{"nrhp_refnum":"77000360","name":"Berylwood","other_names":["Bard,Thomas R.,Estate"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Ventura Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Port Hueneme","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.15764827150005,"lon":-119.19698557995021,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Landscape Architecture","Commerce","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Berylwood, the Thomas R. Bard Estate, is a non-contiguous historic district of about 62 acres on the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme, Ventura County, California. It includes the Thomas R. Bard House, Richard Bard House, guest house, milk house, recreation facilities and botanical gardens, with plantings dating from 1871.","why_significant":"The estate was the home of Thomas R. Bard, a California pioneer, oil industry figure, businessman and U.S. Senator (1900-1905). Bard helped found Union Oil Company of California, built Hueneme Wharf, and helped form Ventura County. The estate's botanical gardens also gained international recognition for their rare trees and plants.","narrative":"Berylwood is the former estate of Thomas R. Bard, now part of the U.S. Naval Construction Battalion Center at Port Hueneme, California. The district covers about 62 acres and includes the main Bard House, the Richard Bard House (built 1910 and enlarged between 1918 and 1926), a guest house known as the Doll House (1925), a milk house, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and botanical gardens planted between 1871 and 1915. Bard came to California in 1865 and became a leading figure in early oil development, helping form Union Oil Company of California in 1890. He also built Hueneme Wharf in 1871, which made Hueneme a major grain shipping port, and he served as a Santa Barbara County supervisor while Ventura County was being formed. He was a U.S. Senator from 1900 to 1905. The gardens hold about 260 rare trees representing 78 species. The Navy acquired the property in 1951 and continues to use and preserve it.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Used by the Navy: the Thomas R. Bard House serves as an Officers Club, the Richard Bard House as senior officers' quarters, and the Navy preserves the botanical gardens.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.684927-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/77000360.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000360/d4c94af3bd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000360/d4c94af3bd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Fettlemap","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bard_Mansion.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fettlemap</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bard_Mansion.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862320","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berylwood","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16840798"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/berylwood-77000360/"}