The land is nestled in the Western passage through a temperate coastal valley, bound by a river on the northeast and a coastal mountain range on the southwest.  The range barricades the coastal flow, producing warmer valley days and cooler valley nights.  The adjacent river and seasonal streams that cross this land abound with annual runs of 10 pound steel head trout.  The rolling hills are dotted with valley and coast live oaks.  The moist glens and river banks, shadowed by the mountain backdrop, support healthy groves of western sycamores.  Deer graze cautiously, fearing mountain lion, grizzly bear and coyote.  A people who live across the river share this land for hunting and for gathering acorns and  most recently, for raising livestock.  (A newly arrived people who have come from across the ocean have also seen the pro­mise of this land.) The original inhabitants call this land "Nojoqui".

Raimundo Carrillo & Others: 1843 - 1862

Thirty-nine years after the Spanish padres established the Mission Santa Inés (1804) on the Chumash village of Ahajalapu, these lands across the Santa Ynez River were granted to Raimundo Carrillo.  Car­rillo received the 13,500 acre grant for his service to the newly established Mexican government.  The sole economic focus of this land for the next 40 years (by Carrillo and five subsequent owners) would be rais­ing livestock, primarily cattle.  In fact, cattle would share in the economic productivity of this properly from 1804-Present.