The Stow House is a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

historical landmark in

Goleta Goleta or La Goleta may refer to: * ''Goleta'' (spider), a spider genus * Goleta, California, United States, a suburban city in Santa Barbara County * La Goleta, the Spanish and Portuguese name for La Goulette, a municipality and the port of Tu ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. Formerly the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, the Stow House, in the

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structure ...

style, is now the headquarters of Goleta Historical Society which preserves and interprets the history of the Goleta Valley.The Goleta Valley Historical Society: The Stow House
/ref>

History

The Stow House was once the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, on the original Rancho La Goleta. In 1871, William Whitney Stow, a legal counsel for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco, purchased costing $28,677 for his son, Sherman P. Stow. Sherman Stow built a Carpenter Gothic

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

home on the site and moved into the house with his bride, Ida G. Hollister, in 1873. The family expanded the house in two major renovations in the 1880s and 1910s. The house was occupied by three generations of Stow descendants.

Lemon orchard

In 1875, 3,000 lemon trees were planted in the first commercial

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of la ...

planting in California. Sherman Stow's son, state senator Edgar Whitney Stow, set up a research laboratory at the ranch and developed disease resistant lemon

rootstock A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a ...

of great value to local growers. The earliest commercial irrigation in the area took place on the ranch using the pond created by the Stows. The pond was expanded to create Lake Los Carneros which remains within the park.

Museum

The house museum displays family photographs and furniture, with stories of Sherman and Ida Stow and their descendants.

Nearby attractions

The Stow House is located next to Lake Los Carneros with walking trails and bird watching,

Goleta Depot __NOTOC__ Goleta Depot is a train station building in Goleta, California constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1901, as part of the completion of the Coast Route linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is a Southern Pacific standard de ...

at the

South Coast Railroad Museum The South Coast Railroad Museum in Goleta, California is a showplace for the Goleta Depot, a preserved 1901 Southern Pacific Railroad train station. The museum also features the Goleta Short Line, a gauge miniature railroad, a Southern Pacific cab ...

, and other points of interest in Goleta. Wildlife including

coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

and

bobcats The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IU ...

have been observed from the trails.Edhat News wildlife report and photos
/ref>John Dickson's Santa Barbara Attractions Guide: Stow House
/ref>

References

External links

{{commons category, Stow House
Stow House
- Goleta Valley Historical Society official site Houses in Santa Barbara County, California Goleta, California Historic house museums in California Museums in Santa Barbara County, California Historical society museums in California Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Barbara County, California History of Santa Barbara County, California Carpenter Gothic architecture in California Carpenter Gothic houses in the United States 1873 establishments in California Houses completed in 1873