Association with the novel José Antonio Estudillo died in 1852, and his family stayed until 1887, when they moved to
Los Angeles, leaving the house in the hands of a caretaker. Meanwhile, the 1884 publication of
Ramona, a novel set in
Southern California which painted a
romanticized portrait of
Californio life, generated a nationwide interest in the region. This, combined with the opening of the
Southern Pacific and
Santa Fe Railway lines (and the ensuing rate war, which drove prices down to as low as $1 from
St. Louis, Missouri to Los Angeles), meant that hordes of tourists made their way to Southern California to see the locations in the novel. Unfortunately, Jackson died in 1885 without ever having disclosed what the actual locations in the novel were, which caused a great deal of speculation. In 1887, a front-page article of the
San Diego Union declared the Estudillo home to be "Ramona's Marriage Place", saying, "To sleepy Old Town (the house) is known as the Estudillos, but the outside world knows it as the marriage place of 'Ramona.'" Despite the novel being a work of fiction, visitors flocked to the building thinking it was the actual location of Ramona's marriage. To be clear, the
Union did not simply invent this story; a tourist had already scratched the name "Alessandro" (Ramona's husband in the novel) in one of the walls. The caretaker decided to capitalize on the attendant publicity and began selling off pieces of the house as
souvenirs. Naturally, the building's condition began to deteriorate rapidly. To this end, he hired architect
Hazel Wood Waterman to renovate the house to a condition more closely matching the descriptions in the novel. The original cupola and balcony were removed because there was none mentioned in the novel, and several doors and windows were moved. Waterman was exacting in her specifications: She wanted the building to look aged as well as have the "charm of the work of half-skilled Indian hands", although modern conveniences such as electricity and indoor plumbing were included. Upon its completion in 1910, it was marketed as a
Ramona-related tourist attraction, and remained popular as such for years to come, drawing 1,632 visitors on one day in 1940. Getz eventually purchased the adobe from Spreckels in 1924. The association with the novel was so keen that the application for National Historic Landmark status was entitled, "Casa Estudillo/Ramona's Marriage Place." In fact, for a time, the Estudillos' relationship to the house was nearly forgotten. After Getz's death in 1934, his daughter Margeurite Weiss continued to operate the business for another thirty years, finally selling it in 1964 to the Title Insurance and Trust Company, which then sold it to local businessman Legler Benbough, who donated it to the State of California in 1968.
1968 restoration The state
Park Service then set about restoring it to its pre-
Ramona state, including the missing cupola. The house now stands as a museum and is furnished as it would likely have been during Estudillo's ownership, but with an added kitchen. The state seemed embarrassed at the property's association with the novel: The long-standing "Ramona's Marriage Place" sign was removed, and brochures printed in the 1970s make no mention of the novel at all. By the 1990s, the state began to acknowledge the long-standing relationship to the book.
Ramona no longer has the same hold on the country's imagination as it once did. It is estimated that only 1% of visitors to the Casa de Estudillo now are aware of the house's ties to the novel. ==Photo gallery==