Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center | |
---|---|
Location | 23555 Justice Street, West Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA |
Coordinates | 34°13′07″N118°38′26″W / 34.21861°N 118.64056°W |
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 [1] |
Reference no. | 31 |
The Orcutt Ranch Horticulture Center, formally known as Rancho Sombra del Roble, is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #31) located in the West Hills section of Los Angeles, California, USA.
Orcutt Ranch was the vacation and retirement estate of William Warren Orcutt, an early pioneer of oil production in California and the discoverer of one of the first prehistoric skeletons at the La Brea Tar Pits. [2] [3] The Rancho Sombra del Roble, Spanish for "Ranch of the Shaded Oak", was originally a 210-acre (0.85 km2) cattle ranch and citrus orchard at the foot of the Simi Hills. [4] Orcutt bought the property in 1917, [5] and hired architect L.G. Knipe (who designed some of the original campus structures of Arizona State University) to design his home on the ranch. The 3,060-square-foot (284 m2) residence, in the blend of Spanish Colonial Revival Style and Mission Revival Style architecture, was completed in approximately 1926. It features glazed tiles from Mexico and carved mahogany and walnut from the Philippines. [6] Visitors are surprised to find that the design of the home prominently incorporates bas-relief Swastika architectural decoration. [5] Mary Orcutt, William's wife, chose the symbol due to its connection with Native American traditions, and did so before the Nazis turned it into a symbol of anti-Semitism and genocide. [5] President Herbert Hoover, who was a friend of the Orcutts, visited the ranch. [6]
A 24-acre (10 ha) portion of the original estate, including the residence, gardens, oaks and citrus orchard, was designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument in January 1965. Those 24 acres (10 ha) were purchased by the City of Los Angeles in 1966 for $400,000. [5] The city-owned property includes a Spanish-style adobe residence, extensive gardens, oak trees hundreds of years old, Dayton Creek, nature trails, fruit orchards, rose gardens, community garden plots, picnic tables and a multitude of exotic trees, plants and shrubs. [5] Some of the more unusual trees found at the ranch are Purple Lily Magnolias, Lady Palms ( Raphis excelsus ) native to Asia, Bunya Bunyas ( Araucaria bidwillii ) evergreen native to Australia with cones weighing up to 15 pounds (7 kg)), Cork Oaks ( Quercus suber ), and one of the many Coast Live Oaks ( Quercus agrifolia ) measuring 32 feet (10 m) in circumference, believed to be 700 years old. [2] [3] [6] [7] For 53 years (1927–1980), Ernest Cornejo was employed as the property's caretaker and gardener. Cornejo was hired at age 17 to plant and tend to the exotic trees and plants. [8]
The Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department operates Orcutt Ranch, [9] which is available to be rented for special events. It is also opened up for popular public fruit picks. [7] [10] [11] [12]
West Hills is a suburban / residential community in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County.
California Citrus State Historic Park is an open-air museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the historic cultural landscape of the citrus industry. The park’s museum exhibits and interpretive features share the story of the citrus industry's role in the history and development of Southern California, and is told through the experiences of the diverse migrant and immigrant groups who made it all possible. The California Citrus State Historic Park is in the city of Riverside in Riverside County, California, United States. The 248-acre (100 ha) park was established in 1993.
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Ganna Walska Lotusland, also known as Lotusland, is a non-profit botanical garden located in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, United States. The garden is the historic estate of Madame Ganna Walska. The County of Santa Barbara restricts visitation via a conditional use permit: Lotusland botanic garden is open to the public by advance reservation only, with walking tours 1½ to 2 hours long.
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Shadow Ranch is a historic ranch house, built from 1869-1872 using adobe and redwood lumber, on the original Workman Ranch in the western San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. For much of the 20th century it was in Canoga Park, but it is now within the boundaries of the West Hills community.
The Encino Oak Tree, also known as the Lang Oak, was a 1,000-year-old California live oak tree, Quercus agrifolia, in the Encino section of Los Angeles, California. It was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1963.
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William Warren Orcutt was a petroleum geologist who is considered a pioneer in the development of oil production in California, and the use of geology in the oil industry. He is also known for his contributions to paleontology, which brought the fossils of the La Brea Tar Pits to the attention of the scientific community.
Chatsworth Calera also called Chatsworth Reservoir Kiln Site is one of the few surviving structures of the early 1800s lime industry. This kiln marked the introduction to California of the European industrial process for vitrifying limestone building blocks which were used in the construction of the San Fernando mission and other mission buildings. The word "Calera" is Spanish for "limestone quarry" or "limekiln". Chatsworth Calera is now located in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California. in the Chatsworth Nature Preserve. At its peak there may have been up to five kilns at the site run by native Indian laborers. Chatsworth Calera registered a California Historical Landmark No. 911.
The Parent Washington Navel Orange Tree is a tree grown by Eliza Tibbets in Riverside, California, in 1873. The Riverside County tree was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.20) on June 1, 1932, at the corner of Magnolia Street and Arlington Street, Riverside. The Bahia, Brazil, Washington navel orange was brought to the United States by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1870. The Department of Agriculture imported twelve trees; from these trees, some buds were grafted on to California sweet orange trees. The Washington Navel Orange is also called California Navel Orange.
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