Ed Borein's Home (part 2)
The Borein's home "La Barranca" was built of adobe bricks in a style that resembled the Native American pueblos of the Southwest. The interior was decorated with their fabulous basket collection. The Boreins loved to have guests and among them were celebrities of the day such as entertainer Will Rogers, and Western artists Charles Russell and Carl Oscar Borg. The 1925 earthquake rendered the home unlivable, but the Boreins rebuilt, and Lucille stayed on in the home for many years after her husband died in 1945.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Mesa kids called the house "The Alamo." It was a surfer hangout in the early 1960s. Well-known names in the surfing culture such as cinematographer Dale Davis used to hang out there. One of the residents even made "Alamo Ale" on the property.
The Borein house lives on in people's memories, and the Santa Barbara Historical Museum now has a Borein gallery that holds numerous sketches done by the artist as well as the famous lintel from the home that reads "La Barranca."