Rochin Adobe Porch Project

By Michael H. Imwalle, Associate Executive Director for Cultural Resources

This blog post was originally published on July 25, 2025.

When the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation (SBTHP) first purchased the Rochin Adobe in 1996, there were many unanswered questions surrounding the history of the building’s construction. Accounts suggest that the adobe was built on the foundations of the original Presidio quadrangle, and that the walls were constructed with adobe bricks salvaged from the ruins of the nearby presidio adobes. A limited architectural investigation conducted in 2001 indicated that before the wood siding on the Rochin Adobe was painted pink, it was painted yellow, and before that, pale blue.  

Chromochronology. Photo by Michael H. Imwalle.

In 2021, the tenant of the Rochin Adobe building, Anacapa School, requested that SBTHP make repairs to the front porch due to its dilapidated condition. When we removed a section of the skirt from the front of the porch to investigate, we were surprised to find that the porch was lying directly on the surface of intact archaeological deposits related to the Santa Barbara Presidio. This made the replacement of the porch more challenging but also presented an incredible opportunity for further excavation. 

In 2022, SBTHP began the process of applying to California State Parks for environmental review of the Rochin Adobe porch. Our proposal was to archaeologically excavate a two-foot-wide trench under the existing porch, adjacent to Santa Barbara Street, for the length of the porch. In May 2025, our UCSB graduate student Higman Intern Cypris Roalsvig began a detailed, scaled drawing of the existing porch surface, handrails, and stairs prior to beginning our excavation of the northern section of the porch. This phase of the excavation was a test to document the existing condition of the porch and adobe and to accurately determine the cost to finish the excavation of the final two sections. 

Planview drawing by Cypris Roalsvig. Photo by Michael H. Imwalle.

On May 19th, 2025, we completed the documentation and demolished the thirteen-foot section of the porch at the north end of the adobe. Archaeological volunteer Anna Vanderford (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo) joined Cypris, and our Barbareño Chumash monitor Eleanor Fishburn, to begin the excavation.

The crew.

In the loose soil beneath the porch, we recovered fragments of mud plaster with yellow and pale blue/green layers of color. Color analysis revealed that the yellow is a match to Benjamin Moore, Golden Chalice and the blue/green color is a match to Benjamin Moore, Peale Green. This corroborates the color chronology that we had exposed on the wood trim in 2001. The adobe was originally painted with a pale blue/green lime wash. Sometime prior to 1925, the owners painted it yellow. 

Blue/green and yellow mud plaster frags. Photo by Michael H. Imwalle.

A historic photograph shows the adobe, new sidewalks, and recently graded Santa Barbara Street. This is the only known photograph of the adobe where the façade is not covered with siding. At this time, the plaster on the façade and the wood siding would have been painted yellow. The 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake destroyed the dome of the Sloyd School seen in the background.

Rochin Adobe.

On June 7th, 2025 (from 11:00am – 2:00pm), SBTHP hosted a Rochin Adobe Porch Project Open House. The event was a smashing success and brought approximately fifty guests to stop by to see the project including archaeologists, historians, students, and neighbors. We were fortunate to meet recent UCSB graduates Izzy Devlin and Kylie Hamuel, who signed up to volunteer more of their time to help with the next steps in the excavation project. At the Open House, we also recruited several potential new SBTHP members and volunteers. The Rochin Adobe Porch Project Open House is an excellent example of the special ways that SBTHP can engage and educate the community by introducing them to projects we are already working on.  

Since the Open House event in June, we have uncovered the north wall foundation of one of the original Presidio “storehouses.” We may also have identified a previously unrecorded partition wall within this storehouse. Phase 1 of the Rochin Adobe Porch Project was partially funded by a generous grant from the California Missions Foundation.  

Rochin Adobe Excavation. Photo by Michael H. Imwalle.

We are nearing the completion of the first phase of the Rochin Adobe Porch Project, but we could still use more help. With the excavation and screening complete, it is time to start the laboratory processing and analysis. Anyone interested in volunteering to learn about and help with the laboratory processing, please contact Associate Executive Director for Cultural Resources, Michael Imwalle at archlab@sbthp.org. 

This project was made possible thanks to the generous support of the California Missions Foundation.