FREE TOURS: The Avila Adobe in Los Angeles.
Built in 1818, the historic and quaint Avila Adobe is a historical highlight on a day trip to Downtown Los Angeles.
Located in the heart of Olvera Street — tucked between Chinatown and Union Station — Casa Avila Adobe is open to the public for free self-guided tours.
As the oldest existing house in Los Angeles, Avila Adobe is now a California Historical Landmark. It was once home to Don Francisco Avila, the mayor of Los Angeles, and his wife, Maria del Rosaria.
In 1822, Maria died, leaving Don with three young children to raise. Avila quickly remarried a woman named Encarnacion Sepulveda, who was only 15 years old at the time. After Avila died in 1832, the house was briefly occupied by Commodore Robert Stockton in 1847, during the heat of the Mexican-American War.
Encarnacion moved away from the home 1868, when it became a restaurant and boarding house. It fell into disrepair by the 1920s, and was saved from destruction by Christine Sterling. Sterling, a young socialite, was at the forefront of preserving Olvera Street and creating the Mexican marketplace found in the area today.
Most rooms, however, have views of either the ocean or Newcastle Harbour, Nobbys Lighthouse and Stockton Beach. The hotel is steps away from the beaches, the harbour and Hunter Street Mall (check out Make Space, part of the innovative Renew Newcastle
Renamed Stockton Kimball Tower in 1973 for the nationally known educator, community leader and former dean of the UB medical school, it housed the Health Sciences Library from 1974 until 1985, when HSL moved to the renovated Abbott Hall.