Left to Right: John Morris Sr and Jason Morris 

There’s no doubt that San Tan Adobe represents the longest standing experience for large-scale Adobe manufacturing in the Southwest… but it wasn’t always that way. They began as Santa Fe` Adobe in the small town north of Wickenburg in 1972. Soon after getting started, they realized that that soil found in this area was not suitable for producing adobes.

Looking for guidance, John Morris (left) and Lee Ahnlund  (right), turned to the Hans Sumpf co. Looking for guidance, John Morris (left) and Lee Ahnlund  (right), turned to the Hans Sumpf co.along with the Weir Brothers of Escondido, CA. and Dr. Richard Ferm of the International Foundation for Earth Construction in Washington D.C.  to aide in their soil studies. The team realized that  in order to manufacture a quality adobe, they would need to find and re-locate the facility to a place with the right soil composition or import the soil. John and Lee left the meeting  in search of the “right soil”. 

After weeks of searching and armed with suitcases filled with dirt marked “Buckeye” and “Queen Creek”, John and Lee boarded a plane for California to attend another meeting with the Hans Sumpf Company. After analyzing the soil, it was decided that the San Tan Adobe facility would be located in Queen Creek Arizona, where it still resides today, under the ownership of John’s two sons Jason and John Jr.. You could say Jason and John have been involved in San Tan Adobe their whole lives

History

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The San Tan Adobe Company