In the 1840s, José Serrano built an adobe house and outbuilding in this area beside a spring and sycamore trees, on the southern edge of his Rancho Cañada de los Alisos, which stretched to the north. A short distance away stood the two adobes of Juan Avila's Rancho Niguel, which extended to the south. The stage road, following the old Spanish El Camino Real, passed between the two haciendas, and this glen was a welcome stop for travelers.