In 1871, William Whitney Stow purchased 1,043 acres of land for $28,677 for his son, Sherman P. Stow. Sherman built a Carpenter Gothic Victorian home on the site and moved into the house with his bride, Ida G. Hollister, in 1873. The building was originally the headquarters of Rancho La Patera on the original Rancho La Goleta.
In 1875, the family planted 3,000 lemon trees, marking the first commercial lemon orchard planting in California. Sherman's son, state senator Edgar Whitney Stow, established a research laboratory at the ranch and developed disease-resistant lemon rootstock. The ranch also hosted the earliest commercial irrigation in the area, utilizing a pond created by the Stows that was later expanded to create Lake Los Carneros.
Today, the house serves as the headquarters of the Goleta Historical Society and contains family photographs and furniture. The site has also gained modern fame as the location for an investigation by Ghost Adventures, where people claimed to have witnessed supernatural activity within the house.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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