In 1858 Agustin Machado became the owner of the land now knows as Lake Elsinore. He built an adobe house (that still stands to this day) on the southwest shore of the lake, where he raised his family of 12 children and tended to his cattle.
During the time when the Machado family owned the land their home became an official stop of the Butterfield Stagecoach. Mail and passengers would stop at the home for food and rest until the coaches were halted due to the Civil War. During the war there were no official stagecoaches running through the area, however, private coaches, war suppliers, immigrants, and many other people used the stage route and stayed at the Machado residence.
Rancho La Laguna continued on in this vein, with the large Machado family tending to their herd of cattle and caring for travellers for many years. However, by 1873 most of the land had been sold to developers and the Machado family only retained about 500 acres.
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The Machado adobe is not occupied at the moment, and hasn't been for many years. Yet, it is still standing strong and even the entry posts are still there. The house can be seen from Grand Ave at the southwest corner of the lake between Riverside drive and the entrance to the Ortega hwy.
It is a beautiful old building and I really hope that at some point it gets restored and cared for properly. If I ever win the lottery (guess I should start playing?) I would love to spend the remainder of my days bringing back some of the old glory, beauty, and charm that can be found in the still standing history of Lake Elsinore.
(I will be driving around town this weekend taking pictures of the Machado house and many other places as well. If I can find my camera... Wish me luck!)
Location of the Machado Adobe. (It is the reddish building in the field, just to the right of the mobile home park.)
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I just went out and took pics of this adobe! I was so excited thinking it was an actual butterfield stage stop, but I just read that it was not the actual stage stop. It is part of the rancho, but apparently the Manriquez adobe (also on this same rancho) was the actual stop. It was razed in 1964, unfortunately. 3 palm trees still remain where the adobe once stood at 32912 Macy Avenue. It is now a vacant lot. Despite the Machado adobe not being the actual stage stop, it is still a really cool piece of history! I was thrilled that it is still there!
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