Peregrine Chapel, Mission San Juan Capistrano
Conservation Treatments for Historic Adobe Structure
San Juan Capistrano, CA

Built in the early 20th century, the Peregrine Chapel is an adobe structure adjoining the Serra Chapel, considered the oldest church in California. The building showed numerous signs of deterioration, most of which resulted from water retention.

In 2005, ARG Conservation Services (ARG/CS) studied the existing conditions of the building fabric and outlined treatment recommendations for the chapel. Thereafter, ARG/CS was retained to provide, in conjunction with Mission San Juan Capistrano’s on-site conservation team, specialized conservation treatments.

ARG/CS introduced a variety of both traditional and contemporary techniques for the most effective treatments. These included: removing deteriorated portions of wood and filling with a specialized consolidant; documenting existing conditions and molding new material to have the same texture and carvings as original fabric; removing the concrete shell and replacing with the historically compatible lime plaster; replacing deteriorated adobe bricks with custom, locally-manufactured units of the same material; and providing chemical and finishing treatments to inhibit future pest infestation.