…ehabilitation of the Adobe Haybarn–Phase One, Seismic Stabilization (2015) Installation of a “manta” in Room 6 of the Ranch House (2014) Installation of updated and redesigned room description signs in all rooms of the Ranch House (2014) Rehabilitation of the Tack Room sliding doors (2014) Installation of irrigation system and landscaping at the Visitor Contact Station (2014) Cowboy quarters (Room 3 and 6) interpretation expansion and historical i…
…eilings in the living room and dining room were lowered, wood paneling was installed, and the windows in both rooms were replaced. Victorian Addition family kitchen, 2020. Victorian Addition living room, 2020 Victorian Addition bay window and dining room windows/doors, 2020 Bob and Miriam’s Casita—1951 When Bob and Miriam Boice moved to the Empire Ranch after their marriage, they first lived in the Children’s Addition section of the…
…was piped into the house; a large electric walk-in refrigeration unit was installed; plumbing was upgraded and cement stucco was applied to the exterior house walls. The living room, diningroom, and kitchen in the family residence were remodeled. A swimming pool was installed south of the house and became the focal point for family gatherings and parties. During the 1940 and 1950s many Hollywood films were shot at the Empire Ranch and in the vici…
…l collapsed and was rebuilt using rubble adobe. Diagonal tension bars were installed between the east, north, and south to control wall movement. Interior and exterior bracing was erected in 2002-04 as part of emergency stabilization efforts, which included repairs to the structure’s foundation. In 2015 the barn was stabilized by creating a steel framework to improve the stability of the roof and its attachment to the walls, and repairing and stre…
…hat Henry S. Boice was interested in buying 20,000 head at $12 apiece, and instantly signed up. Henry S. returned and “on the date of the first delivery he was on hand ready to receive the steers. Banking on his general tenderfoot exterior, we had all agreed that he was a bird to be plucked. What could such a man know of the steers and their ages? We had 2,500 all rounded up. Now if there was one yearling in the group there were 500. ‘He would not…
…for the Cowboys—1948 About 1948 two bathrooms, complete with showers, were installed in Rooms 6 and 8 of the Empire Ranch House for the use of cowboys and other staff. Prior to the installation the cowboys used a 3-hole outhouse located on the east side of the house corral, and a washroom, located in Room 16. Empire Ranch House floorplan showing outhouse location. View of bathroom in Room 6. ERF archives. Sherry & Pancho Boice, 1948. Courtesy of…
…and developer. He met Herbert Hislop in London where Nathan was helping to install a street car system. Nathan and his wife Anna Walker Vail (1830-1913) were significant supporters of and investors in the Empire Ranch. Both hailed from New Jersey but settled in Los Angeles by 1880. Trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles Hislop writes: “From San Francisco we took steamer to Los Angeles which took us 3 days and 2 nights touching at Santa Barbara a…
…mp to the Cienega creek about two miles east. A powerfully geared pump was installed there, and a six-inch iron pipe laid to the top of a small hill Just east of the camp. Two fifty- thousand-gallon redwood tanks were built there, and a four-inch pipeline ran through the little town to the mill and furnished plenty of water.” Ned Vail was sent to work with Sy White, superintendent of the Contention Mine at Tombstone and the mine’s chief assayer, R…
…s falling on top of him. The shock caused heart failure and he died almost Instantly. Vail was pinned under the coach and suffered a fracture of the right leg between the knee and ankle.” [San Francisco Chronicle, 2/5/1899] General Phineas T. Banning made his first fortune driving six-horse stages from what became the Port of Los Angeles on routes that led to San Bernardino and Fort Yuma, AZ. Stagecoach on display at the Banning Museum. Courtesy o…