PIRU – Rancho Camulos Museum, Ventura County’s only National Historic Landmark, is now recruiting volunteers for a variety of service opportunities and will host an open house for interested people on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to noon.

Ideal candidates should have a passion for history and preserving historic structures and grounds, located at 5164 East Telegraph Rd., about two miles east of Piru on Highway 126.

Volunteers are needed to work as docents to share the museum’s history with visitors, groups and elementary school children.

Additionally, volunteers with an interest in gardening, handyman skills, fundraising and special-event planning are welcomed to join the museum’s volunteer team.

The museum’s open house is an opportunity for prospective volunteers to learn more about putting their talents and skills to work for this unique and special historic gem.

In addition to learning about volunteer opportunities, meeting staff and volunteers, participants will receive a brief tour of the property.

According to Rancho Camulos Museum Director Susan Falck, now is a great time to join the museum’s volunteer team.

“We are beginning a number of projects to restore and noticeably improve the museum’s historic structures and grounds,” Falck said. “Volunteers with a wide variety of skills are needed to help us carry out these plans. For example, we are working to complete a Tataviam Native American village that will interpret the role the Tataviam people played in the very early days of Rancho Camulos. Volunteers are needed to help complete the dwelling and landscaping of the site.”

The village is expected to be completed this fall. Falck adds that volunteering at the museum also leads to fostering new friendships. “We have a friendly group of volunteers committed to the museum, who welcome newcomers. It’s a terrific place to give back to the community, while learning more about local history in the process.”

Rancho Camulos is situated within an 1,800-acre working ranch and represents the best remaining example of a Spanish-Mexican rancho in its original rural environment.

Rancho Camulos is noted for its literary significance as one of the settings for Helen Hunt Jackson’s famed novel “Ramona.”

Museum tours detail the lives of the native Tataviam Indians, the del Valle family who established Rancho Camulos in 1853, and the Rubel family who purchased the ranch in 1924.

Visitors tour the 1853 home, chapel, schoolhouse and the beautiful gardens featuring more than 50 varieties of roses.

New additions include a carriage house (built by volunteers) where Ysabel del Valle’s 19th-century carriage is housed as well as the nearly completed Tataviam Indian village.

For more information about the museum and volunteer opportunities, call 805-521-1501 or email info@ranchocamulos.org.

RSVP’s for the Sept. 15 volunteer open house are appreciated.