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John Rains House
Bryant Irawan/Indonesia Media
 As I look back at my past adventures, I realize I’ve focused slightly too much attention on the west side of Los Angeles. Of course, downtown and all the urban areas of LA are located on the west side, have some but surely, the east side must attractive or historic tour destinations right? Little did I know my overestimation of the east would soon haunt me for the rest of my life.
This time, my adventure takes me to John Rains House in Rancho Cucamonga. As you may have known, California used to be owned by independent ranchers. In 1839, the 13,000 acre rancho (now Rancho Cucamonga) was given to Tapia, a wealthy Los Angeles merchant. Tapia transferred his cattle to Cucamonga and built a fort-like adobe house on Red Hill. Later on, the Cucamonga Rancho was sold in 1858 to John Rains by Tapia’s daughter, Maria Merced Tapia de Prudhomme, and her husband Leon Victor Prudhomme which is how we end up at John Rains house.
 After purchasing Rancho Cucamonga for $16,500, John Rains constructed a brick building on the property at a cost of $18,000 in 1860 with the help of the Ohio brick masons. Its flat roof was waterproofed by tar from the Brea pits in Los Angeles and an open flume carried water from springs through the kitchen, into the patio, and under the house to the orchard acting as a AC system. I do admit the house has some pretty innovative features for its time, but the overall size of the tiny house makes it seem questionable that the house is worth more than the property itself. The most outstanding feature is supposedly the pattern of how the bricks are laid, but the number of visitors present at the time shows how much people really care. I understand that the Rains House is a historic site (this is also debatable because only twenty percent of all the items in the house are original), but honestly, it’s a fairly simple house in a deserted area. One thing’s for sure though, it’ll be a long time until I visit the east again.
 
 
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