Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House

The Hubert H. Bancroft Ranch House is a single-story adobe building with an open veranda supported by square posts and gabled roofs covered in wooden shingles. The structure shows the craftsmanship of early California building practices and was gradually expanded over time.

Augustus Ensworth built the structure in the 1850s before it became home to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft in 1885. Bancroft later transformed the original farm into a substantial estate and made it the center of his extensive collection of regional materials.

The house served as a gathering place for scholars and collectors interested in regional history. Its function as a research center and later as a museum shapes how people experience and understand the property today.

The building sits on Memory Lane in the Spring Valley area and today operates as a museum run by the community. Visitors can explore the rooms and see original objects that tell the story of the region and the estate.

The house contains beams salvaged from the Clarissa Andrews, a coal freighter that sank in San Diego Bay. These unusual building materials connect the structure directly to a local maritime disaster.

Location: San Diego County

Address: 9050 Memory Lane

GPS coordinates: 32.73639,-116.98833

Latest update: December 14, 2025 11:05