The Stow House is a U.S.

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 historical landmark in Goleta

Goleta, California

Goleta is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the Census-designated place had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Formerly the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, the Stow House, in the Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic

Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...

 style, is now the headquarters of Goleta Historical Society which preserves and interprets the history of the Goleta Valley.

History

The Stow House was once the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, on the original Rancho La Goleta

Rancho La Goleta

Rancho La Goleta was a Mexican land grant in present day Santa Barbara County, California given in 1846 by Governor Pío Pico to Daniel A. Hill. The grant extended along the Pacific coast from today’s Fairview Avenue in present day Goleta, east to Hope Ranch. The grant was adjacent to Rancho...

. In 1871, William Whitney Stow, a legal counsel for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco, purchased 1043 acres (4.2 km²) costing $28,677 for his son, Sherman P. Stow. Sherman Stow built a Carpenter Gothic Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 home on the site and moved into the house with his bride, Ida G. Hollister, in 1873. The family expanded the house in two major renovations in the 1880s and 1910s. The house was occupied by three generations of Stow descendants.

Lemon orchard

In 1875, 3,000 lemon trees were planted in the first commercial lemon

Lemon

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

 orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

 planting in California. Goleta's earliest commercial irrigation also took place on the ranch, and you can still visit 'Lake Los Carneros', the pond created by the Stows. Sherman Stow's son, state senator Edgar Whitney Stow, set up a research laboratory at the ranch and developed disease resistant lemon rootstock

Rootstock

A rootstock is a plant, and sometimes just the stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, used for grafting a cutting or budding from another plant. The tree part being grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion...

of great value to local growers.

Visiting Stow House

The house museum dispalays family photographs and furniture, with stories of Sherman and Ida Stow and their descendants.

Schedule

Stow House is open for public viewing on Saturdays and Sundays, 1:00-4:00 pm. Tours can also be made by appointment.

Location

The Stow House is located on Los Carneros in Goleta. From the 101 exit on Los Carneros, which is about 10 miles (16.1 km) west of Santa Barbara. At the top of the ramp, turn towards the mountains. If you continue past Calle Real, you will find the parking lot to your right.

Nearby attractions

The Stow House is located next to Lake Los Carneros, and the South Coast Railroad Museum, other points of interest in Goleta.

External links

• Stow House - Goleta Valley Historical Society official site