Leonis Adobe Museum - Calabasas, California

Carlo N.

The Leonis Adobe House (est 1844) is a historic adobe museum and one of the oldest surviving pvt residences in the SF Valley. Admission is free, however, they accept donation of $5 bucks. We were greeted by one of the docent staff. Our female docent, Molly, gave a tour of the house. She was informative and affable.

The story begins with Miguel Leonis, a French immigrant, who refashioned the house into the two-story dwelling with wraparound exterior balcony. He shared it with his Chumash/Tongva Native American wife, Espiritu, and their daughter, Marcelina. He was illiterate albeit naturally gifted in business that eventually became a landowner. He owned 18,000 acres of land across So Cal.

The museum is only open on Weekends. They have free parking lot. Overall, I had a very good experience and learned a lot from the docent. I highly recommend you visit.

Stacey C.

I went as a chaperone with my kid’s class and it was very educational and interactive! There were lots of stations where the kids got to be hands on and experience a little bit of the chores that the kids used to be responsible for on the ranch. Shoutout to Hillary for being an excellent guide

Weshoyot A.

Beautifully kept grounds with docents both knowledgeable and eager to answer questions. The front part housing items belonging to the family are well displayed and kept for with nicely done and informative signage. The house tour was excellent and the rooms have been well kept and curated. The docent who led my tour was knowledgeable about the family, the history of the land and house and was able to answer my numerous questions. (I have done much research into those who lived in the house, their lives and the history associated with the families and the era, so I came with more specific questions and was happy to have the docent engage with my interests) . It is wonderful for a history buff, someone interested in early CA history or even city history. I could also see the broader museum very engaging for kids and young adults as there are numerous areas to explore and live animals which are kept very well. Overall I would recomend and plan to return with my family. I would also recomend the content available on YouTube, where the museums historian goes into great detail on items available to see when you visit.

Michael M.

Had a great visit here. Grounds are well-maintained and have plenty of interesting artifacts. Super friendly docents are happy to show you around and share their knowledge. A great snapshot of how Basque immigration intersected with the Native original caretakers of this land. Pro tip: parking is free, but the guy sitting at the street entrance won't tell you that. In fact, he will be happy to take a tip for himself out of your change if you hand him a twenty. Driver beware.

Evgeniia L.

I really like this museum. The tour is very interesting. There are many interesting exhibits on the territory and you can feed sheep, chickens and goats.

Sandra C.

It had alot of cool stuff the animals were a plus they had chickens turkeys, cats, horses long horned cows, sheep goats, etc.... the staff was very helpful and told us the history of the adobe museum which was pretty interesting. It was extremely hot this day but it was very nice. I would definitely return. You can take your kids or you can go alone with friends or family, you'll love it. They also have a very pretty garden.

Viliame K.

It was such a wonderful experience for us especially the kids (4th grade fieldtrip). Got to time travel back to those pioneer days. The place is rich in history. The displays and activities were great! Most of all, our tour guide was awesome. Thank you. Bravo!!

Ava K.

They are very persistent with the $5 donations. The museum isn’t free, they pressure you for a $5 donation. They might as well just charge $5 admission fee to get in. A lot of people were irritated by the pushiness of this from what I witnessed.