History
The Tarwater House located at 24912 Plum Avenue was built in 1888 by brothers
Ross and Ernest Pefley. They sold the two-story home a year later to Benjamin and
Nancy (Kirkman) Tarwater, who had five children: Urban, Alda, Earl, Paul and Bennie.
In 1891, Benjamin Tarwater opened the B. W. Tarwater Cash Store at the intersection of B Street and 1 st Avenue. However, no one paid with cash; everything was on credit, because farmers paid for their purchases once a year. If farmers had a poor crop they would pay Tarwater with land. His generosity was well known. No one was ever refused groceries regardless of their financial problems.
Benjamin Tarwater built a new cement block store at the corner of B Street and
Washington in 1911. The Murrieta Country Market is currently operating in the former
Tarwater store.
The Tarwater General Store closed in the 1930s. Benjamin Tarwater died in 1939
and was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in the family plot at the Laurel Cemetery
according to his wishes.
Dick and Ayleen Gibbo purchased the Tarwater House in the 1980s and did an
extensive renovation, bringing the house back to its historic splendor. Dick Gibbo was a
local architect that designed many western facades in Old Town Temecula and the
Historic Downtown Murrieta District. Ayleen Gibbo was a founder of Citizens for
Historic Murrieta and helped lead preservation efforts for local historic structures and
properties.
Today the Tarwater House remains a historic treasure and a testament to a
successful pioneer family and their descendants.
