Los Rios District

A couple of adobe houses lined the tracks just across the depot, so I need some of these tiny buildings on my layout also. They will be prominently visible along the aisle.


On the homepage of the San Juan Capistrano Histocial Society we learn that the street is on the National Register of Historic Places and includes those houses facing Los Rios Street. A street that has not changed all that much since it first became a location for the homes of the Acjachemen/Juaneno Indian neophytes who were not confined to the Mission. This in itself was unusual. At most Missions the neophytes lived in reed huts, “kichas”, which were burned when old and rebuilt as needed. Of the original adobes, all were built about 1794, once lined this street, only three left: the Silvas, Rios, and Montanez Adobes. The Rios Adobe has been continuously occupied by descendents of the original owner.

The first adobe house I build is the Lupe Combs House. It's located at Verdugo Street near the railroad crossing and is the first house of the Los Rios Historic District. It was built in 1878 in Forster City and was moved to San Juan in 1882. On the photo above we see the adobe house which was mainly build with adobe bricks. The walls were painted white. The addition to the right was build of wood.

I usually start with .040" plain styrene to build the basic walls. Depending on what kind of finish my structure will have - brick, clapboard, board and batten or stucco - I just laminate these profiled sheets on top of the plain walls. The plain walls are cut to the exact size that the building will have. Using my windows and doors as a guide I score the dimensions on the walls. 

 

Then I drill an 8mm (.30") hole in the center of the door and window locations to insert my nibbling tool. Working along the score lines I bite pieces of styrene off until the opening is cleared. A few passes with a sanding stick and the openings for the doors and windows are ready.

Then I glue the plain walls to the desired siding. In my case it is Plastruct HO Brick sheet, that I use to represent the adobe walls. After the glue has set thoroughly I cut the walls out leavin .060" overhang on the long walls. These "noses" will cover the thickness of the side walls with the brick patterna also and give the assembly more strenght than just a butt joint. (see the right picture above)

Then I drill small holes in all four corners of the door and window locations. I cut the openings free with a couple of passes with a hobby knife.

Then I glue the wall sections together using a Mico-Mark metal gluing jig. The magnets fix the pieces in place and square until the glue sets.

I repeated the process for the wooden annex building.

This time I laminated the sub walls to a sheet of Evergreen Board and Batten siding. Again cutting the window openings out as discribed above.

Finishing, painting and scenicking the first adobe house will be covered in one of my nexts posts.

Stay tuned!