Olivas Adobe, built in 1837 by Raymundo Olivas in Ventura on the Santa Clara River, stands as one of the region’s most important early ranch-era buildings. Olivas established the house before receiving Rancho San Miguel, a 2,250-acre grant in 1841 from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado on former Mission San Buenaventura grazing land. Enlarged to two stories in 1849, it was then the area’s only building of its kind and reflected rancho prosperity on this part of the California coast. Home to the Olivas family until 1899, it later served as Max Fleischmann’s hunting lodge and now operates as a museum.