Browse Items (249 total)

El Paseo was not only central to Fiesta, but to Santa Barbara's Spanish style as a whole. El Paseo opened in 1923 and, along with Casa de la Guerra, became the inspiration for reconstruction after the 1925 earthquake devastated the Santa Barbara…

Just as today, several downtown locations acted as hubs of Fiesta activities. From Casa de la Guerra to the Santa Barbara Courthouse, residents and visitors alike donned Spanish costumes of the finest fabrics.

Bernard and Irene Hoffman, the benefactors who hired James Osborne Craig to design El Paseo, hoped that the Street of Spain plan would be just "the beginning of a wonderful evolution which will take in all of the old Spanish town." Here, Fiesta…

One of many traditions that have carried on from the original Fiesta, the mercado is still a local favorite. The original mercado featured vendors selling luscious fruit and vegetables.

Although this watercolor departs from the theme of this exhibit, it was part of Haass' series of Santa Barbara paintings. This Victorian House, originally located at 422 Santa Barbara Street, was built in 1862 by Judge Charles Fernald. In 1880, the…

This three-room residence was built in the early nineteenth century. In 1853, Maria Antonio Feliz owned the property; Jules Goux, a native of France, acquired it in the 1870s. The adobe was demolished in 1955 and replaced by a parking lot.

Evelyn Rose Foxen was a descendent of Benjamin Foxen of Rancho Tinaquaic. She grew on the property of the Maria Romero Lopez adobe, one of Santa Barbara's oldest homes built in 1855. Her grandfather, Salvador Foxen, raised her while her parents,…

Emilio Tabacci came to Santa Barbara in 1926 after immigrating to the US with his Swiss-Italian parents. His family owned a bakery on the 100 block of East Canon Perdido Street, near the site of what is now Jimmy' Oriental Gardens. He spent much of…

Raised in El Paso, Texas, Elvira moved to Santa Barbara in 1975, where she started teaching a Spanish language course for native Spanish speakers at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). In teaching the course, she discovered that the amount of readily…

The above interview is between Elizabeth Hvolboll and Luis Moreno, founders of El Coro del Real Presidio de Santa Barbara, a local choral group which celebrates and performs music of the Californios. The group sings in Santa Barbara’s annual Una…