In 1839, Antonio Del Valle received Rancho San Francisco, a 48,000-acre Mexican land grant, and after his death in 1841 his son Ygnacio inherited it. In 1853, Ygnacio began building a small four-room, single-story dwelling for his majordomo, then later enlarged it for his wife Ysabel and their children, who moved there in 1861 from their townhouse off the plaza in El Pueblo de Los Angeles. The adobe home became an outstanding example of Spanish-Mexican vernacular architecture in both design and construction, with adobe bricks crafted by Tataviam Indians and Mexican laborers, two-foot-thick walls that moderated summer heat and winter cool, a hacienda-style U-shape around a central courtyard, and spacious corredores that provided shade and living space for meals, letter writing, reading, sewing, and visiting. By 1880, the home had grown to 10,000 square feet and 20 rooms. The socially prominent Del Valle family became known for warm hospitality, and Camulos fiestas were renowned for barbecued meats, chili sauce, frijoles, tortillas, enchiladas, claret, and fine brandy from the rancho winery. Politicians, businessmen, artists, and writers were frequent guests, and after Helen Hunt Jackson visited in 1882 she based her novel Ramona in part on Rancho Camulos, drawing many admirers there; in 1910, D.W. Griffith filmed a silent version of Ramona at the rancho starring Mary Pickford. When the Rubels bought the property in 1924, the Los Angeles Times lamented that the Del Valle family's departure marked the passing of the old regime in California history.
