The Kimball brothers had dreams, too, of a transcontinental railroad terminating at the property they acquired in 1868 in what is today National City and Chula Vista,

Frank A. Kimball's Italianate-style house, relocated to A Avenue in National City in 1977, bespeaks the hopes of men of dreams.

And women, too.

For in the parlor is a partner desk shared by Frank's brother Warren and Warren's wife, Flora.

JOHN GASTALDO / Union-Tribune The living room or sala of the Rancho Buena Vista adobe in Vista has been decorated to complement with 19th-century architecture.

“She was a feminist,” Coons said, and, freed from daily chores by her house staff, she founded the Olivewood Woman's Club, championed sericulture in the South Bay (to promote silk production), served on the National City school board, brought suffragette Susan B. Anthony to town and was the first San Diegan to write a novel, “The Fairfields,” published in Chicago in 1871.

Her husband and his brothers wined and dined outside investors in their homes, seating them at furniture shipped from Michigan and serving them on china from England or China.

“We think of pioneers coming out and starting a town, rugged individuals starting a city,” Coons said. “All these were corporate endeavors and required investors.”

Founding fathers (and mothers) led hard life DETAILS: “Houses of the Founding Fathers” by Hugh Howard, Artisan, 354 pages, $50 Online: Author Hugh Howard discussed life in the 18th and early 19th century in an interview with the Home section. Go to uniontrib.com/more/founders. EXCERPTS: Aside from sunlight, the sole source of heat was fire, usually in an open fireplace; after sunset, illumination was by either moonlight or candlelight. There was no indoor plumbing; the flush toilet, the bathroom and the kitchen faucet would be 19th-century innovations – meaning chamber pots, outhouses and buckets were a way of life. Aside from a minority of city dwellers, everybody was a farmer. Every household produced some, and in many cases all, of the candles, soap, foodstuffs and clothing it required. Life, in short, was hard in the time of the Founding Fathers.

In the El Cajon Valley about this time, Amaziah Knox, born in Maine, oversaw the planting of wheat when he was hired in 1869 by the new owners of the local ranch.

Then when gold was discovered in Julian, he built El Cajon's first hotel in 1876 – a structure he lived in with his wife Matilda and children. It is a house museum owned by the city of El Cajon and operated by the El Cajon Historical Society.

Local historian Eldonna Lay led the way through the modest cottage, outfitted with little bits of luxury for the day, such as a chocolate pot for serving the delicious liquid considered a special treat a century ago.

“They were willing to invest in good furniture and a good lifestyle,” she said.

Schoolchildren are fascinated by the primitive but durable toys handmade in the pre-TV, -radio, -movie and -telephone age.

Which brings up the challenge of promoting the Knox House and other such structures that have been acquired, restored and opened to the public. Lay said apart from school groups, only 10 to 15 people stop by on any given Saturday, the one day of the week when volunteers are on hand.

“As lovely as it is to have the museum, our main reason for being is to preserve the history of the area,” she said, “so we are investing the money we've saved all these years in all new technical equipment. We're going to be digitizing everything in our files.”

Mud and movie stars

HOME TOURS Every San Diego neighborhood, town, city and business has a founder, but not all the founders' homes still exist or are available for public tours. Here is a sample of some of the places that welcome visitors. Discounts on entrance fees are offered in some cases for certain ages, groups, members and residents; some sites are also open by appointment or for scheduled tours. WILLIAM HEATH DAVIS HOUSE (1850) Founder of downtown San Diego: Alonzo E. Horton (1813-1906); 410 Island Ave., downtown San Diego Open: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tues.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sun., $5 Information: (619) 233-4692, gaslampquarter.org ESTUDILLO HOUSE (1829) Founder of Old Town: José María Estudillo (1772-1830); Old Town State Historic Park, south side of Washington Square Open: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, no charge Information: (619) 220-5422, parks.ca.gov GLORIETTA BAY INN (1908) Founder of Coronado and many businesses: John D. Spreckels (1853-1926); 1630 Glorietta Blvd., Coronado Tours: 11 a.m. Tues., Thurs., Sat., $12 Information: (619) 435-3101, gloriettabayinn.com KNOX HOUSE (1876) Founder of El Cajon: Amaziah Knox (1833-1918); 280 N. Magnolia Ave., El Cajon Open: Saturdays, times vary, no charge Information: (619) 444-3800, elcajonhistory.org MCGEE HOUSE (1887) Founder of Carlsbad: Samuel Church Smith (1825-1907); 258 Beech St., Carlsbad Open: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fri., Sat., $1; teas and tours, Tues., Thurs. by appointment two weeks in advance, $15. Information: (760) 434-9189, carlsbadhistoricalsociety.com RANCHO GUAJOME (1853) Founder of San Marcos and Vista: Cave Johnson Couts (1821-1874); 2210 N. Santa Fe Ave., Vista Open: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sat.-Sun., $3 Information: (760) 724-4082, co.san-diego.ca.us/parks/camping/guajome.html RANCHO LOS PEÑASQUITOS RANCH HOUSE (1824) Founder of Del Mar: Jacob Taylor (1844-1930); 12020 Black Mountain Road, Mira Mesa Tours: 11 a.m. Sat., 1 p.m. Sunday, no charge Information: (858) 484-7504, earlysandiego.org RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA Y LAS FLORES (1841) Founder of Mexican California: Pío Pico (1801-1894); Camp Pendleton; Vandegrift Boulevard at Basilone Road Tours: Tues., Thurs. by reservation only, 6 weeks in advance, via e-mail, jonasonfa@mail.cpp.usmc.mil; fax, (760)725-5147; or mail, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Public Affairs Office, History & Museums, P.O. Box 555019, Camp Pendleton, CA 92055 Information: (760) 725-5758, www. pendleton. usmc. mil/ impact/ history.asp VERLAQUE HOUSE (1886) Founder of Ramona: Theophile Verlaque (1832-1913); 645 Main St., Ramona Open: 1-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sun., $3 Information: (760) 789-7644, woodwardmuseum.org WHALEY HOUSE (1857) Founder of Old Town businesses: Thomas Whaley (1823-1890); 2476 San Diego Ave., Old Town Open: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Tues.; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thurs.-Sun $6, $10 after 5 p.m. Information: (619) 297-7511, whaleyhouse.org – ROGER SHOWLEY

But there's no way to digitize a historic house, especially one as sprawling and organic as the Rancho Buena Vista adobe in Vista.

There are layers of history to explore in every room – starting with the story of Felipe Subria. He was a Luiseño rancher who received the land grant from Mexican California Gov. Pío Pico in 1845 and then handed it to his daughter Maria de la Garcia and her fiancé William B. Dunn as a wedding present in 1851.

The next owner, Jesus Machado, built the first rooms of the adobe and construction continued under other owners over the next 40 years. And in the 1930s, Hollywood producer Harry Pollard and his wife Margarita dressed it up with imported Spanish tiles, hung heavy wooden doors from Europe and upgraded the grounds with fountains, plantings and patios.

In one corner of the grounds, said Beverly Fisher, the rancho's overseer on behalf of the city of Vista which purchased the property in 1989, is a magnolia reportedly donated to the Pollards by Joan Crawford.

But upkeep of this and any other historic property represents a burdensome curse to its protectors.

“Water really is the enemy of adobe walls,” Fisher said, turning mud bricks to mud puddles if the exterior plaster isn't continuously maintained and the roof tiles not kept in good repair.

President slept here

Some miles north is another adobe, the Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores, until last October the official home of the base commander at Camp Pendleton. Construction started by 1827 and the structure grew into a 10,000-square-foot hacienda that the Marines inherited when they bought the base in 1942.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt stopped by the base soon after and marked one bedroom as meant for the “next ex-president,” though he never lived to see that day. President George H.W. Bush visited after the leaving the White House and insisted on staying overnight in this “President's Room.”

Base historian Faye Jonason, who leads tours of the ranch house, said annual upkeep has reached $300,000 or more, and now thoughts have turned to making the property a tourist destination that can pay for part of the ongoing upkeep.

The day after Coons led this tour, the San Diego Historical Society's Gabe Selak opened up the Marston House on the edge of Balboa Park for a visit. George W. Marston, the leading merchant in town at the turn of the 20th century, founded many philanthropic institutions, championed long-term planning and ran for mayor in 1913 and 1917, both times unsuccessfully.

Built in 1905, the Marston House is notable not only for its owner but also its architects, Irving J. Gill and William S. Hebbard. Marston installed some high-tech features for his day – a copper-tubing system for solar hot-water heating and electric generators for his house, his neighbors' houses and his two electric-powered vehicles.

But what surprises visitors on a cloudy day is the home's interior dimness, the spare electric lights hardly making a dent on the dark wood floor and walls that were common in Craftsman-era homes.

And yet, the way the Marstons lived comes through in the anecdotes docents relate – such as how Marston would entertain his guests by playing and singing at his piano. His wife would firmly close the pocket doors between the music room and living room so guests could continue their conversation above the racket.

Smokestacks and Geraniums is an occasional look at the growth and development issues as they relate to historic trends in San Diego. The name is derived from a 1917 San Diego mayoral campaign pitting quick-fix forces against advocates of long-term planning.