The Rancho Las Palmas estate was part of the original
Rancho Buena Vista,
Spanish land concession in the
Salinas Valley, in present day
Monterey County, California that was given in 1795 to José Maria Soberanes (1753-1803) and Joaquin Castro. In 1872, Hiram Corey leased of Rancho Buena Vista, keeping 450 to 500 cows on the ranch. He purchased the property in 1882. The ranch became known as one of the best dairy farms in California. In 1889, he sold the land to the Buena Vista Land Company and took his family to Europe. While traveling in Europe in 1889, Corey's wife fell in love with
Chateau Versailles and wanted her home in Salinas to be her own chateau. In 1891, on his return to the United States, he purchased of Rancho Buena Vista, renaming the property
Rancho Las Palmas. He went into horse breading, specializing in draft horses and roadsters. Hiram Corey and his wife designed and built the Rancho Las Palmas 20-room mansion for his family in 1891, with the assistance of Salinas architect, and Corey's nephew, Carlton Bassett, for $4,000 (). The Hiram Corey mansion is a three-story, wood-frame, single-family residence built in a Queen Anne style. It is the best example of Queen Anne style of architecture in a rural setting in Monterey County. It has redwood siding, banded with fish-scale shingles halfway into the second story, with a hipped roof and tower with a brass eagle
finial detail. Full bay windows can be seen on the first and second stories. The main entrance to the house has stairs leading up to double wood doors with a Queen Anne style wood railing and canopy. Some of the original palm trees line the entrance. A small one story carriage house remains at the rear of the house. ==Legacy==