Lamorindans Invited to Celebrate Regionís Pioneer Heritage Moraga Adobe progress update slated for Oct. 21
By Laurie Snyder
Then: The Moraga Adobe in 1922.
Photo courtesy of the Historic American Buildings Survey of California.
California history lovers are invited to learn the latest about local efforts to preserve one of the county's oldest buildings while celebrating the area's rich cultural heritage at a special meeting about the Moraga Adobe from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Joaquin Moraga Adobe (FJMA), the reception and information session will be held in the Garden Room of the Orinda Library (26 Orinda Way), and will include refreshments, live music and a presentation by FJMA members about their continuing efforts to raise funds to purchase the Adobe and roughly 2.3 additional acres of surrounding land from J and J Ranch for $500,000.
The owners of J & J are building a subdivision on the south Orinda hill between Miramonte High and Del Rey Elementary schools where the Adobe is located. The purchase of the additional land by FJMA from J & J will help preserve the panoramic outlook that pioneer settlers had from the Adobe's front porch over Lamorinda's spectacular surrounding hills and valleys.
FJMA members are hoping to ultimately rehabilitate and furnish the structure in order to reverse the grand dame's vandalism-fueled decline while growing the next generation of humanities scholars and armchair historians. "Our plan is to operate the Adobe as a history and learning center, highlighting the history of the Adobe and the Joaquin Moraga family, as well as the history of the pre-Gold Rush, land grant era of the Lamorinda region, with access for school groups and the public," said S.B. Master.
Although this special event is free, attendees are asked to RSVP in advance: events@MoragaAdobe.org. To learn more about the Adobe and FJMA, check out the Lamorinda Weekly's online archives at www.lamorindaweekly.com, and visit the Friends' website: moragaadobe.org.
Now: Lamorinda Weekly photographer Ohlen Alexander captured this shot of the Adobe in April 2013. Completed in the 1840s by Joaquin Moraga, grandson of JosÇ Joaquin Moraga - the founder of San Francisco's famed Presidio, the adobe was restored in the 1940s by Katharine Brown White Irvine, widow of James Irvine and a member of the James Irvine Foundation's first Board of Directors.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Joaquin Moraga Adobe (FJMA), the reception and information session will be held in the Garden Room of the Orinda Library (26 Orinda Way), and will include refreshments, live music and a presentation by FJMA members about their continuing efforts to raise funds to purchase the Adobe and roughly 2.3 additional acres of surrounding land from J and J Ranch for $500,000. 
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA