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The California Governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado (1809-1882), presented 9,998.29 acres to Jose Pedro Ruiz in 1837, one of the last Spanish land grants made in Alta California. In 1876, Juan and Martina Camarillo purchased the acreage from Ruiz for $3,000 in gold, and began a large-scale cattle ranching enterprise. Despite a vicious probate fight with his sisters, Adolfo Z. Camarillo (1864-1958), Juan's son, obtained control of the family acreage in 1892, and gradually moved from ranching to farming, by 1910, becoming one of the largest bean producers in California. The Camarillo Ranch employed 700 workers at this time. Camarillo became very influential in Ventura County serving on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and State Board of Agriculture. Adolfo and his wife, Isabel Menchaca Camarillo (1861-1936) commissioned architects Herman Anlauf and Franklin Ward to design their grand, 14-room residence. The house and much of the land remained in family hands until the late 1990s. The Camarillo Planning Commission voted to allow the construction of an industrial park on the grounds of the Camarillo Ranch House in 1998; in return for allowing the industrial development, the developer, Centex Corporation, agreed to move the house and horse barn to a new location and donate the surrounding 4.5 acres to the City of Camarillo as a park. The City created a non-profit foundation to run the ranch in 1998; this foundation has 15 directors and two City Council members who sit on the board as ex-officio members. It has convened each month since 05/05/1999.

In 2009, Camarillo Ranch was rented out for use of business and other groups, and could accommodate between 125-165 people. The house occupied a landscaped 4-acre site that also contained a barn built in 1904. The front lawn could hold parties of 600. Tel: 805.389.8182 (2009);

According to the Camarillo Ranch Foundation Web Site, "In 1999-2000, the City of Camarillo restored the exterior and foundation of the Camarillo House, including seismic retrofit upgrades, the installation of exterior lighting, and a ranch style fence around the perimeter of the property, a new roof, and utilities. This renovation also included removing portions of the house that were not part of the original design." (SeeAccessed 05/11/2009) Between 1998-2001, the Camarillo Ranch Foundation spent $1.5 million on the restoration.

PCAD id: 4883