Axell house and barn featured in Hospice Home Tour March 12

Life 144 years ago can be easily conjured as visitors step over the Axell home and barn thresholds.

The history of the homestead, dating back to 1867, is celebrated by Joanna and Randy Axell, who have lived on the 40-acre ranch since 1985, raising their children, Brandon and Tara, and growing avocados and lemons.

The Axell home and barn at 14732 W. Telegraph Road in Santa Paula are on display March 12, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., as part of the Barns, Ranches and Homes tour of Santa Clara Valley Hospice. The $25 cost of the tour includes a barbecue from noon to 2 p.m. at the Limoneira Co. on Cummings Road.  (Cost is $30 the day of the tour.)

The couple’s appreciation for history, art, handcrafted furniture and turn-of-the-century machinery is obvious. “I love old things that are made of wood because they’re so well-made,” said Randy, a fourth-generation Ventura County rancher. This craftsman should know, as he is capable of building, refinishing or repairing just about anything that catches his fancy. To acquire all those skills, Randy said modestly, “You learn as you go.”

When the Axells bought the ranch, the main crops were oranges and lemons, but they have since replanted every one of their 4,000 trees.

Joanna, an elementary school teacher, lived in many different places growing up, unlike her husband. She has now lived in Santa Paula longer than any other place and loves their life on the ranch. “It’s peaceful and calm,” she said. “You are in your own little environment. It’s a great place to raise kids.”

Rancho Rodoro, as the ranch is called, is the name Randy’s parents gave their own ranch less than a mile down Telegraph Road to the east. It is from the first letters of Randy’s father and mother’s names, Ross Axell (1923-1984) and Dorothy Hedrick Axell (1921-2000).

It is due to Randy’s dad that there was even a house for Joanna and Randy to buy in 1985. One day in the late 1950s, Ross drove past and alerted the McDivitts that their house was on fire.

Joanna and Randy bought the ranch from the McDivitt family and have chronicled its history and collected photographs, including several of Abner Haines, the homestead’s original occupant. Abner and wife Charlotte bought the then-200-plus-acre ranch in 1867 and raised two daughters, Sylvia and Edith. “It keeps the history alive,” Randy said.

House

The gray and white house, built in 1867, welcomes visitors as they climb two wooden steps onto a charming porch, complete with swing. In about 1889, the center and right side of the house, as seen from the front, were added, making it a comfortable 2,500 square feet. The light-filled living room is decorated with astounding art by local artists, including Gail Pidduck. She and Randy attended Briggs School together and in the barn there is a picture of them as children.

A display of cranberry glass, collected by Joanna and Randy, Randy’s grandmother, Vida Hedrick, and Randy’s mother, Dorothy Hedrick Axell, sparkle in a corner china cabinet, the glass’ color complemented by a Pidduck painting called “Dad’s Zinnias” on the other side of the wall. Two wooden school desks from Briggs School, refinished by Randy, bookend the couch.

The room to the left of the front door as one enters, originally the parlor, is now a TV room, displaying family mementos and some pre-television entertainment sources, including a player piano converted into a Nickelodeon and a couple of old-fashioned slot machines. A wooden coffee table made by Randy’s father at night school at Santa Paula High School in the 1950s shows how Randy came by his woodworking skills.

The dining room is accessed from the living room and, in a case of serendipity, its oak dining-room table -- a gift from family friends and neighbors Ann and Gale Graham -- may have been original to the home. No surprise that Randy also refinished this beautiful antique that seats 12. Dinner guests can feast their eyes on many more paintings and photographs by local artists.

The Axells put off remodeling the kitchen until the children were out of college, but it was worth the wait. This room, which once included a chimney in the center, was last remodeled in the 1950s.They gutted it in 2001, so that today it is the one room in the house that is not only insulated, but boasts all the modern conveniences. A cut-glass cupboard door in the corner of the kitchen is inset with a headlight lens from possibly a Cunningham or Stutz automobile -- a gift from Allan Ayers, who owned the Faulkner Farm down the road.

A former 4-H leader in cooking and sewing, Joanna loves to make jam and bake in her dazzling kitchen. She spends a week in the summer making jam from blackberries, nectarines, peaches and apricots that grow on the ranch. Blackberry cobbler is Randy’s favorite of her famed desserts, all of which she makes from scratch.