Rancho Camulos

Rancho Camulos is an 1,800-acre citrus ranch in the Santa Clara River Valley near Piru, Ventura County. Its headquarters is anchored by the Ygnacio del Valle Adobe, begun around 1853 and expanded in phases into a U-shaped plan by the early twentieth century. Nearby are a brick winery built in 1867, a small wooden chapel, a bell structure, a brick fountain, and later Craftsman and Spanish Colonial Revival buildings. Across the highway stand railroad-related houses from 1887 and farm labor cottages from about 1916. The ranch is significant for the Del Valle family's agricultural and winemaking history and for its association with Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona. After the book appeared in 1884 and the Southern Pacific arrived in 1887, visitors came to see the supposed home of the heroine, and the ranch was photographed, painted, and filmed in 1910. Its plan, setting, and working citrus landscape remain largely intact.