Historic Adobe Under Restoration

The Centinela Adobe, where the founder of Inglewood once lived, has been closed for more than three years because of damage from the Northridge earthquake. But repairs began this year, and the 1834 adobe should open by the end of July.

When the earthquake hit Jan. 17, 1994, two chimneys were badly damaged and cracks erupted in several of the thick adobe walls. It wasn’t until this year that funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Office of Emergency Services became available to cover $168,000 in repairs and seismic retrofitting.

The city is also contributing $10,000 to renovate one of the porches so it resembles what it looked like in 1888, said Kevin Gee, a city of Inglewood civil engineering technician.

Bud Utter, president of the Historical Society of Centinela Valley, discovered the damage at the adobe the day after the quake. “I opened the door and said, ‘Oh, my God.’ There was plaster and mud all over the place,” he recalled.

The antique furniture has been moved out to make way for workers who are redoing the chimneys, patching cracks in the 16-inch-thick walls and repairing some of the wood floors.

The three-room adobe was built in 1834 by Ignacio Machado, whose father had been a Mexican soldier. It eventually was the center of a 25,000-acre working ranch owned by Scotsman Robert Burnett.

In 1873, Daniel Freeman, a Canadian immigrant in search of a warm climate for his ill wife, leased the adobe, eventually buying it in 1885 for $140,000 in gold.

Freeman amassed a fortune from farming, shipping and land deals. Later, he turned to philanthropy and became a founder of Inglewood. He gave the house to his daughter, Grace Freeman Howland, as a wedding present after he moved to a larger mansion in 1888.

The adobe was nearly torn down in 1940 to make way for tract houses. But Inglewood residents raised enough money to buy it in 1950 and deeded it to the city of Inglewood.

The Historical Society of Centinela Valley maintains the structure’s interior and will resume guided tours on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons.