We thought it would be a good time to talk about the history of the Blue Wing Inn as we honor May as Historic Preservation Month.
When Mariano Vallejo laid out the pueblo of Sonoma according to the Laws of the Indies in 1835, the site of the Blue Wing Inn became part of Lot 35. Although it is not recorded if there were any buildings on the site, based on the layout of missions, there was an overseers house on this location. The Mayordomo of the Sonoma Mission was Juan Miranda. He and his family lived in a one room adobe that is a part of the existing building. His was the first non-indigenous family in Sonoma.
The first recorded property transaction involving Lot 35 took place on July 11, 1836 when Vallejo granted the eastern half of the parcel to his associate Antonio Ortega. Vallejo gave up his position as majordomo of Sonoma to Ortega but Vallejo then fired him in 1837. Within a year of acquiring the parcel, Ortega was recorded as residing in a small adobe structure on the lot. Ortega was running a pulqueria (a shop selling the alcoholic beverage, pulque) as late as August 1848 on the site. The book titled ‘Early Inns of California’ suggests the dimensions of Ortega’s adobe were 35′ x 65′. These dimensions are consistent with the two eastern rooms today.
Ortega sold the adobe and the eastern half of lot 35 to Thomas Spriggs and James C. Cooper on August 15, 1849. General Vallejo was a witness to the transfer. In late 1849 Cooper and Spriggs began a second story addition above the original structure and added a wooden balcony, giving the structure the appearance of a Monterey style adobe. In early 1852, Cooper and Spriggs built a 35′ x 35′ two story addition on the west wall of the existing building. A Von Geldren painting completed in 1852 shows the ‘Sonoma House’, as it was now called, completed…