Shadow Ranch facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Shadow Ranch |
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Shadow Ranch House, September 2008
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| Location | 22633 Vanowen Street, West Hills, Los Angeles, California |
| Built | 1869-1872 |
| Governing body | City of Los Angeles Dept. of Recreation & Parks |
| Designated | November 2, 1962 |
| Reference no. | 9 |
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Shadow Ranch is a historic ranch house located in West Hills, California. It was built a long time ago, between 1869 and 1872. The house is made from strong materials like adobe (a type of sun-dried brick) and redwood lumber. It was originally part of a much larger farm called the Workman Ranch.
Contents
Discovering Shadow Ranch's Past
How the Ranch Started
The land where Shadow Ranch stands was once a huge wheat farm. It was owned by a group called the San Fernando Homestead Association. Important people like Isaac Lankershim and Isaac Van Nuys were involved.
Later, an Australian man named Albert Workman bought a large part of this land. He started with about 9,000 acres (36 square kilometers). He also farmed another 4,000 acres (16 square kilometers) nearby. At one point, the ranch even had a thousand cattle!
The Famous Eucalyptus Trees
Albert Workman brought special tree seeds from his home country, Australia. These were for the Blue Gum eucalyptus trees. He planted them all over the ranch.
Many people believe that a lot of the eucalyptus trees you see in California today, especially the Eucalyptus globulus type, came from the trees planted at Workman Ranch.
Hollywood Comes to the Ranch
In the 1930s, the Workman Ranch was bought by a couple named Colin Clements and Florence Ryerson. They were screenwriters, which means they wrote movie scripts.
Florence Ryerson actually co-wrote the famous movie script for 'The Wizard of Oz' while living at this ranch! She loved the many big eucalyptus trees that provided so much shade. Because of all this shade, she decided to rename the estate "Shadow Ranch."
Later, in 1948, another screenwriter named Ranald MacDougall bought the ranch. He wrote scripts for movies like "Mildred Pierce" and "Cleopatra."
In 1961, a famous film director named William Wyler used the ranch house for filming. He shot parts of his movie 'The Children’s Hour' right there.
Shadow Ranch Today: A City Park
Today, the historic Shadow Ranch house is still standing. It's located on a 13-acre (5.3-hectare) piece of land. The rest of the original ranch land is now a city park in Los Angeles.
The old ranch house is now used as a fun place for recreation and events. In 1962, Shadow Ranch was one of the very first places to be named a city Historic-Cultural Monument. This means it's a very important historical site in Los Angeles.
