La Casa de Estudillo

Es un lugar muy interesante para conocer la historia a cerca de los primeros alcaldes de San diego, una casa espectacular, se pueden observar cada una de las habitaciones y utensilios que utilizaban hace muchos años… interesante e histórico lugar en old town San diego

I’ll be honest. We came here primarily because it sounded interesting AND because of the review where the woman said her dad got scratched. While I enjoy the touristy stuff as much as the next gal (to a certain extent, at least), I was intrigued by the possibility of a haunted house/​garden.
Admission is free so it’s definitely a might-​as-​well especially since there are a number of other cute shops nearby.
I didn’t feel creeped out by anything in particular although later my companion complained of a scratch or bite (which is unusual because he is made of buffalo hide and never feels anything) so maybe… just maybe…

HISTORICAL LANDMARK??? I’M SO THERE!
BACKGROUND:
The Casa de Estudillo, also known as the Estudillo House, is a historic adobe house in San Diego, California, United States. It was constructed in 1827 by José María Estudillo and his son José Antonio Estudillo, early settlers of San Diego, and was considered one of the finest houses in Mexican California. It is located in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and is designated as both a National and a California Historical Landmark in its own right.
Besides being one of the oldest surviving examples of Spanish architecture in California, the house gained much prominence by association with Helen Hunt Jackson’s wildly popular 1884 novel Ramona. The Casa de Estudillo is one of three National Historic Landmarks in Southern California that were closely tied to Ramona, a novel of Californio life shortly after the American acquisition of California; the other two are Rancho Camulos and Rancho Guajome.
STATS:
Curbside when meandering through Historic Old Town San Diego
ESSENTIALS:
Have an interest in history
Interest in Spanish Architecture
EXPERIENCE:
Walking through Old Town San Diego is stepping into the past, a Quantum Leap. It’s structures like La Casa de Estudillo interest me the most. This U-​shaped building was built in the Spanish Colonial style, with 13 rooms connected only by an external covered corridor.
One room is set up as a restaurant dining room with, typical of the time, place settings, another room display the fashion wear of the time period, as well as written historical information about the La Casa de Estudillo. To compete with The Cosmopolitan Restaurant and Hotel, La Casa de Estudillo held monthly dances. Ahhh!!! The imagination went wild envisioning music playing in the background as couples and families enjoy their meal and conversation, and having a grand time on the dance floor.
Staged bedrooms occupy a bulk of the rooms in this structure. As you Continue through the structure to the backside you find yourself outside overlooking a garden with a water feature.
Such a great place to take in a lot of history. I’ll definitely visit again.

This place is always an entertaining place to go to with new people. I love it, it’s absolutely beautiful and incredibly haunted. The instant you walk in you can tell it’s just plain strange, it’s hard to describe but you feel like you are just not wanted. It’s kind of become a joke in my family to take my dad there to get «whipped» the instant he goes in he gets what appears to be scratched. The longer he’s in there the worse it gets. The worse I’ve physically seen it, it was raised and inflamed scratch it was pretty bad and it was whip like. This last time today we stopped at the church on the corner beforehand and he did the sign of the cross with holy water. As an experiment we checked his back before we got near to la casa de estudillo just to make sure he didn’t scratch himself (My boyfriend hasn’t seen it happen and he wasn’t a believer) before we even walked in which has never happened before he was immediately scratched and refused to go in. It’s crazy that it happens every time! I took a photo of it this last time, but let me tell you this time wasn’t the worse but we also didn’t go completely in.

