by Nicolas Liakas

SBR EXPLORES THE DANA ADOBE & CULTURAL CENTER

By Nicolas Liakas

Driving trips are the best when we are with Porsche friends and to locations where we learn something new.

On a sunny and warm June 25, 38 SBR members, traveling in 21 Porsches, caravanned from Santa Barbara to Nipomo, winding our way through the Santa Ynez Valley, wine country, and the agricultural fields of Santa Maria. The goal was the Dana Adobe & Cultural Center. The Adobe—or “Casa de Dana”—is on the National Register of Historic Places and was the home of Boston sea captain William Dana, who in 1837 was granted the nearly 38,000acre Rancho Nipomo. The entire Rancho is listed as a California Historical Landmark. Adjacent to the restored Adobe is the Cultural Center, a modern building completed in 2016 and consisting of exhibit space, a gift shop, a meeting room, and offices for the administration of the Adobe.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by three docents who helped us move picnic tables out of the warm sun to inside the Center. The docents then provided the educational experience and the tours of the adobe structures and surrounding features, such as the pollinator, kitchen, and Chumash gardens. We listened with great interest about the history of the Nipomo Ranch and the Dana generations of owners and stewards of the land.

Opposite: The historic Dana Adobe as seen from the Cultural Center. Photo by Dennis Power. This page (top to bottom, left to right) —Photos by Bill Hallier: Trip leader Nicolas Liakas conducts the drivers meeting. The pre-drive gathering place in Santa Barbara. Four eager participants. Shop talk. On the road through wine country.

The Dana family made its presence felt in California for almost 200 years, and not just in the Nipomo area. One example is the connection between the Nipomo branch of the family with those at Dana Point in San Diego County. Part of that presence involved the experience of negotiating ownership rights with the Spanish owners, then the Mexican government, and finally with the California Republic when it seized control of the properties, claiming that the land grants were invalid—at least for a long while.

We were happy to be able to visit this site and most grateful for the kindness of the docents and the historical information they provided. Driving trips are the best when we are with Porsche friends and to locations where we learn something new. By 3:00 p.m. the last of our members departed for home. It was a special day and experience for all.

Nicolas Liakas is past editor of Der Auspuff. He’s been a member of PCA since 1994 and drives a 2020 992 C4S in Gentian Blue Metallic.

Top: Stopping midway for the group to regather. Photo by Bill Hallier. Middle: A few of our Porsches at the Cultural Center. Photo by Dennis Power. Bottom: A happy group winding up the day's tour. Photo by Bill Hallier..

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