This is what passes for an historic preservation victory these days: A developer maybe will not turn one of the Bay Area’s oldest historic landmarks, the 1841 adobe built by settler Joaquin Moraga, after whom the town of Moraga is named, into a private clubhouse for a new neighborhood of luxury homes. Rather, developer J&J Ranch LLC has agreed to sell the adobe to a preservation group that will operate it as a museum. That is, if the Friends of the Moraga Adobe can come up with $500,000 to complete the purchase. Otherwise, it’s back to the private party house plan.
If the group succeeds, the adobe would be preserved on a 2.3-acre donut hole surrounded on all sides by 19 luxury hillside homes near Orinda’s border with Moraga. Contra Costa Times
Image: The adobe as it appeared in 1938/ Moraga Historical Society
History
