Sunday, April 3, 2011

Old Adobes In Patagonia, Arizona



Patagonia, Arizona is a small town with a wealth of old adobes,
which I would guess mostly date to the last quarter of the 19th century, 
and the beginning of the 20th.


Even though Patagonia is in south central Arizona it is a higher elevation
 than Tucson making it a bit cooler and wetter.

The above house I showed in the post Portals #2
on March 2nd.


One of the interesting things on these adobes
 is that many of them have no stucco on them,
 but rather show the bare adobe, as above. 


This is the side view of the same house.

The long narrow dormer is most likely a modern addition.


I would guess that this was a shop at one time...


...and this weathered wall is a double adobe.

The outside course was once as thick as the stone foundation
but time has worn it down.

A gutter on the roof would have helped keep rain from splashing
 and blowing on the wall. 

Take note.


Most of these houses look to be four square
which means they had four symmetrical rooms inside
 creating a square house on the outside.

The interior walls would have most likely been adobe also
creating a structurally sound house.

And the typical hip roof protects the house on all sides 
with no tall gable end for rain to course down.

The four square, with a hip roof, is a design you see all over the country
 (if not the world) in houses built in this time period
 no matter the local materials that may have been used.

It is a solid, efficient way to build.


This sun room fits in nicely with this house.


This is one of the only two story houses we saw.

This house was shown in the post Old Adobes from February 16th.