Serrano Adobe
In 1841, Mexico land grantee Don José Serrano created Rancho Cañada de los Alisos in the area known as El Toro. The Serrano family built the second of five adobe structures on the rancho as their home in 1863. They lived in the adobe raising longhorn cattle until a series of droughts forced them to divide and mortgage sections of the ranch. Dwight Whiting, who played a major role in the development of El Toro (now Lake Forest), purchased the Serrano Adobe and a significant area of the rancho in 1884. In 1890, a grammar school was built nearby followed by the St. George’s Episcopal Mission in 1891. The adobe remains today on its original site as part of the Heritage Hill Historical Park. It is a California Historical Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.
Heritage Hill Historical Park, Lake Forest, Orange County
Images by Al Russell