Rancho Los Guilucos, comprising 18,833 acres, was granted in 1839 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado to John Wilson and his wife, Ramona Carrillo, the sister-in-law of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. The house was constructed in 1858 by William Hood for his bride Elisa Shaw of Sonoma, using original bricks fired on the property, and it has remained in continuous use. In 1943, the California Department of Youth Authority purchased the property for the Los Guilucos School for Girls.