Hugo Reid Adobe


Hugo Reid Adobe also called Reid-Baldwin Adobe is an adobe home built in 1839. It is currently located at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden in Arcadia, California. The Hugo Reid Adobe was designated a California Historic Landmark on April 3, 1840. The Reid Adobe was built by Scottish−Mexican Hugo Reid on the shore of what is now called Baldwin Lake with the help of local natives. Reid received the full Mexican land grant for Rancho Santa Anita in 1845, which included 13,319 acres of land. Reid farmed some of the land and planted grape vines.
Hugo Reid, born in Scotland, was an early resident of Los Angeles County who became a naturalized citizen of California and who married a local Gabrieleño woman, Victoria. Victoria, a Native American Indian, grew up at the San Gabriel Mission.
Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin purchased Rancho Santa Anita in 1875. In 1879 Baldwin added a wooden wing to the old adobe home. Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin was a pioneer of California business, an investor, and real estate speculator during the second half of the 19th century. He earned the nickname "Lucky" Baldwin due to his extraordinary good fortune in a number of business deals. He built the luxury Baldwin Hotel and Theatre in San Francisco and bought vast tracts of land in Southern California, where a number of places and neighborhoods are named after him.
In 1947 the state and county acquired the land to create an arboretum around the lake and historic Reid-Baldwin structures.

Reconstruction

Without a good roof adobe structures can be damaged fast. With a good roof adobe structures still need constant maintenance. The Rancho-Era California Adobe is currently under repair and reconstruction.
The original home was built with sun-dried adobe bricks. Adobe bricks are made with clay soil, water and a straw to add strength. The original adobe home's roof was made of rawhide animal skin used to tie giant cane reeds together. The roof was then coated with tar. The reconstruction of the Hugo Reid Adobe tried to used much of the original methods and materials.

Marker

State Marker on the site reads: