San Dieguito Heritage Museum

Teten House

The Teten House was moved from Rancho Santa Fe Road in Old Olivenhain to the Heritage Ranch in 2003. It consists of two houses constructed for Colony Olivenhain in 1885. In 1892 Friedrich (Fred) Teten purchased the abandoned houses and combined them to make a home for his family. Fred Teten was a blacksmith who moved from Kansas with his family to join the Olivenhain Colony. Fred’s son, John and his wife Laura (Bumann) began a turkey farm in 1928. The house was lived in by the Teten’s until the 1970s when Laura died.

The painstaking restoration of the Teten House was supervised by architect Dave Oakley. The house has been restored to depict the 1920s-1930s when there was no electricity or running water in the house. Gladys Teten, the daughter of John and Laura Teten, and her daughter Mary Lou Binkinz, have lovingly restored the original house furnishings. Gladys passed away in 2015, but Mary Lou continues the restoration.

The Teten House is open for docent-led tours Saturdays and Sundays 12:30-4:00pm.