Highland Orchard was purchased by the Aguilar Family in 1947. The Aguilars, along with dozens of Spanish farmers, came to the Rocklin area starting in 1912, after having been lured to Hawaii to harvest sugar cane and pineapples. Once their contracts were up, they were drawn to California by stories of fertile land, plenty of water and the Mediterranean cli-mate similar to southern Spain.

The late 1940s and early 1950s were profitable years, but by mid the 1950s farms that had been planted in the valley were producing fruit earlier in the season and at lower market costs than Placer County growers. This, coupled with the pear decline in the 1960s, caused great upheaval in Placer County, and many small farms and ranches were sold to developers.

In the 1960s, Tony Aguilar's brother Frank was among the first to plant mandarins. Today, Aguilar, his wife Noreen and son Tony Jr. farm 40 acres. They started planting mandarins in 1990. Today they have 12 acres in premiere satsuma mandarins.

The Aguilar Family, with the help of four pickers and two packers, sell their crop from the farm for two months each year. They enjoy the interaction with their customers, who can experience the complete process from orchard to table.