Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation

The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) is a non-profit in Santa Barbara, California that was founded in 1963 by Dr. Pearl Chase with the hope of reconstructing the Santa Barbara Presidio.

Partnership with California State Parks
As a way of ensuring the reconstruction of El Presidio, Pearl Chase encouraged a partnership with State Parks. In 1966, El Presidio de Santa Barbara became a State Historic Park and SBTHP entered an operating agreement with the State in 1988.

Properties Managed
As part of El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park, SBTHP operates several properties in Santa Barbara County.

El Presidio de Santa Barbara
The Presidio was founded on April 21, 1972, the last Spanish military fortress in Alta California. The contemporary State Historic Park houses much of the original quadrangle's footprint. The Presidio was originally used for both military occupation and the seat of the local government (controlling territory as far south as Los Angeles and as far north as San Luis Obispo).

Constructed of whitewashed adobe and red tile roofs, the Presidio was reduced to only two original portions - the Canedo Adobe and El Cuartel when Dr. Pearl Chase founded SBTHP in 1963. Since then, the chapel, bell tower, comandancia, northeast corner, and southeast corner have been reconstructed. The Canedo Adobe now serves as the visitor's center for the Park.

Casa de la Guerra
The Casa de la Guerra was originally constructed between 1819 and 1827 by the fifth Presidio comandante, Jose de la Guerra. During the first celebration of Old Spanish Days Fiesta - a Santa Barbara festival of Spanish heritage - in 1924, the Casa hosted celebrations dedicated to early Santa Barbara families. After the June 29, 1925 earthquake that destroyed large portions of the downtown area, the Casa de la Guerra served as a stylistic muse for the reconstruction of the city.

SBTHP has worked since 1990 to research and restore the Casa to the 1828-1858 era of occupancy, with some original furnishings in the house museum today.

Santa Ines Mission Mills
SBTHP sold the Santa Ines Mission Mills to California State Parks in 2008 in order to create a new State Park in Solvang, California. The entire complex has 39 acres of land, including a grist and fulling mill. Since the ownership change, SBTHP has continued planning and managing the complex for State Parks. SBTHP, with the neighboring Santa Ines Mission, has also planted thousands of olive trees on the property to reintroduce early Mission-era plant life. The complex is currently not open to the public, but tours are available.

Jimmy's Oriental Gardens
Jimmy's Oriental Gardens opened in 1947, and was the last Chinese–run business in Chinatown when SBTHP purchased the property in 2007. The property acquisition is seen as an opportunity to widen the interpretive scope of the Presidio neighborhood, as Jimmy's sits next to El Cuartel, and directly across the street from the Canedo Adobe. After the acquisition, SBTHP launched a Santa Barbara Asian American history advisory group to further develop interpretive elements.

Buenaventura Pico adobe
Built by Santiago de la Cruz Pico after arriving to Santa Barbara as part of the 1776 Anza Expedition, the Buenaventura Pico is an example of the American influence on Mexican adobe construction methods.

Rochin adobe
The Rochin Adobe was built in 1856 by Jose Maria Rochin, who married Lorenza Ordaz de Rochin, a descendent of Francisco Ortega, the first Comandante of the Presidio.

Current Activities

 * 50th Anniversary Memories Project
 * Collecting stories and photographs of SBTHP and the Presidio neighborhood from the past 50 years
 * Mental Mapping exercises of the Presidio neighborhood
 * Oral History Program
 * Producing and selling olive oil from the Santa Ines Mission Mills
 * Developing an Interpretation Master Plan and new Visitor's Center