Jensen-Alvarado Ranch house gives glimpse of 1800s

The brick ranch house on the Jensen-Alvarado Ranch in Rubidoux greets several thousand visitors each year, giving them an up-close look at Inland life in the 1800s. Elementary school children and seniors alike shuffle through the home, examining the bedroom furniture that belonged to the home's original owners, eyeing a cradle where babies were once rocked to sleep and looking at a piano that belonged to the home's original owners. The ranch, at 4307 Briggs St. in Riverside, was built by Cornelius Jensen, a retired sea captain and native of the island of Sylt. He reportedly completed the home in 1870. The home is the oldest nonadobe structure in the Inland Empire, according to information provided by Nancy Wenzel, interpretive services supervisor for the ranch, which is owned and operated by Riverside County. Jensen built the ranch and planted the vineyards and orchards on 460 acres he purchased from Louis Robidoux. At one point, the ranch was worth about $30,000, making it the second-most valuable in the Riverside and West Riverside areas...read more