Ventura County Landmark No. 21: Rafael Reyes Adobe
Historical Background
The house is a low, one-story adobe building to which wood and concrete block additions were made in the 1920s and 1940s. It was established by Rafael Reyes in 1854 when he and his brother drove 2,000 head of cattle and 1,000 horses from their Rancho Triunfo in Los Angeles County to the Cuyama valley by way of Tejon Pass. The Reyes Ranch took in most of Lockwood Valley. The ranch was noted for the fighting bulls bred there and used in bullrings throughout the state. Rafael Reyes’ son, Jacinto Damien Reyes, was raised on the ranch and became the County’s first forest ranger in 1900. He spent his entire life in the northern wilderness of the County. In 1995, Highway 33 was named the Jacinto Damien Reyes Scenic Byway in his honor.
The Adobe
Tall oaks largely conceal the low, one-story adobe from the road but, over a century ago, it was the center of the Reyes Rancho—a ranch that took in much of Lockwood Valley. The creek that flows by the hacienda is named Reyes Creek after the brave pioneers who first settled the northern part of Ventura County. The adobe was built in 1855 and was the main house of the ranch. Jacinto Damien Reyes, the son of the builder of the adobe, wrote of the history of the place:
“My father, Rafael Reyes, was born in Los Angeles in 1834. He was one of a family of five boys and five girls. They owned the Triunfo Rancho, a Spanish grant on which they raised stock. In 1854, feed was short on account of a bad drought, so my father and his brother drove 2,000 head of cattle and 1,000 horses by way of the Tejon Pass into the head of the Cuyama Valley and settled at the mouth of Reyes Creek. In 1870, my father married Maria Ygnacia Ortega at San Buenaventura. I was born in San Buenaventura in 1871.
During the early days my father bred fighting bulls for the arenas. Bullfights were popular in those days, and ‘El Contesto de Toros’ was usually the featured attraction of every holiday fiesta. Father raised most of the bulls for the bullrings in Santa Barbara, San Buenaventura, Los Angeles and points all up and down the state. His bulls were famous for their quickness and fighting spirit, and were matched against many a celebrated matador. During my youth I worked as a vaquero among my father’s cattle, and it was at this work that I gained a lot of experience that has been valuable since I came into the forestry service in 1900.”
Jacinto Reyes was Ventura County’s first forest ranger, and he spent his entire life in the northern wilderness of the County. Additions were made to the adobe in the 1920s and 1940s and were constructed of wood and concrete blocks. As of the 1970s, the adobe formed only one wing of a modern ranch house. The adobe was sold by the Reyes family (circa 1970s) and continued to be used as a private residence, standing as a lonely reminder of the pioneers who settled our wild valleys so long ago. The adobe has since fallen into a state of disrepair and is in need of rehabilitation.
Additional Reading and Viewing
Date Designated: November 1971
Location: Lockwood Valley Road, 2 miles east of Highway 33 at Reyes Creek
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