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SOHO's Dedication to San Diego’s Adobe Legacy
Derby-Pendleton House, Adobe Section
4015 Harney Street, Old Town San Diego
November/December 2024
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The Derby-Pendleton House, one of San Diego’s oldest surviving structures, has a remarkable history that spans multiple significant phases of the city’s development.
From 2002 to 2020, the Derby-Pendleton Adobe housed SOHO's offices. We worked alongside San Diego County Parks and Recreation staff to restore and preserve the house and its fragile adobe addition.
Originally built from prefabricated parts shipped from Portland, Maine, in 1850, it was one of ten to twelve such structures brought to New San Diego by one of its founders, William Heath Davis.
Don Juan Bandini initially purchased the house in 1851 as a gift for his daughter, Dolores, and her husband, Capt. Charles Johnson. However, the house is perhaps most famous for being the residence of Lt. George Horatio Derby, an engineer and celebrated humorist, from 1853-1854.
In the mid-1850s, George Allen Pendleton, a prominent San Diego merchant and county clerk, bought the house, and used it as both his residence and office for storing county records, including critical real estate transactions during the subdividing and sale of downtown San Diego. Pendleton lived in the house until his death in 1871, and it remained in his family’s possession until 1880.
After passing through several hands and undergoing a major restoration by philanthropist E. T. Guymon, Jr., the house faced the threat of demolition in 1962 due to the construction of the U.S. 101 Freeway (now Interstate 5). Fortunately, the Junior League of San Diego intervened, and with the help of the county Board of Supervisors, moved the house to its current location, 4015 Harney Street. Neglected and used mostly for storage before SOHO's tenure, our restoration of the house raised awareness of its significance and has secured its long-term protection as a historical resource in Old Town San Diego.
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