Ventura County Landmark No. 10: Tapo Adobe Ruins

Jose de la Guerra y Noriega bought the 113,000-acre El Rancho Simi in 1832. Later, the Tapo Ranch (about 14,000 acres) was separated from El Rancho Simi in the land dealings between the Spanish owners and the incoming Americans. The Tapo Ranch adobe was occupied by the de la Guerra family until the 1880s.

Tapo Ranch activities typified the term “romance of the ranchos” with its cattle raising, sheep shearing, horse racing, fiestas, and brandy and wine making. Eventually abandoned, the adobe deteriorated. In 1916, William Dahl rebuilt on the same site, using 3,100 adobe bricks. A rental agreement for the new house stated that there would be no “drinking reunions or fandangos” at the house. The roof of the 1916 house was removed in the early 1940s and, as a result, the adobe began deteriorating. Small sections of adobe walls remain, likely from the 1916 reconstruction. Later, the remnants were covered with black plastic intended to protect them, but the result was further deterioration from condensation.

Today, the ruins are visible behind protective fencing within Tapo Canyon Regional Park. The park opens daily at 7:30 a.m. and closes between 5 and 8 p.m., depending on the season.