Celebrating Juana Briones' Legacy on her Birthday/Save Her Historic House!

The Juana Briones house is the oldest building in the city of Palo Alto, having been built in the 1840's, and is recognized as both a local and a state historical landmark. Yet the owners want to demolish the house so they can build a modern suburban dwelling in the hills of Palo Alto.

Despite court rulings the couple has let the home fall into neglect and disrepair. Preservationists, California history aficionados, and the Raging Grannies are determined NOT to let this situation continue. They protested today in a park named for the heroine of the *Californio* period of California history.

All wished a happy birthday to Juana Briones, known to be a healer and a great humanitarian at a celebration in Juana Briones Park today. Juana would have been 206 years old as of March 12, 2010.

Her home is in the foothills above Palo Alto, California at 4155 Old Adobe Road, two blocks west of the intersection of Arastradero Road and Foothill Expressway. The home is historically significant, as it has preserved a rare construction method: infilling a crib of horizontal redwood boards with adobe. Stanford Professor Al Camarillo and others have chastised the city of Palo Alto for neglecting to ensure that the house is properly maintained.