The John Rains House is a historic house located at 7869 Vineyard Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The house was built in 1860-61 after John Rains purchased the Rancho Cucamonga land grant in 1858. The brick house featured its own cooling system, which used ducts to send creek water under the house. John Rains was a prominent businessman and socialite who opened California's first commercial winery, and his house hosted lavish parties for other local elites. Rains' fortunes soon took a turn for the worse, though; he had to mortgage the house after several business failings, and in 1862 he was murdered. Maria Merced Williams, Rains' wife and inheritor of the rancho, attempted to maintain her lifestyle after Rains' death, but the rancho was gradually parceled out until she lost the entire property in the 1870s.The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 24, 1973. It is currently open to the public as a historic house museum and is a branch site of the San Bernardino County Museum.
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