{{short description|Historic house in California, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Stow House | nrhp_type = | image = Stow house goleta historical.jpg | caption = The Stow House, Goleta, California | location = 304 N. Los Carneros Rd., [[Goleta, California]] | coordinates = {{coord|34|26|34|N|119|51|3|W|display=inline,title}} | locmapin = California#USA | architect = | architecture = Gothic Revival, Italianate | added = September 28, 2000 | area = less than one acre | refnum = 00001166<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a}}</ref> }}
The '''Stow House''' is a [[United States|U.S.]] historical landmark in [[Goleta, California|Goleta]], [[California]], United States. Formerly the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, the Stow House, in the [[Carpenter Gothic]] style, is now the headquarters of Goleta Historical Society which preserves and interprets the history of the Goleta Valley.<ref name=goletahist>[http://goletahistory.org/wstow.html The Goleta Valley Historical Society: The Stow House]</ref>
==History== The Stow House was once the headquarters of Rancho La Patera, on the original [[Rancho La Goleta]]. In 1871, William Whitney Stow, a legal counsel for Southern Pacific Railroad in San Francisco, purchased {{convert|1043|acre|km2}} costing $28,677 for his son, Sherman P. Stow. Sherman Stow built a Carpenter Gothic [[Victorian architecture|Victorian]] home on the site and moved into the house with his bride, Ida G. Hollister, in 1873. The family expanded the house in two major renovations in the 1880s and 1910s. The house was occupied by three generations of Stow descendants.<ref name=goletahist/>
[[Image:Stow House 7245.jpg|right|thumb|275px|Stow House in Goleta Valley, California.]]
===Lemon orchard=== [[Image:Aerial LakeLosCarneros StowHouse GoletaDepot RailMuseum.jpeg|right|thumb|275px|Stow House area, orchards, and Lake Los Carneros]]
In 1875, 3,000 lemon trees were planted in the first commercial [[lemon]] [[orchard]] planting in California. Sherman Stow's son, state senator Edgar Whitney Stow, set up a research laboratory at the ranch and developed disease resistant lemon [[rootstock]] of great value to local growers. The earliest commercial irrigation in the area took place on the ranch using the pond created by the Stows. The pond was expanded to create Lake Los Carneros which remains within the park.<ref name=goletahist/>
==Museum== The house museum displays family photographs and furniture, with stories of Sherman and Ida Stow and their descendants.
==Nearby attractions== The Stow House is located next to [[Carneros Creek (Santa Barbara County, California)#Recreation|Lake Los Carneros]] with walking trails and bird watching, [[Goleta Depot]] at the [[South Coast Railroad Museum]], and other points of interest in Goleta.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Molina |first=Joshua |date=2025-10-28 |title=Several Trees Illegally Chopped Down at Lake Los Carneros in Goleta |url=https://www.noozhawk.com/several-trees-illegally-chopped-down-at-lake-los-carneros-in-goleta/ |work=Noozhawk |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=santabarb/> Wildlife including [[coyotes]] and [[bobcats]] have been observed from the trails.<ref name=wildlife>[http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=55452 Edhat News wildlife report and photos]</ref><ref name=santabarb>[http://www.santabarbara.com/points_of_interest/stowhouse John Dickson's Santa Barbara Attractions Guide: Stow House]</ref>
==Hauntings== The Stow House was featured on episode 4, season 26 of ''[[Ghost Adventures]]'' which first aired on June 28, 2023. During the episode, the Ghost Adventures crew investigated the Stow House and interviewed people who claimed to have witnessed [[supernatural]] activity within the house.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.discovery.com/shows/ghost-adventures/episodes/stow-house-haunting|title=Stow House Haunting|website=discovery.com |date=28 June 2023 |access-date=2023-07-04}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Stow House}} * [http://www.stowhouse.com/ Stow House] - Goleta Valley Historical Society official site
[[Category:Houses in Santa Barbara County, California]] [[Category:Goleta, California]] [[Category:Historic house museums in California]] [[Category:Museums in Santa Barbara County, California]] [[Category:Historical society museums in California]] [[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California]] [[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Santa Barbara County, California]] [[Category:History of Santa Barbara County, California]] [[Category:Carpenter Gothic architecture in California]] [[Category:Carpenter Gothic houses in the United States]] [[Category:1873 establishments in California]] [[Category:Houses completed in 1873]] [[Category:Reportedly haunted locations in California]]