Wedding & Special Events at Rancho Camulos

Please refer to page 3 of the February 2007 Newsletter on this website.

For more information contact us by email:  ranchocamulos@earthlink.net

Rancho Camulos offers a unique and idyllic setting for special events. The historic buildings are surrounded by beautiful landscape features that include orange orchards, extensive rose gardens, and views of the Santa Clara mountains. Areas of the museum available for events include the expansive south lawn, the main adobe courtyard lawn and school house lawn; the chapel porch for wedding ceremonies; and the school house for business meetings and smaller functions.

The charm of Camulos is also due in part to its remoteness from the frenetic activity of urban life and the drama of the Santa Clara River Valley's rugged mountains. Nowhere else can one experience a rancho of this type in its historic context, yet the museum's location halfway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara (a 50 minute drive from either city), makes it easily accessible to guests from the tri-county area in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara.

Rancho Camulos Museum is a National Historic Landmark that stands as a vibrant reminder of California's Spanish and Mexican heritage. Set within an 1800 acre working ranch in the scenic Santa Clara River Valley, Rancho Camulos is the only Mexican land grant rancho still preserved in its original rural environment that is open to the public.

Rancho Camulos is most famous for its place in literary history as the inspiration for Helen Hunt Jackson's novel Ramona, first published in 1884 and still in print today. The love story, set in early California, offers poetic descriptions of Southern California's landscape and a romanticized vision of the Hispanic mission and rancho period. This image sparked both tourism and migration to the state in huge numbers from the late 1880s until the beginning of WWII. Camulos quickly became known as "The Home of Ramona" attracting hordes of tourists hoping to seek a glimpse of a the novel's fictional heroine. The story also served as the inspiration of four feature films, the first of which - a 1910 silent version starring Mary Pickford - was filmed at Camulos.

Site-use guidelines and an event application can be downloaded as a (1 Mb) Acrobat file. Click here