Rancho Camulos facts for kids
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Rancho Camulos
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A view of Rancho Camulos from the northwest.
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 Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | 5164 East Telegraph Road, Piru, California |
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| Built | 1853 |
| Architectural style | Spanish Colonial Mission Revival Spanish Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 96001137 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | November 1, 1996 |
| Designated NHL | February 16, 2000 |
Rancho Camulos, also known as Rancho Camulos Museum, is a historic ranch in Ventura County, California. It is located near Piru, California, next to the Santa Clara River. This ranch was once the home of Ygnacio del Valle. He was an important leader, an alcalde (like a mayor) of Los Angeles, in the 1800s.
Rancho Camulos became famous as the "Home of Ramona." Many people believed it was the setting for the popular 1884 novel Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson. This book helped people learn about the old California lifestyle. It showed the romantic side of the "mission and rancho era" of California's past.
This 1,800-acre (7 km2) ranch is a great example of an early California rancho. It still looks much like it did long ago. It was the first place in Ventura County to grow oranges for sale. Today, it is one of the few places still growing citrus fruits in Southern California.
State Route 126 cuts through the property. Most of the main buildings are south of the highway. The main adobe house is one of the few old Spanish Colonial buildings left in California. Other buildings are in Mission Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival styles. These styles were inspired by the original Spanish Colonial look.
Rancho Camulos is a special place. It is a National Historic Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is also a California Historical Landmark. Many of the buildings and grounds are open to visitors. You can explore them as a museum to learn about California's history.
Contents
Explore Rancho Camulos History
In 1769, Spanish explorers arrived in California. The Portola expedition was the first group of Europeans to see this area. They camped by the Santa Clara River on August 10. A missionary with them, Fray Juan Crespi, named the valley Cañada de Santa Clara.
The native Tataviam people had a village here called Kamulus. This word means "juniper". The area was used by Mission San Fernando Rey de España starting in 1804. They grew crops and raised animals here. In 1839, 416 people lived in this quiet area.
The land became part of the 48,612-acre (197 km2) Rancho San Francisco. This rancho was given to Antonio del Valle in 1839. He was the administrator of Mission San Fernando. This happened after the missions were no longer controlled by the church.
The Del Valle Family Home
When Antonio del Valle died in 1841, his son Ygnacio inherited Rancho San Francisco. There was a legal challenge from his father's second wife. But by 1853, Ygnacio had built a four-room adobe house and a corral at Camulos.
By 1857, the land problem was solved. Ygnacio received the western part of the rancho. The rest was divided among his family. Del Valle bought back some parts from his relatives. He also bought the nearby Rancho Temescal to the north. He then started raising livestock on his larger property.
Ygnacio del Valle and his family did not live at the ranch at first. They lived in Los Angeles. The ranch was managed by José Antonio Salazar, Del Valle's majordomo (a kind of manager). The Del Valle family moved to Camulos in 1861. Even though the rancho is linked to Mexican California, the main house was built after California became part of the United States.
Challenges and Growth
In the 1860s, a bad drought hit California. This forced Del Valle to sell much of his land. But he kept Camulos and made it successful. By the time he died in 1880, the house had grown to twenty rooms. The ranch was like a small town, with a brick winery, a chapel, a barn, and homes for workers.
Records show that in 1870, the ranch was the biggest vintner (wine producer) in the area. A stagecoach line started in 1874. In 1887, the Southern Pacific built a train line past the ranch. They even added a train station at Camulos. This ended the ranch's isolation.
In 1908, Ygnacio's children formed the Del Valle Company. But by 1924, they sold the ranch to August Rübel. He was from Zürich, Switzerland. When the ranch was sold, the Los Angeles Times wrote that it was the end of an era. They said the Del Valles were the last old Spanish family to keep their family land without interruption.
