Shadow Ranch is a historic ranch house, built from 1869-1872 using

adobe Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...

and redwood lumber, on the original Workman Ranch in the western

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California. For much of the 20th century it was in

Canoga Park Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a rancho, and after the American victory it was converted into wheat farms and t ...

, but it is now within the boundaries of the West Hills community.

History

19th century

The ranch began as a dry-land wheat farm owned by the San Fernando Homestead Association led by

Isaac Lankershim Isaac Lankershim (April 8, 1818/19/20 – April 10, 1882) was a German-born American landowner and pioneer in California. He was the owner of 60,000 acres in Los Angeles County, California. Early life Sources from during his life vary on Lankersh ...

and Isaac Van Nuys. Albert Workman, an Australian immigrant, began as the superintendent of Van Nuys' Los Angeles Farm and Milling Company. After 1869 Workman purchased the ranch, and cultivated it with another nearby. The ranch also had a thousand head of cattle at one time. Workman imported Australian Blue Gum

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

tree seeds from his homeland and planted them on the ranch. Some claim the numerous eucalyptus trees in California of that species, ''

Eucalyptus globulus ''Eucalyptus globulus'', commonly known as southern blue gum or blue gum, is a species of tall, evergreen tree endemic to southeastern Australia. This ''Eucalyptus'' species has mostly smooth bark, juvenile leaves that are whitish and waxy on ...

'', originate from the Workman Ranch groves.

20th century

The site has multiple Hollywood connections. In the 1930s the Workman Ranch was acquired by Colin Clements and

Florence Ryerson Florence Ryerson (September 20, 1892 – June 8, 1965) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and co-author of the script for the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz''.'' Between 1915 and 1927 she published more than 30 short stories and then joined ...

, a couple who were screenwriters for the film studio. Ryerson co-wrote the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' while living there. She renamed the estate Shadow Ranch for the amount of shade provided by the numerous large eucalyptus trees, originally planted during the Workman era. It was acquired in 1948 by another screenwriter, Ranald MacDougall, whose credits include "Mildred Pierce" and "Cleopatra." In 1961, film director

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of O ...

used the ranch house as a

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

for '' The Children’s Hour'', based on the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...

City park

Today, the historic Shadow Ranch residence stands on a parcel; the remaining undeveloped land of the original ranch is now an L.A. city park. The structure is used as a recreational facility and events venue. When the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission was formed in 1962, Shadow Ranch was one of the first ten properties to be designated as a city Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #9).

References

External links