Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was a Californio military leader and landowner. Wikipedia says he began buying land for this estate after returning from California's 1849 constitutional convention. The house is one of six sites that make up Sonoma State Historic Park.
A house shipped around the Horn
According to Wikipedia, the house was built in 1851 and 1852. It's a prefabricated Carpenter Gothic home that was shipped around Cape Horn, and its walls are insulated with brick. Vallejo named the estate Lachryma Montis, Latin for 'mountain tear,' after the spring beside which the house was built. Wikipedia says the name translates the earlier native name Chiucuyem.
Vallejo lived there from 1852 until his death in 1890. Wikipedia says the estate also includes the Swiss Chalet, a warehouse from 1852, and that starting in 1873 water from the springs was sold to the town of Sonoma through redwood pipes. The state acquired the property in 1933. It is California Historical Landmark No. 4 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Visiting
California State Parks says you can visit the Vallejo Home, Mission San Francisco Solano and the Petaluma Adobe daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. One admission is $3 for adults, $2 for ages 6 to 17 and free for children 5 and under. The Sonoma State Historic Park Association says the park is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day and that docent-led tours run on weekends. State Parks' own staff-led guided tours are offered only from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Pair it with a visit to Mission San Francisco Solano, also covered by the same ticket.