As the last shudders of the Loma Prieta Earthquake subsided on October 17, 1989, a great cloud of brown adobe dust rose from the collapsed walls of a once-magnificent rancho overlooking the Pajaro Valley.
In this compelling biography of one of the last historic adobes in Santa Cruz County, writer and historian Suzanne Paizis traces the fate of the Castro Adobe, from pride of the wealthy Castro family in the 1840s to mysterious and sometimes ramshackle home for a succession of colorful families who followed in the 20th century (including Paizis’ own family) and finally to decaying symbol of the past.
In the second edition, nine new chapters pick up after the Loma Prieta Earthquake to tell the unlikely story of how a grand old adobe, fallen on hard times, is being reborn as the Castro Adobe State Historic Park with help from Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, California State Parks and a community of passionate grassroots supporters.