Rübel continued to run the ranch like the Del Valles. He kept many of the same workers. He died in 1943 while serving in World War II. After his death, his wife Mary married Edwin Burger. He was not as interested in keeping up the rancho. After Mary died in 1968, Burger closed the ranch. The buildings were left empty for years.
Rübel's family got the property back after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The earthquake had damaged many buildings. The Rübel family started growing citrus fruits again. They also worked to repair the earthquake damage. They helped get Camulos listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. In 2000, it became a National Historic Landmark. The main house was fixed in 1996. The smaller buildings were repaired between 2006 and 2007.
Farming at Rancho Camulos
Del Valle got his first Valencia orange trees in 1857. The oranges from these trees were the first to be grown for sale in Ventura County. At first, they had to be taken by wagon to Los Angeles. In 1876, a train line opened nearby. This made it easier to transport the fruit.
However, the main product from Rancho Camulos was wine. In the 1860s, ninety acres (360,000 m²) of vineyards were planted. Camulos wines and brandies were well-known. In 1870, the ranch grew 45 tons (40,900 kg) of grapes. They made 6,000 US gallons (23,000 L) of wine and 800 US gallons (3,000 L) of brandy. Besides oranges and grapes, the ranch grew almonds, walnuts, apricots, wheat, corn, and barley. Rose petals from Camulos were even sent to Europe to make perfume.
Over time, other fruits replaced the vineyards. Today, about 600 acres (2.4 km2) are farmed. Most of this land grows oranges. But lemons, grapefruit, and avocados are also grown. This makes Camulos a rare example of a citrus farm that is still running. After World War II, many citrus farms in Southern California were replaced by cities. But the Santa Clara River Valley, where Camulos is, kept its farms.
The Ramona Story
The novel Ramona, published in 1884, was partly inspired by Helen Hunt Jackson's visit to Rancho Camulos in 1882. Jackson only spent two hours at the ranch. She did not meet Ysabel del Valle, but she noticed many small details. She used these observations in her book. For example, the altar cloth in the ranch's chapel had a small tear. In the novel, a character tears the cloth, and Ramona sews it.
The book became very popular. It brought many tourists to California. The new Southern Pacific railroad lines made it easier for people to visit. Many towns claimed to be the setting for the novel to attract tourists. But the description of the fictional Moreno Ranch in the book matches Rancho Camulos. The book describes it as "midway in the valley" between the lands of Mission San Fernando and Mission San Buenaventura. This fits Camulos's location.
Helen Hunt Jackson died in 1885. She never publicly said which places inspired her book. Today, historians are not sure if Moreno Ranch was a real place.
By 1886, many readers thought Camulos was the setting of the novel. Edward Roberts wrote an article called "Ramona's Home: A Visit to the Camulos Ranch." This article mixed facts with fiction. It was even added to later versions of the novel. This made the link between Camulos and Ramona even stronger.
The first book just about Ramona and the ranch was published in 1888. It was by Charles Fletcher Lummis. He was a friend of the Del Valle family. Lummis took photos of the buildings. He published them in his book, Home of Ramona. He wanted to show that the Del Valles were kind, unlike the fictional Morenos. But he also mixed facts with fiction. For example, he wrote about a "veranda" that ran from Father Salvierderra's room to Ramona's room.
Lummis wanted to stop other properties from claiming to be the "Home of Ramona." Another book, Ramona Illustrated, compared photos of Camulos with parts of the novel. By 1909, George Wharton James could say that Camulos was the "accepted home of the heroine."
Tourists and Fame
Even though it was hard to get to the ranch, tourists came in large numbers. The 1887 Southern Pacific train line brought even more visitors. The railroad even used the ranch in its ads. The Del Valles were very hospitable. They would let visitors stay at the ranch. But by October 1888, it became too expensive. Tourists could also be a problem. They would sometimes steal items as souvenirs or take fruit from the orchards.
The name Camulos became so connected to the novel. Many people started using it instead of "Moreno Ranch." A play based on the book in 1897 was called "Ramona, or the Bells of Camulos."
