The Journal of San Diego History
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY
Fall 1996, Volume 42, Number 4
Richard W. Crawford, Editor

Back to the article: The Ranch House at Warner’s

Warner's Ranch
Cover: Warner’s Ranch, a painting by Marjorie Reed
from the James S. Copley Collection,
courtesy of the James S. Copley Library, La Jolla, California.

Ranch House ca. 1894
View of the Ranch House compound ca. 1894 when Sam Taylor and his wife Mary first inhabited the structure. The Ranch’s location on the southern edge of the Buena Vista Creek and the main valley thoroughfare appears obvious in this photo.

Interior of barn

Interior of barn adjacent to Ranch House, 1960.
Photo courtesy of Library of Congress.

Ranch House ca. 1894

Dona Vicenta Sepulveda de Yorba de Carrillo with her sons and daughters, ca. 1890. Top row, left to right: Clodromio Carrillo, Ramon Carrillo, Jose Antonio Yorba, Juan Yorba, Garibaldo Carrillo. Middle row, left to right: Maria Ignacia Carrillo de Harris, Encarnacion Carrillo de Richards, Dona Vicenta Sepulveda de Yorba de Carrillo, Edelfrida Carrillo de Alvarado, Ramona Yorba de la Guerra. Bottom row left to right: Josefa Yorba de Smythe, Natalia Carrillo de Rimpau, Felicidad Carrillo de Kirby. Photo courtesy Anaheim Public Library.

Interior of barn

Don Jose Ramon Carrillo, the husband of Dona Vicenta
and father of eight of her children.
Photo courtesy of Anaheim Public Library.

Ranch House ca. 1894

Ex California Governor John G. Downey as he looked ca. 1869 when he began his acquisition of the Valle de San Jose.

Interior of barn

North facing or front view of the Ranch House
ca. 1930.

Ranch House ca. 1894

Sam Taylor, Walter Vail’s ranch foreman, lived at the Ranch House from 1894 until 1913. All of his six children, including the one in this photo ca. 1904, were born there. The picket fence around the Ranch House had been there at least since the 1870s.

Interior of barn

Southwest facing facade of Ranch House
during Sawday’s tenure ca. 1929.

Ranch House ca. 1894

Cattle were brought to the valley as yearlings by both Walter Vail and George Sawday. They fattened on the grass for one to two years, then were driven to Temecula and sold. Photo ca. 1910.

Interior of barn

Cattle baron George Sawday,
lessee of Valle de San Jose and Ranch House from 1913 until 1960.
Photo ca. 1946, three years before his death.

Ranch House ca. 1894

The Ranch House ca. 1930 when George Sawday leased the valley for cattle grazing. Year-round and seasonal cowboys who managed Sawday’s extensive herds bunked here.

Interior of barn

Ranch House and out building in 1937
during Sawday’s operations.