"Battle of Moraga Adobe" Shaping Up In Lamorinda

Today, Lamorinda's lone reminder of pre-Gold Rush California's scrappy past sits boarded up and crumbling on a hillside overlooking southernmost Orinda – near the Orinda-Moraga city line – and a new fight is brewing that could determine whether future generations ever get to see it.

In 1841, before Del Rey Elementary School, before the Moraga Country Club, a man named Don Joaquin Moraga settled the land with its sweeping views of the Moraga Valley and Mt. Diablo.  Don Moraga built a three-room house out of adobe, the only material available to him and the one best suited for the climate, and moved his family in.

With its natural springs and aerie-like views, the adobe served as the old Don's headquarters, a place to watch over his considerable holdings – even when those holdings were whittled away by time and carpetbaggers.

The original adobe walls were covered as the home changed hands and renovations were made.  Traces of redwood floors cut from the old-growth groves in Canyon are now scarred and dotted with paint left behind by graffiti vandals.

Don Moraga's old homestead was designated a state Historic Landmark in 1954, and an Orinda City Landmark in 1995.

About a year and a half ago, the 20 acres that remains of Don Joaquin's once-formidable holdings were acquired by developer Michael Olson and three partners.  The group announced plans to build on the land – crowding out the resilient adobe and surrounding it with about 15 homes that would all but cut off the views the old ranchero and his family enjoyed from their veranda.  An old barn, part of the property but not as old as the adobe, was knocked down.

While the Orinda and Moraga historical societies petitioned for dedication of five acres of surrounding land to preserve the sightlines enjoyed by the Don and his family, the development team countered with a proposal to cede half an acre to the original homestead – with plans for two, two-story homes directly in front of it. Olson has since upped the amount of land he would cede to an acre.

That did not sit well with local preservation groups, who want to see the adobe restored to a semblance of its original state and pressed into service as a living history center for future generations.

Both historical societies are already in the fray and the Friends of the Joaquin Moraga Adobe (FJMA) mobilized last year when it appeared that a battle might be shaping up.  Today, about 100 Lamorindans – most of them Moragans – have joined the group.

The organization holds its next meeting 7:30 p.m. July 19 in the Moraga Fire Station conference room, 1280 Moraga Way.  New members are welcome, according to president Kent Long.