In the rolling hills of Orcutt, just off of Telephone Road, stands a spacious, 10-acre parcel of modest beauty. Christened Rancho Miranda, the locale sprawls out on the hillside dotted with various trees, benches, and cozy nooks. It doesn’t take an event planner to see that this spot is ideal for a shindig.
In fact, for several years, owners Mike and Jeannie Miranda have happily hosted fundraising events for charities and weddings for friends and families.
“Thousands of people in the last 16 years have had great times out there,” Jeannie said. “In those years, we’ve touched a lot of lives.”
Though it’s been rewarding, hosting events was never what the Mirandas had in mind when they first bought the place. It was something that just evolved.
When they moved to their little piece of heaven in 1991, it was nothing more than a sprawl of dirt and weeds with a tract home on it.
Over the years, the couple focused on planting a little here and there. The pepper and olive plants that were mere bushes when they first moved in have become majestic trees in the middle of a lavish garden.
When a relative wanted to have a wedding at the rancho, the Mirandas made some space available. When another friend wanted to host a wedding there, they extended their backyard—and thus the progression began. For the last decade, the Mirandas have hosted weddings for friends and family members, and have offered their space for fundraising events for nonprofits. All of their children—who are now grown—have helped with the events at Rancho Miranda, and now Jeannie is waiting for her oldest grandchild, who is 3 years old, to get involved.
“A lot of people ask, ‘Was this your master plan?’ and I say ‘I’ve never had a plan in my life’,” Jeannie said. “Mike is a workaholic, and I’m a dreamer and a planner. The combination is what’s created Rancho Miranda.”
Every day, Mike can be found working on the yard or on the horse boarding business they have on the grounds. Jeannie is constantly eyeing possible improvements or other possibilities for the grounds. It’s how they fill their days since Miranda retired from her job as a county social worker and Mike retired from his duty as a police detective.
And while the improvements on the rancho have taken a lot of effort, it hasn’t been a job.
“Doing events has been a passion, and it has never been work,” Miranda said.
Rancho Miranda was so requested at one time—it was twice voted runner up as Best Place to Hold a Reception in the Sun’s “Best Of”—that the Mirandas sought a permit to host receptions there commercially.
They tried to get the proper permits, and although there was plenty of cooperation from the county, Jeannie said, things didn’t work out. Instead, the Mirandas gave up trying to host events there on a commercial basis and got the proper zoning to allow only friends and families and nonprofits to use their grounds.
While going through the permitting process, Jeannie worried that some of the charities accustomed to using Rancho Miranda for fundraising events would think the location was unavailable. So she got to work spreading the news about its continued availability. After all, being the ultimate hostess to worthwhile events is what really tugs on Jeannie’s heartstrings.
“I’ve seen so many weddings out here, every one makes me cry and every one is totally different,” she said. “With the fundraisers out here, it’s so amazing so much money can be raised in such a short period of time for these charities.”
Arts editor Shelly Cone cries at weddings on TV. She can be reached at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 7, 2008.