The Oyharzabal Family

The Oyharzabal Family. . Eugene Oyharzabal and her daughter Carmelita (Carmen) are greatly respected for their vision and generosity in the Los Rios District and San Juan Capistrano. , In 1878, Domingo was the first Oyharzabal to arrive in San Juan Capistrano. Having left his home in France, he traveled to Chile and then to California. While living in Inyo County he developed an interest in sheep farming, bringing it to Orange County which he believed was the most perfect place in the state. Domingo began acquiring land eventually amassing over 4,000 acres within a few years. With those acres he planted walnuts and oranges, raised cattle, other livestock and had a herd of 25,000 sheep. , Domingo opened a hotel he called the French Hotel to house the other French Basque workers. The hotel building was built in the Monterey style of architecture, and is the best example of this type of construction in Orange County. Next to the hotel was the Domingo Yorba Adobe, now on the National Register of Historic Places, and where the Ovharzabal family has lived since the 1880s. , Nephew Esteban Oyharzabal had joined his uncle in San Juan Capistrano and managed the property for the family. Esteban's wife, Eugenie and their daughters, Carmen and Marie Theresa continued the family business into the 21st century. , The Ito family bougnt their nursery property, which included half of River Street from Eugenie Oyharzabal. Carmen with her brother in-law Tom Rodriguez gifted the san Juan Capistrano Historical Society with its property, housing four unique historical structures: the Silvas Adobe, Leck House, Stanfield abode, and the Garcia/Pryor house, home to the O'Neill museum. Without the vision and generosity of the Oyharzabal family the SJC Historical Society would not have its home, nor been able to preserve the other structures.