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Council designates Scholey Farmhouse Camarillo’s first city historic landmark
Summary
The council approved a resolution making the Scholey Farmhouse at 650 Edward Shirley Drive a Camarillo historic landmark, following a historic-structure report and mitigation in the Springville Specific Plan supplemental EIR; the owner plans rehabilitation and asked about pursuing a Mills Act property-tax contract in future.
The Camarillo City Council voted unanimously to adopt a resolution approving historic-landmark designation for the Scholey Farmhouse, a late-19th-century Italianate cottage now located in the Springville specific-plan area.
Staff said the landmark committee recommended the designation after a historic-structure report prepared in 2024 documented the building’s association with local agricultural development and described appropriate rehabilitation measures consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards. The house will be rehabilitated to allow modern use while preserving character-defining features.
Melissa Beebe, planning staff, told the council the farmhouse is within the Lennar Homes RPD-195 project area and that the supplemental environmental impact report required rehabilitation of the house and that the applicant request landmark designation. "The HSR determined that rehabilitation in compliance with the Secretary of the Interior standards for the treatment of historic properties is the treatment most appropriate for the Scholey Farmhouse," Beebe said.
Dennis Hargrave, representing the property owner, told the council the owner supports designation and has spent about $300,000 on required documentation and rehabilitation plans; photographs will be archived in the Library of Congress and in local repositories. He told the council the owner intends to start plan check soon and requested that the city consider the Mills Act property-tax program as a later step.
The council approved the designation by roll-call vote (5–0). Staff said the designation is categorically exempt from CEQA under Guideline section 15331 (historical resource restoration) because the action preserves the resource.
Why it matters: the designation implements mitigation in the project EIR and commits the property owner to follow a rehabilitation plan to preserve the structure’s historic character while allowing contemporary residential use. The owner indicated readiness to proceed with plan check and rehabilitation work.
What’s next: staff will finalize any follow-up permits; the owner intends to complete plan check and has asked the city to consider Mills Act tax-contract procedures at a later date.
