The Santa Barbara Mission lavanderia, a clothes-washing basin, was built in 1808 by the Chumash Indians of the mission village. Not all missions built such a structure. The Chumash particularly valued cleanliness and constructed this lavanderia with water supplied by a complex aqueduct system. The only other surviving intact colonial lavanderia is at Mission San Luis Rey near Oceanside. Its south spout is formed by a finely carved mountain lion's head made by a Chumash artisan, which may be the oldest public sculpture in California, while the bear's head on the north end is a modern replica. The structure stands as an achievement of the Chumash people who lived and worked there in mission time. Landscaping around it features native and colonial-period plant varieties, including historic roses, mission-period cacti and perennials, native Rosa Californica, the colonial import Rose of Castile propagated from historic stock found at Mission San Antonio, the Kinevan Rose from the stagecoach stop on San Marco Pass, a Mission grape variety collected from Mission San Jose, the native Rogers Red grape, and imported colonial-period grapes collected from mission and rancho sites including Mission San Jose, San Gabriel, La Purisima, and various Santa Barbara County ranchos. The Chumash's success in cultivating these grapes originated the wine industry in Santa Barbara County.
