The Joel McCrea Ranch 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 Los Angeles, Downtown. It is named af ...

is also known as the August DuMortier Ranch. The ranch is rare surviving example of the large cattle ranches and fields of grain which once dotted the

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * Sa ...

and Conejo valleys in eastern

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...

. Listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1997, the site includes eight

contributing buildings In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and four

contributing structures In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

on over . One surviving building dates from 1890 from August DuMortier's ranch; the main house, an avocado-shaped pool, and a cabana/poolhouse were built in 1933; a maid's residence and various other contributing and non-contributing buildings date from later.

History

The ranch is historically significant for its association with actor

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he beca ...

, a major star in the movie industry. The main house and some other buildings are also significant works of architect John Byers; according to the NRHP nomination:

Byers was a prominent regional architect, best known for his adobe and Spanish Colonial Revival designs. The Joel McCrea ranch house is a rare and very successful departure from Byers' usual period revivalism into the realm of the informal California Ranch style, just emerging in Southern California. and

The ranch is at the bottom of the

Norwegian Grade The Norwegian Grade is a section of Moorpark Road from the Santa Rosa Valley, California, Santa Rosa Valley up into the Simi Hills and the city of Thousand Oaks, California, Thousand Oaks, within Ventura County, California. Completed in 1911, it ma ...

, a road built by settlers around 1900. The

Norwegian Colony Norwegian Colony was a Norwegian community in Thousand Oaks, California, in the 1890s and early 20th century. They were among the first pioneers to settle in the Conejo Valley, and was perhaps the most successful colony in Ventura County at the tim ...

, at the north end of the Conejo Valley, needed a safe route to transport bales of hay and sacks of wheat and barley to the

Oxnard Plain The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpora ...

. This road allowed grain bound for

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

pass down the Santa Rosa Valley to the Hueneme Wharf. The McCreas donated several hundred acres of the ranch to the newly formed Conejo Valley

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

for the city of Thousand Oaks, California, both of which celebrated their 40th anniversaries in 2004.

References

Ranches in California Simi Hills Buildings and structures in Thousand Oaks, California Buildings and structures completed in 1933 Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Ventura County, California Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in California History of Thousand Oaks, California 1933 establishments in California {{VenturaCountyCA-NRHP-stub

History

See also

References