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.