Olivas Adobe to Honor Its Colorful Namesake

If Don Raymundo Olivas were around today for his birthday, he would do it up right--a celebration, lots of people. He was that kind of guy.

So it only seems fitting that the docents at the historic Olivas Adobe in Ventura would throw a little wingding to honor his birthday this month. They’ll do it Saturday with a party of sorts--cake and a special tour of the adobe. It runs from 1 to 3 p.m., and it’s free.

Olivas has been dead for more than a century, but his “ghost” will be on hand for the tour. Ray Robertson, a docent at the adobe for 11 years, will slip into a ranchero outfit and step into the character of Olivas for the afternoon.

Robertson will tell the story of how Olivas worked his way up from a post in the Mexican Army to become a prominent, wealthy businessman--one of the richest in Ventura County.

His stately home, built in the 1840s, remains as a symbol of his stature and wealth. For its day, the house was quite a showplace with its two stories, shingled roof, balcony and glassed windows, Robertson said.

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But Olivas was no ordinary man. Born in Los Angeles in 1809, he joined the Mexican Army and was stationed in Santa Barbara. After 17 years of service, he retired and was given a land grant--4,500 acres that stretched from the Santa Clara River to what is now the heart of Ventura.

By then he was married to Teodora, and the couple already had half a dozen children. In their 47 years of marriage, they would eventually bring the total to 21 children.

Olivas was a savvy businessman, according to Robertson. He put in crops and raised cattle. And he saw an opportunity when the gold rush took off.

“He reasoned the miners would be rich and hungry,” Robertson said. So he drove cattle north to Sacramento, where he sold them and made big money.

“When the gold ran out and the cattle market dropped, he raised sheep,” he said. “He made another fortune in wool.”

Olivas became the fourth richest man in Ventura County, according to historian Richard Senate. He operated one of the first dairies in the area.

“He was not typical by a long shot,” Senate said. “He was innovative and driven to succeed.” He spoke two dialects of the Chumash language, something he picked up in the army. He probably spoke English also, in addition to Spanish.

He was active in the Republican Party. “When President [Ulysses] Grant was elected, Raymundo gave an inaugural ball,” Senate said. The invitations were all handwritten and delivered by his sons.

“He was a big entertainer,” Robertson said. Every roundup or baptism was reason for a fiesta in the courtyard.

Some 40 or 50 people lived at the rancho, including the workers, many of them Chumash. On the tour, visitors see the kitchen where five daily meals were prepared. They were cooked outside in adobe ovens.

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Few of the family’s original furnishings remain, but one piece in the parlor suggests a softer side of the man. It’s a large mahogany music box that stands on legs. With the turn of a crank, it plays eight tunes, including “Oh! Susanna.” As music pours out, little carved figures play musical instruments and dance.

Upstairs, the eight Olivas daughters slept in one room, while the boys took the balcony. The Olivases turned the biggest room into a chapel, and a priest from the mission would visit and hold Mass for the family and neighbors.

On the tour, visitors will see the 150-year-old grapevine the family was required to plant as a condition of accepting the land grant. Also, a fuchsia planted by an Olivas daughter is more than 100 years old and still thrives.

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But Robertson marvels at the sturdy adobe house, its walls nearly two feet thick. “It’s just made of mud--it’s amazing we still have it.”

Teodora Olivas outlived her husband, and eventually the family lost the home. Max Fleischmann, of Fleischmann’s yeast fame, bought the property in 1927 and used it as a hunting lodge. In 1963, the Fleischmann family gave it to the city. Now the restored house, grounds and adjacent museum are part of the Olivas Adobe Historic Park.

DETAILS

* WHAT: Special tour at Olivas Adobe.

* WHEN: 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday

* WHERE: Olivas Adobe Historic Park, 4200 Olivas Park Drive, Ventura.

* COST: Free.

* FYI: 658-4726.