D. W. Griffith filmed parts of his 1910 silent film at the rancho. He used the chapel, the adobe house, and the nearby mountains. Famous artists also painted and photographed the rancho. These images were used in later versions of the novel.
The Del Valles used their new fame to their advantage. They started labeling their wine and oranges as the "Home of Ramona Brand." Their labels showed the same view of the veranda that was popular on postcards. One Tataviam servant girl even made money by pretending to be the "real Ramona." She charged tourists for photos.
Tourists kept coming even after the main train line moved in 1903. Two daily trains still stopped at Camulos until the 1940s. After the Rübels bought the ranch in 1924, they still welcomed small groups of visitors. They turned the second floor of the winery into a small museum. It had items from the Del Valle family. Today, the rancho hosts an annual "Ramona Days" festival in October.
Rancho Camulos Grounds
Fifteen buildings are open to the public at the Rancho Camulos Museum. All of them were built before 1930. They are still in their original spots. Most were built in Spanish Colonial or Mission Revival styles. The grounds have lawns, flower gardens, and trees. These separate the living areas from the working parts of the ranch.
The Main Adobe House
The main adobe house is also called the Ygnacio del Valle adobe. It is a huge, 10,000-square foot (929 m²), twenty-room building. It is shaped like a "U." When it was first built in 1853, it had four rooms and was shaped like an "L." It had an outside corredor (walkway), which was common for Spanish Colonial homes.
The house grew over time. In 1861, before the Del Valle family moved in, they added three more rooms. They also built a separate cocina (kitchen). This was to keep fire away from the main house and to keep it cooler. In the 1870s, another section was added. Finally, after 1895, one more room was added. A breezeway connected it to the kitchen. This gave the house its current shape.
The basement of the house was first used to store wine. In 1867, the family built a brick winery. After 1900, when wine grapes were no longer grown for sale, this building was used for storage. Later, Rübel turned it into a museum for Ramona visitors. Today, it stores farm equipment and cars.
West of the main house is a large California Black Walnut (Juglans californica) tree. It was likely planted by Juventino del Valle in the 1860s. It is 25 feet (7.6 m) around its trunk. Its branches spread out over almost half an acre (2,000 m²). It is thought to be the largest Black Walnut tree in the area.
Other Important Buildings
The wooden chapel was built around 1867. It replaced an earlier, simpler chapel from 1861. After the missions were no longer controlled by the church, this chapel became known as the "lost mission." It was the only place to worship between Mission San Fernando and Mission San Buenaventura.
Next to the chapel is a bell structure. It used to hold three bells. These bells were used to call people to Mass. The two largest bells were made in Kodiak, Alaska. The smaller of these two bells was once used at Mission San Fernando. The smallest bell is now missing.
The barn, gas station, and bunkhouse were likely built between 1910 and 1916. This was when the American Craftsman style was popular. The barn is in the main work area, northwest of the living quarters.
The small adobe house, near the highway, was built around 1920. It was built by Nachito del Valle in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. This house was badly damaged in the 1994 earthquake. After it was rebuilt, it became the museum's visitor center.
The schoolhouse was built in 1930. It was the last building added to the property. Rübel built it for his family and his bookkeeper's family. It was designed to look like the main adobe.
Few buildings are left on the north side of the highway. The most notable are the wooden Southern Pacific saltbox-style section house and workers' bunkhouse. Both were built in 1887. A train depot and post office used to be here, but they are gone. Three farmworkers' bungalows, built by the Del Valle family in 1916, are west of the section house.
Historic Designations
- United States National Historic Landmark – added February 16, 2000
- United States National Register of Historic Places – reference number 96001137, added November 1, 1996
- California Historical Landmark – number 553
See also
- List of Registered Historic Places in Ventura County, California
- Ventura County Historic Landmarks & Points of Interest
- List of ranchos of California
