A Visit With the Dudleys

The Dudley House, the last pioneer farmhouse in Ventura, is alive and well, thanks to a group of dedicated volunteers.

The Queen Anne-style house, built in 1892, is open for tours monthly, including Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.

Docents will tell tales of the Dudley family and the good ol’ days of Ventura, while 75-year-old recordings of the legendary Louis Armstrong and his Hot Fives play in the background.

Like countless others, Ben and Frank Dudley took Horace Greeley’s advice and headed west. Ben was a Civil War veteran whose unit fought in the western theater and is best remembered for capturing the fleeing Jefferson Davis.

In the 1870s, the Dudley brothers purchased 200 acres five miles from what is now downtown Ventura--so far out that it took half a day to make the round trip to town. At the time, there were 3,000 residents in Ventura and 5,000 in the entire county.

Ben Dudley experimented with several crops before settling on lima beans. By the 1890s, Ventura was known as the world’s largest producer of lima beans.

The farm once stretched to what is now Ventura College; in fact, some of the land was later seized through eminent domain to expand the school.

Today, the Longs Drug shopping center, Ashwood Gardens apartment complex and adjacent office buildings sit on what was Dudley property. The house was moved to its present site from its original location off Telegraph Road.

The house was designed by renowned local architect Selwyn Shaw. Five generations of Dudleys lived in it until tax problems forced its sale.

The city has owned the land since 1977, intending to create a historical park until Proposition 13 halted that idea. But in 1978, a local historical preservation group, San Buenaventura Heritage, was given a long-term lease to restore the house and grounds.

The house is slowly being refurbished. The paint has been painstakingly matched to original shades, and furniture has been added, along with new rugs. There are period fixtures, including a pull-chain toilet and a bear-claw bathtub. Portraits of the Dudleys adorn the walls.

Outside are lemon trees, lantana, a few jacaranda trees, some canna, a patch of calla lilies and some hydrangeas, with California poppies sprinkled about the property. Some morning glory vines grow along the fence on the Loma Vista Road side.

The docents dress in period outfits for the tours, which last 30 minutes or longer.

There are lots of stories to tell, according to Lynn Weitzel, who trains the tour guides.

“The docents try to make it fun,” she said. “We have a lot of bathroom humor. We talk about the outhouses, about taking a bath a week, chamber pots and stuff like that. We try to let the people know what it was like living on a farm. The Dudleys themselves were involved in local government, and they had bands and plays staged out here. We have a lot of funny stories about them.”

The caretakers make money through donations and their Murder Mystery Dinner parties. They’re planning for a “War of the Worlds” Halloween Party, complete with Orson Welles’ scary radio show.

The site also is open for tours by groups, clubs or schoolchildren and for small weddings. The basement houses a gift shop.

The next big plan for the Dudley House is construction of an outdoor activities area. The project will include grading and cement work and ultimately will accommodate up to 150 people for outdoor events.

San Buenaventura Heritage Inc. is a group of volunteers who share a love of history.

“We operate free of any assistance of the city or the county,” said group President Steve Cummings. “ . . . Right now, there are just a few people who do everything. It has taken us an awful lot of persistence. If you want to preserve the past, it takes a lot of work.”

DETAILS

Dudley House Open House, Ashwood Avenue and Loma Vista Road, Ventura, Sunday, 1-4 p.m. Free but donations welcome. 644-3286.

Bill Locey can be reached by e-mail at blocey@pacbell.net.