Ventura Farms, previously known as Deerwood Stock Farm and Kentucky Park Farms, lies in the Hidden Valley in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, United States. It is in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles, approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown. It is named after the many oak tr ...

.Schneider, Jerry L. (2015). ''Western Filming Locations Book 1''. CP Entertainment Books. Page 132. . The ranch has been featured in a number of

Western films Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

and is still used for filming. The main activity has long been the raising of thoroughbred horses. It is situated at the east end of Lake Sherwood near the entrance to the Hidden Valley. The ranch consists of various gardens, such as an English Garden, Family Garden, Secret Garden, Arabian Division, etc. Also at the farm is a herd of

Santa Gertrudis cattle The Santa Gertrudis is an American list of cattle breeds, breed of beef cattle. It is a taurine-indicine hybrid breed, descended from both zebu and European cattle. It was bred in the early twentieth century in Texas, and received official recog ...

, Kashmir sheep,

Reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 sub ...

, Arabian horses, and around 800

Koi or more specifically , are colored varieties of the Amur carp ('' Cyprinus rubrofuscus'') that are kept for decorative purposes in outdoor koi ponds or water gardens. Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of ''C. rubrofuscus'' ke ...

. Architectural features include the Sound of Water Pavilion, Japanese Tea House, Chinese Scholar House, Poet’s House, and an conservatory housing 25,000

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

. The Deerwood Stock Farm was owned by J. C. Dellinger from prior to 1944 until 1978, when David Murdock, CEO of Dole Corporation, purchased it and renamed it Ventura Farms. The ranch may have been started by F. W. Matthiessen and given the original name Kentucky Park Farms. It was then property of Carleton F. Burke,

California Horse Racing Board The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) was established in 1933 as an independent agency of the State of California, United States. The CHRB has authority over the regulation of horse racing and parimutuel betting at licensed California race trac ...

's first chairman.

In motion pictures and television

It was under Dellinger’s ownership that movies were first shot on the ranch. It has been featured in films and TV series such as: ; Movies * '' In Old Kentucky'' (1935) * '' Under Fiesta Stars'' (1941) * '' San Fernando Valley'' (1944) * ''

My Pal Trigger ''My Pal Trigger'' is a 1946 American Western musical film directed by Frank McDonald. The screenplay by Jack Townley and John K. Butler was based upon a story by Paul Gangelin. The film stars Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, George “Gabby” Hayes, ...

'' (1946) * '' Trail to San Antone'' (1947) * '' The Paleface'' (1948) * '' Never a Dull Moment'' (1950) * ''

Sons of New Mexico ''Sons of New Mexico'' is a 1949 American Western film directed by John English and written by Paul Gangelin. The film stars Gene Autry, Gail Davis, Robert Armstrong, Dick Jones, Frankie Darro and Irving Bacon. The film was released on De ...

'' (1950) ; Television * ''

The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...

'' (2001 episode " The Gift") * '' 24'' (2006) * ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...

'' (2013-2020) * ''

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

'' (2014) * ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'' (2016-) * '' 9-1-1 LoneStar'' (2021)

References

{{reflist

External links

Official websites
Buildings and structures in Ventura County, California History of Ventura County, California Culture of Thousand Oaks, California Horse farms in the United States Movie ranches Ranches in California Cinema of Southern California Economy of Ventura County, California