
RONALD REAGAN
$17

BEVIL ISSUE
SCOTT#
CATEGORY
CANCELLED
LOCATION
PAINTED
MAIN LOT
ARTIST’S PROOFS
AFDCS VARIETY
COFFEE BREAK
PNS
CHAPTER 56
STHRN STMP EXPO
TOTAL
While Gorbachev was disappointed in Ranch Del Cielo, expecting something closer to a palace, than a 1,500 squre foot farm house, Ronnie said of their ranch, "No Place before or since has ever given Nancy and me the joy and serenity it does." Reagan loved his dogs, his cows, and his jeeps.
Souls were strengthened, relationships were mended, and big political decisions were made on this sprawling 688 acre patch of rolling hills.
Although this is a cachet honoring Ronald Reagan, I thought it would be nice to center on his life outside of acting and politics. Since I had previously produced a 2-cover set highlighting both of those accomplishments, this time I wanted to take a peek into his life on the ranch. In researching this topic, I found a great article written by his daughter Patti. I realized that what I wanted to explore was the Ronald “Ronnie” Reagan who was a husband, father, rancher, and dog owner of all things. That lifestyle played out on a 688 acre ranch that sits between the Santa Ynez Valley and the Pacific Ocean. While the setting was beautiful, the home was quite ordinary. In fact, it was reported that Gorbachev was disappointed by the ranch because he expected a palatial retreat, but what he found was a humble home instead. Reagan stated that from the first day they saw it, it cast a spell over them. “No place before or since has ever given Nancy and me the joy and serenity it does.” It was 1973 and Ronald Reagan’s second term as California’s governor was nearing an end. In an odd twist of fate, the ranch was owned by Roy and Rosalie Cornelius, the parents of Patti’s roommate at a boarding school in Arizona. The ranch was to be their daughter Glenda’s inheritance, but sadly she was killed in a head-on collision one New Year’s Eve. The Reagan’s became the new owners in 1974 and changed the name from Tip Top Ranch to Rancho del Cielo: Ranch in the Sky. The property is secluded, and only accessible by a one-lane, unpaved road that is impassable during the rainy season, and accented by majestic hardwood trees, live oak, and Pacific madrone, in addition to rocks and other cultural relics.
Read the article in its entirety in the 6-page
February 2015 Bevil newsletter, which
accompanies the cover.
605
3897
First Day of Issue
February 9, 2005
Simi Valley, California 93065
January 2015
150
10
1
1
25
1
1
189


First Day of Issue
Released to collectors February 16, 2015, along with
Shirley Temple, $2 Patriotic Waves, Johnny Cash, and Janis Joplin