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St. John's Seminary, located on 20 acres of farmland, is known for its lemon and avocado orchards, rows of eucalyptus trees, magnificently designed grounds that are speckled with mature Italian Stone. Ponderosa and Monkey pines, statues of saints and other spiritual significant landmarks.
When the property was first deeded in 1927, the site was immediately put into cultivation, and for the first ten years was strictlythe site of orange and walnut groves until it evolved into the current cornucopia of plants, animals, sculptures and buildings surrounded by rolling hills and private homes.
A winding road leading up to the seminary, punctuated on both sides by a thick vegetation was designed to create a sense of tranquility for guests, seminary students and staff. The grounds attract a wealth of wildlife, including hundreds of varieties of birds such as nesting owls, red tailed hawks and falcons.
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Outside the entrance of the main front building is the statue of St. John the Evangelist, a marble copy of the one located in the Pope's cathedral church, St. John Lateran in Rome.
A big portion of the seminary was landscaped by Msgr. Joseph Thomas McGucken, chancellor of the Archdocese, who was also an avid botanits. Many of the varieties of flora appear on a long winding path that leads to the Marian, Lourdes Grotto built by Ryozo Fuso "Louis" Kado.
The Grotto is one of the 80 that Mr. Kado built during his lifetime. It is a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes. It was constructed with tons of ornamental lava rocks from the Mono Basin, which were squeezed and streched to fit like jigsaw-puzzle pieces to resemble a giant outcropping of natural serpentine.
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The road that surrounds the seminary grounds is a place where seminarians wonder through nature, exercise, stroll the grounds, pray the rosary or the stations of the cross. The area features vistas overlooking the community of Somis, as well as the farmland and the mountains to the north and southern views above Padre Serra Parish. On clear days, which are many, the expansive Pleasant Valley and the Oxnard Plain lead one's eye to the Pacific Ocean and majestic Channel Islands.
On the western edge of the seminary propety, the Wady or dry riverbed is a place to explore the flora of the region. It is also the beginning of a nature walk that lines the Calleguas wash.
The Philosophy Library, with its large glass windows, also is a great spot that overlooks the hills and valley of Somis
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