneath the pallets (pushed up underneath by gophers) to ensure a steady air flow from the ground to the bricks.

From left to right-Charlie Kieffer, Jim Brownson, Jim Toney, Jessica Kusz, and Barney Levy (Randy Widera-not pictured).

We also took the covers off a few sample pallets to check the condition of the bricks. Most of them appeared in good condition although some had suffered a bit of water damage generally due to covers shifting in the recent storms and exposing portions of the bricks. Some bricks exhibited moisture from condensation although this is a fairly common occurrence when bricks are covered and stored.

Charlie Kieffer, Barney Levy and Jim Toney check the bricks.

We also noted that the dirt piled up underneath the bricks did not appear to be causing the expected damage to the bottom of the bricks....of course we didn't discover this until after we had cleaned out most of the dirt!

In one instance, the plastic cover had blown off half of the pallet which exposed a portion of the bricks to the elements.

Note the difference between the tops of the brick. The smooth surface had not been exposed to the weather while the other had been exposed.

Some rubber bands surrounding the pallets covers had snapped due to UV exposure and each one was re-secured and tied down with either poly-propylene rope or with duct tape. We also cleared any downed tree branches and leaves off the tops of the pallets. We didn't find many tears in the black plastic and it seems to be holding up quite well.

Thanks for all the hard work from the Friends board members, Jim B, Barney, Charlie, and Jim T! -JK

January 2, 2008

2008-01-02T20:10:00.000-08:00

Today we ventured out to the Castro to do a a primary check of the adobe bricks to see how they are faring this winter. Our main concern was water wicking up from the ground and penetrating the brick as well as water pooled on top of the bricks infiltrating the pallet covers. We uncovered a sampling of bricks and found that our method of covering them with plastic pallet covers is mostly working to keep the bricks dry! The overall condition of the bricks was excellent with a few displaying a small amount of moisture/condensation on the tops of the bricks (see photo 2). One brick had some wicking at the bottom and was soft enough that with a strong force (Randy's thumb) an indentation was made into the brick (see photo 3). That condition only appeared on one brick and overall the base of the bricks appear to be withstanding the rain and moisture (see photo 4).

One issue we noted was that the large rubber bands used to secure the tops of the pallet covers are snapping due to UV exposure. The bands that have broken will be replaced with twine and thus the twine vs. rubber bands experiment has been answered. For use outdoors, twine endures much better than the large rubber bands.

A big storm is approaching tomorrow and our next steps are to clear away any branches that have fallen on or near the bricks. We also plan to clear the weeds growing around the base of the pallets. This should ensure our bricks are protected for the remaining winter months. -JK

Winter Upkeep at the Castro

2007-12-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

A small group of us met at the Castro Adobe yesterday, December 5 from 12-3:00. Although the day was warm and sunny, it was apparent fall had come and gone with the bare trees and plants. The Persimmon tree's fruit was in full abundance and some in the group were kind enough to lighten its load.

The roof of the adobe has been tarped for the winter (a great job!) done by the State maintenance crew.

We then moved on to checking the palletized adobe bricks. Our method of tarping with thick plastic seems to be working well. The water is being diverted and we brushed the fallen leaves off the tops of the bricks so that water would not collect on top. A few pinhole openings in the pallet covers were patched with duct tape. We found that some of the rubber bands snapped (which bind the top of the pallet covers) and they appear to be very susceptible to UV. We will replace those with twine. Other than that, the adobe bricks seem to be doing well.

Our meeting ended with Charlie Kieffer telling us Castro family stories of his great great grandmother's reminisces of bandit Tiburcio Vasquez ! Wow.

Will return in two weeks to clear around the pallets and continue to monitor condition of the bricks and structure. -JK

Preparing for Winter!

2007-12-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Today we will be going out the Adobe to inspect how secure it is for the upcoming winter. Expect a post soon! RW

Weather proofing

2007-12-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

Great question from GK on what is being done to protect the building from the upcoming rainy season. New tarps have been installed on the roof of the building..this should keep most of the weather out for the season. The new adobe bricks have been carefully covered and are being checked frequently to ensure that they are staying dry (in fact, we are doing a check today). Thanks for your question! -JK

First post

2007-11-28T15:05:00.001-08:00

This is the first post to the Castro Adobe blog! Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks is very excited to be able to chronicle the ongoing efforts to stabilize and restore the Castro Adobe. Please add comments or questions and we will try to post them and/or answer them questions quickly. We hope this can be a place to share ideas, history, upcoming opportunities or anything else related to this incredible building. Onward!