Los Cerritos Ranch House Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Significant dates

Los Cerritos Ranch House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark

Los Cerritos Ranch House
Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area Location in California Show map of California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	4600 Virginia Road, Long Beach, California
Built	1844
NRHP reference No.	70000135
Added to NRHP	April 15, 1970
Designated NHL	April 15, 1970

The Los Cerritos Ranch House, also called Rancho Los Cerritos or Casa de los Cerritos, is a special historic building in Long Beach, California. It was once the biggest and most impressive adobe house built in Southern California when the area was part of Mexico. The name "Los Cerritos" means "the little hills" in Spanish. This important house became a National Historic Landmark in 1970. Today, it is a museum where people can learn about its past.

History of the Ranch House
Rancho Los Cerritos as a Museum
- What You Can See
- Important Repairs
Gallery
See also

History of the Ranch House

Building the Adobe Home

The Los Cerritos Ranch House is a type of building called a Monterey Colonial adobe. It was built in 1844 for a businessman named Jonathan Temple. He was an American pioneer who became a citizen of Mexico. This house was the main office for a huge ranch, about 27,000 acres (109 square kilometers) in size. The ranch mainly raised cattle and sheep.

From Land Grant to Ranch Life

The land where the ranch house stands was part of a much larger area. This area was originally a land grant of 167,000 acres (676 square kilometers) given to Manuel Nieto. This large grant was later divided into six smaller parts. One of these parts became Rancho los Cerritos.

In 1843, Jonathan Temple bought Rancho Los Cerritos. He built the adobe house in 1844 to be the center of his cattle business. In 1866, Temple sold the ranch to a company called Flint, Bixby & Company. This company changed the ranch from raising cattle to raising sheep.

The Bixby Family Era

Jotham Bixby, whose brother was one of the company's founders, lived at and managed the ranch from 1866 to 1881. Jotham Bixby was very important to the area. He is even known as the "father of Long Beach." He eventually bought the property for himself. He raised his seven children in the adobe house. One of his children, Fanny Bixby Spencer, grew up to be a kind person who gave money to good causes, wrote poems, and worked for peace.

Changes and Restoration

Starting in the late 1870s, Jotham Bixby began to sell or lease parts of the ranch. These parts later became the cities of Downey, Paramount, and Lakewood. Between the 1880s and the 1920s, the adobe house started to fall apart.

In 1929, Llewellyn Bixby, who was Jotham's nephew, bought the property. He made many big improvements to the house. These included adding a plaster cement coating, a new red-tiled roof, and modern things like electricity and plumbing. He also added fireplaces, a sun porch, new floors, and improved the gardens. Llewellyn Bixby passed away in 1942. In 1955, his family sold the house to the City of Long Beach. The City then turned the house into a museum. The museum's goal is to teach people about California's rancho period, which was a time when large ranches were common.

Rancho Los Cerritos as a Museum

Rancho Los Cerritos Historic Site is now a public museum. It is run by the Rancho Los Cerritos Foundation, working with the City of Long Beach. The museum is open for tours, special programs, and events from Wednesdays through Sundays.

What You Can See

The house is decorated with furniture and items from the Victorian era. This shows how it would have looked when Jotham Bixby and his family lived there in the 1870s. There is also a visitor center with displays about the site's history. These exhibits cover everything from the time of Native Americans to the present day.

Outside, there is a beautiful Italian garden. It has olive, pomegranate, and cypress trees that Jonathan Temple planted a long time ago. The site also has a library with 3,000 books about California history. There is also a museum shop where visitors can find souvenirs.

Important Repairs

The museum was closed for 17 months between 2001 and 2002. This was for important repairs and upgrades. Workers made the building stronger to protect it from earthquakes. They also removed old lead paint and asbestos. Brickwork was fixed, and changes were made to make the museum easier for people with disabilities to visit.