  Located on the campus of the Thacher School in Southern California, the
Thacher Observatory has a legacy of astronomy research and education that dates
back to the late 1950's. In 2016, the observatory was fully renovated with
upgrades including a new 0.7-m telescope, a research grade camera, and a slit
dome with full automation capabilities. The low-elevation site is bordered by
the Los Padres National Forest and therefore affords dark to very dark skies
allowing for accurate and precise photometric observations. We present a
characterization of the site including sky brightness, weather, and seeing, and
we demonstrate the on-sky performance of the facility. Our primary research
programs are based around our multi-band photometric capabilities and include
photometric monitoring of variable sources, a nearby supernova search and
followup program, a quick response transient followup effort, and exoplanet and
eclipsing binary light curves. Select results from these programs are included
in this work which highlight the broad range of science available to an
automated observatory with a moderately sized telescope.