My son and I really love history so this was a fun stop on our tour of Old Town San Diego. The house was built by the Estudillos, originally by Capitan Jose Maria Estudillo (in 1927) and then later completed by his son, Jose Antonio Estudillo, in the early 1930’s.
La Casa de Estudillo was an important cultural and political center during this period. Jose Antonio and his wife, Maria Victoria Dominguez, also raised their 12 children (and a few adopted children) here.
This home’s garden is famous for being the spot of Ramona’s wedding, in Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel, Ramona. Although the story is interesting, our tour guide mentioned it’s lack of accuracy during our last visit here.
When the Estudillos abandoned the home (it was left to a caretaker), John D. Spreckles bought the house. He hired Hazel Waterman to remodel the dilapidated building, and in 1910 the reconstruction was complete.
During the 1970’s (after the house was acquired by the California State Park System, 1968), the house was furnished with pieces common during the period that the Estudillos would have lived here.
It’s fun touring the home’s 13 rooms. The décor adds to La Casa’s spookiness (and rumors that the house is haunted). The rooms include bedrooms for family and guests, a kitchen, dining room, and a chapel.
The nicest part of the property is the beautiful garden. The courtyard also had a wonderful fountain and a wishing well. I can imagine that the family spent a lot of time here. On our last visit to the house, a musician was playing some lovely music from his spot on the brick patio.
This beautiful adobe home is currently getting some small updates and is a really loved part of Old Town. For a step back in time, La Casa de Estudillo is definitely worth a visit!

This is one of many free museums in Old Town San Diego. We were there for the Dia de los Muertos festival so they had a really unique display up for the weekend. There were several plaques on the wall with various historical information and it was a fun and easy walk through while scoping out the entire place.
Overall: A
Add this to the list of things to do in Old Town and immerse yourself in the historical fun — plus it’s Free — bonus!

I love historic places and historic homes are at the top of my list. This is the jewel of Old Town and I always wander around the casa when I visit Old Town. It’s always kept impeccable, gardens are lush, and tour guides are super nice.

This is where Ramona got married, but you cannot buy the floor tiles anymore.

I love this free musuem! Its smack dab in the middle of Old Town and is set up to look like a hacienda home in the mexican period of San Diego history. It has a beautiful courtyard garden, several rooms to peek in and see how a family lived back in the day.
This location was famous at the turn of the century for being the supposed «Wedding Place of Ramona» who was a character in a novel by Helen Hunt Jackson. People came from all over and pretty much tore this place apart, taking pieces of tile and bricks, etc. So a lot of what you see if restored.
It’s supposed to be haunted by several ghosts, including a priest and one of the owners of the house. The TV show Ghost Adventures investigated here, but you cant really trust them because they essentially made stuff up about the other place they were investigating in the same episode, which happens to be directly across the street. However, I used to know someone who volunteered there a while ago and she said that she indeed experienced things.
This is an all around great place to stop by when you are in Old Town. Its nice, its pretty, Its free, Its historic and culturally significant for San Diego.

If any place is haunted, it is this place! It’s obvious they are still working on the renovations, but it feels like a time warp that takes you way back to another time.
We just got an eerie feeling as we were walking thru here checking things out. We really lucked out because we went around 10am on a Thursday morning, so we were literally the only ones there at the time checking it out, which probably added to the creepiness factor. lol
Still, its very cool and definately worth checking out! I’m looking forward to checking it out again one day when all the work being done is completed.
4 stars

Looking for ghost, none found!

Absolutely beautiful, somewhat hidden gem in Old Town. LOVE the courtyard.
It’s free, but be nice and make a donation to keep it running. Great piece of history right here in the SD!

This is my absolute favorite spot in Old Town SD Park. I love that the minute you walk into the courtyard, you are seemingly transported back almost 200 years. I’m a sucker for history, antiques, architecture and nostalgia and this place gives me all of that.
While exploring Old Town, the BFF and I came across La Casa de Estudillo almost by sheer accident and I’m so glad that one of our many tangents led us to another great memory. This place was once a social and political center of SD during CA’s Mexican period giving birth to early America. The house itself retains the adobe bricks originally used, exposed wooden planks and rafters and clay tiles. Its open and inviting. The home has been restored almost from ruins in the early 1900’s and they did a fantastic job retaining the glory and charm of the structure. The furnishings are not all from the same period as the guide said it was pretty unclear how the Estudiilos originally furnished their home.
I often find myself back here anytime I want some peace and quiet and I just wander through the rooms. I suggest if you want to to this, go during the middle of the week around 11am. It can be hit or miss because Old Town is such a huge destination for tourists but to really take in the beauty of this spot you have to experience it without the large groups.
BFF/​SD