Will Rogers State Historic Park | |
---|---|
Type | State Park |
Location | Santa Monica mountains |
Nearest city | Los Angeles, California |
Coordinates | 34°03′22″N118°30′44″W / 34.05611°N 118.51222°W Coordinates: 34°03′22″N118°30′44″W / 34.05611°N 118.51222°W |
Area | 186 acres (75 ha) |
Created | 1944 |
Operated by | California State Parks |
Status | Open |
Will Rogers House | |
Location | 1501 Will Rogers State Park Road Los Angeles, California |
NRHP reference No. | 71000149 |
Added to NRHP | February 24, 1971 |
Will Rogers State Historic Park is the former estate of American humorist Will Rogers. It lies in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Palisades area.
In what is now the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, Rogers built his ranch, where he lived with his wife Betty and their three children, Will Jr., Mary and James. The 31-room ranch house, which includes 11 baths and seven fireplaces, is surrounded by a stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, golf course, polo field—and riding and hiking trails that give visitors views of the ranch and the surrounding countryside—186 acres (757,000 m2). The ranch became a State Park in 1944 after the death of Mrs. Rogers, and the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. [1]
California State Parks completed a major renovation of the ranch house in 2002–2006. The project included reconstruction of flagstone areas that surround the house, seismic safety work, replacement of electrical systems and installation of a new heating and air conditioning system. The house reopened to the public in March 2006.
Beyond the ranch and the stables are the trails that lead to views of the countryside around the park. Since Will Rogers State Historic Park is on the tip of the Santa Monica Mountains, the trails have vistas of both the sea and the mountains. Visitors can hike to Inspiration Point, take the Rogers trail around the perimeter of the park or continue on into Topanga State Park via the Backbone Trail System.
Beyond the Rogers' home, the ranch reflects Will Rogers' roots in horsemanship, starting with the polo field, which is the first thing the visitor sees when looking south from the parking area.[ citation needed ] The field is the only outdoor polo field in Los Angeles County, and the only field that is regulation size. The ranch has been in many movies and television shows, including Star Trek IV , in which it stood in for Golden Gate Park. [2] The polo field features a gentle slope that forms an area for viewing the polo action. Up from the parking area are the ranch buildings, including the visitor center, which once was the Rogers' garage and ranch guest house. The visitor center features a film on the life of Will Rogers, photo mural displays, literature and an audio tour of the grounds.
The ranch buildings and grounds are maintained as they were when the Rogers family lived there in the late 1920s and 1930s. The living room of the main ranch house includes a collection of Native American rugs and baskets, and several original Western art works by Charles M. Russell and Ed Borein. It also features a porch swing in the center of the room and a mounted calf, which was given to Will Rogers to encourage him to rope the calf instead of his friends. The north wing of the house, also furnished in period, original family furnishings, contains the family bedrooms, Rogers' study, and the family parlor/sunroom.
Will Rogers State Historic Park was one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 by California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as part of a deficit reduction program. [3]
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The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses this mountain range. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in California.
Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about 20 miles (32 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles.
The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1980 and dedicated to the acquisition of land for preservation as open space, for wildlife and California native plants habitat Nature Preserves, and for public recreation activities.
Malibu Creek State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving the Malibu Creek canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. The 8,215-acre (3,324 ha) park was established in 1974. Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
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Topanga State Park is a California state park located in the Santa Monica Mountains, within Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
The Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve is a large open space nature preserve owned and operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spanning nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in the Simi Hills of western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in the greater Los Angeles region, with two thirds of the parklands in northwest Los Angeles County, and the remaining third, including a Simi Hills extension, in southeastern Ventura County.
The Marvin Braude Bike Trail is a 22-mile (35 km) paved bicycle path that runs mostly along the shoreline of Santa Monica Bay in Los Angeles County, California. The coastal bike trail is widely acknowledged as Los Angeles’ “most popular bike path.”
A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The first such facilities were all within the 30-mile (48 km) studio zone, often in the foothills of the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, and Simi Valley in the U.S. state of California.
Mandeville Canyon is a small community in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Its center is Mandeville Canyon Road, which begins at Sunset Boulevard and extends north towards Mulholland Drive, though it stops short of Mulholland and there is no automotive route between the two. Mandeville Canyon Road is said to be the longest paved, dead end road in Los Angeles, at over 5 miles (8.0 km). From start to finish, the road gains 1,000 ft (300 m) in elevation.
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Will Rogers State Beach is a beach park on the Santa Monica Bay, at the Pacific coast of Southern California. Located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, the beach is owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation; however, it is managed and maintained by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. A section just south of the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Entrada Drive is popular within the LGBT community and is therefore considered Los Angeles' unofficial gay beach; this section is often referred to as Ginger Rogers Beach.
Cornell is an unincorporated community in the Santa Monica Mountains, within western Los Angeles County, California. It is located 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Agoura Hills and around 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of Malibu.
Rancho Sierra Vista is one of the last intact ranches from the first half of the twentieth century in the Santa Monica Mountains. The majority of the landscape is much as it was 100 years ago. The area is now owned by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park System.
The Will Rogers Polo Club is a polo club in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California. It is located within Will Rogers State Historic Park, and is Southern California's only remaining polo club.