It consisted of Father Prefect Vincente Francisco Sarria, and Father Luis Gil y Tabara and two friars, as well as Lt. Luis Arquello, commandant of the Presidio and several soldiers. No one knows what the mission looked like. San Rafael Mission never made any pretense to beauty. We know that the roof was tiled and that the walls were made of adobe.
Most people agree that the mission contained a monastery, storehouse, and a hospital.
Raphael Garcia said it was one-story high with a granary in the loft. Pedro Sais said it was two stories high. Lauff maintains the interior was very plain, even the altar. As expected, pear trees did well in the front of the mission, and in the back, a vegetable patch was fenced. The mission was on the site it now stands on, at C Street, in San Rafael.