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SOHO's Dedication to San Diego’s Adobe Legacy
Adobe Chapel
3950 Conde Street, Old Town San Diego
November/December 2024
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The Adobe Chapel's story spans nearly two centuries. Built as a home for John Brown in 1850, Don José Aguirre transformed it into a church in 1858. The chapel played an essential role in the community, serving not only as a place of worship but also as a school, a town meeting space, and as the repository of significant religious art from San Diego's Mission and Presidio periods.
SOHO's stewardship of the Adobe Chapel from 2005 to 2020 marked an era of unprecedented accessibility and engagement for this historic site. Under SOHO’s management, the chapel was not only preserved as a museum, but also transformed into a vibrant hub for arts and culture, creating a welcoming space for the local community and beyond. SOHO made it available as free rehearsal space, allowing local performing arts groups to use the historic setting in ways that brought new life to the building. Artists, musicians, and community theater groups rehearsed in this rarified environment, contributing to the preservation of cultural history while enriching San Diego’s 21st-century creative milieu. This access helped foster a deeper connection between the arts and the historic space, ensuring the chapel’s relevance for a wide array of cultural activities.
SOHO also programmed numerous public events, including plays, silent film screenings, choral concerts, and historic talks, many of which highlighted the chapel’s rich past and the broader history of San Diego. Using the Adobe Chapel as a performance venue was a highlight, transforming it into an unexpectedly fine destination for cultural experiences. SOHO’s dedication to this programming created the chapel's most active and accessible period since it originally served as a church.
One of the chapel’s most important historic contributions is its role in preserving religious artifacts from the Presidio chapel and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the origin of which would have been lost without the intervention of early photographers and historians.
In 2019, for San Diego's 250th anniversary, SOHO displayed one of these important pieces: the Immaculata, a stunning 18th-century statue of the Immaculate Conception. Originally from the Presidio chapel, this four-foot-tall, polychrome and gilded sculpture was an esteemed icon in San Diego’s early spiritual life. SOHO recreated the historic altar setting to provide an authentic backdrop for the statue's months-long return. View the exhibition booklet.
Throughout its stewardship, SOHO preserved the architectural integrity of the chapel while fostering an environment where history, art, and community intersected, an ongoing blend of preservation and cultural engagement.
In 2020, SOHO ceased operating the Adobe Chapel due to structural and public safety concerns with its need for earthquake retrofitting. The City of San Diego is still, four years later, studying these needs, but the chapel remains standing today, awaiting its next chapter. We encourage city officials not to forget its duty towards this important beacon of spiritual, cultural, and community life.
Further Reading
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