The story of Holman Ranch is truly unique. It began when California was still part of Mexico. Under the Crown of Spain, the ranch was part of the lands bestowed to the Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo. When the Mexican government secularized the mission lands, one of the first ranchers in Carmel Valley, Don Jose Manuel Boronda, was granted the Los Laureles Rancho. This enormous 6,625-acre parcel of land occupied a huge area of Carmel Valley, including the land where Holman Ranch now sits. After Boronda’s death, the land passed through many hands, until the Pacific Improvements Company acquired it in 1882. Pacific Improvements eventually sold a section of this land to the man who began the official story of Holman Ranch.