Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center |
|
|---|---|
Orcutt Ranch gate, September 2008
|
|
| Location | 23555 Justice Street, West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Area | 210-acre (0.85 km2) |
| Built | 1903 |
| Architectural style(s) | Spanish Colonial Revival Style |
| Governing body | City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation and Parks |
| Designated | January 22, 1965 |
| Reference no. | 31 |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
The Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center is a special park and garden in West Hills, California. It's also known by its older name, Rancho Sombra del Roble, which means "Ranch of the Shaded Oak" in Spanish. This beautiful place is recognized as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, meaning it's an important historical site in Los Angeles.
A Special Home for the Orcutt Family
Orcutt Ranch was once the vacation and retirement home of William Warren Orcutt. He was a very important person in California's early oil industry. He also helped discover some of the first ancient animal bones at the famous La Brea Tar Pits.
William Orcutt bought this property in 1917. It was a huge ranch, about 210-acre (0.85 km2) in size. It had cattle and a citrus orchard, which is a farm for oranges and other citrus fruits. The ranch was located at the bottom of the Simi Hills.
William hired an architect named L.G. Knipe to design his family's home on the ranch. The house was finished around 1926. It was built in a mix of Spanish Colonial Revival Style and Mission Revival Style. These styles are known for their beautiful arches, red tile roofs, and decorative details.
The house has special glazed tiles from Mexico. It also features carved mahogany and walnut wood from the Philippines. You might notice some unique decorations inside the home. William's wife, Mary Orcutt, chose a symbol called the Swastika for some of the carvings. She picked it because it was a traditional symbol used by Native American cultures, representing good luck and well-being. This was long before the Nazis used it as a symbol of hate.
Even famous people visited the ranch! President Herbert Hoover, who was a friend of the Orcutts, came to see their beautiful home.
Orcutt Ranch Becomes a City Park
In January 1965, a 24-acre (10 ha) part of the original ranch was named a Historic-Cultural Monument. This part included the family home, gardens, old oak trees, and the citrus orchard. The City of Los Angeles bought this 24 acres (10 ha) section in 1966 for $400,000.
Today, the city-owned property is a wonderful place for everyone to enjoy. It has the Spanish-style adobe house and beautiful gardens. You can see oak trees that are hundreds of years old and Dayton Creek. There are also nature trails, fruit orchards, and rose gardens. Many community garden plots are available for people to grow their own plants. You'll find picnic tables and a wide variety of interesting trees, plants, and shrubs.
Some of the unique trees you can see at the ranch include:
- Purple Lily Magnolias
- Lady Palms (Raphis excelsus), which come from Asia
- Bunya Bunyas (Araucaria bidwillii), an evergreen tree from Australia with cones that can weigh up to 15 pounds (7 kg)!
- Cork Oaks (Quercus suber)
- A very old Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) that is 32 feet (10 m) around. It is believed to be about 700 years old!
For many years, from 1927 to 1980, a man named Ernest Cornejo worked as the ranch's caretaker and gardener. He was hired at just 17 years old to plant and care for all the special trees and plants.
The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department now manages Orcutt Ranch. You can rent the ranch for special events like parties or weddings. It's also famous for its public fruit picks, where visitors can come and pick fresh fruit from the orchards.
See also
