page_title: Rancho Petaluma Adobe
section_title: Decline of 1846–1910
hierarchical_section_title: Rancho Petaluma Adobe / History / Decline of 1846–1910
caption_attribution_description: English: A bust of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1807–1890) located at the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park outside of Petaluma, California
context_page_description: Rancho Petaluma Adobe is a historic ranch house in Sonoma County, California. It was built from adobe bricks in 1836 by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. It was the largest privately owned adobe structure built in California and is the largest example of the Monterey Colonial style of architecture in the United States. A section of the former ranch has been preserved by the Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park and it is both a California Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. The Rancho Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park is located on Adobe Road on the east side of the present-day town of Petaluma, California.
context_section_description: The fate of the ranch turned in 1846–48 when the United States and Mexico went to war: Lieutenant Colonel Vallejo was imprisoned for his position in the Mexican military, and in his absence, John C. Frémont requisitioned and stripped the ranch of its horses, cattle and grain reserves for the California Battalion. Many of the natives, his main labor force, fled from the soldiers. Thereafter the ranch declined in value and profitability every year.
  In 1851 Vallejo submitted a claim to the United States for the animals and materials requisitioned by Fremont, et al..  His claim was reduced by a Board of Officers appointed by the Congress to examine the claims and Vallejo was paid $48,700 in 1855.
  The University of California considered purchasing it for a campus site in 1856. Vallejo sold the building and 1,600 acres (6.5 km²) to William Whiteside for $25,000 circa 1857 who sold it to William Bliss. The southeast half of the adobe deteriorated and the Bliss family could not afford all the repairs.
caption: A bust of General Vallejo at the park
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