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“THE ranch”

By Diane Welch

The Star-Studded History of Rancho Santa Fe
M ajestically Fe. They purchased several

a p p ointe d
and over 2,000 acres of the
The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe hundred acres in the ranch
represents the gateway to adjoining Lusardi Ranch to
the Ranch. Constructed on create Rancho Zorro. That
a gently sloping knoll, the area is now known as Fair-
sole hotel in Rancho Santa banks Ranch.
Fe was once the nerve cen- Other stars would make
ter for prospective buyers Rancho Santa Fe their home,
to purchase large lots of choosing to leave the hustle
land in the newly forming and bustle of Hollywood for
community. Marketed as
“gentlemen ranchos” these the quietude of rancho life.
Silent movie star Pauline
large acre lots attracted Neff and her aviator husband
visitors, who traveled from Frank Coffyn purchased a
distant locations like New prime hillside lot on Linea del
York, Chicago and Pennsyl- Cielo; movie director Joseph
vania, into investing their Schenck and his wife actress
fortunes in the former Norma Talmadge owned an
Spanish Land Grant rancho. estate home and acreage
Visitors were comfortably on Las Colinas; Bing Crosby
accommodated at the newly purchased the former Osuna
constructed Guest House as hacienda on Via de la Valle in
The Inn was first known in 1923 when it the Rancho Santa Fe village and who 1933. It served as a summer home and
officially opened for business in March. engineered the winding roads that run a safe haven for his four young children
like veins through the ranch, also wore during the fearful period when Charles
Less a hotel, more a home-away-from- the hat of salesman and manager of the Lindberg’s son was kidnapped.
home, the hotel was tastefully decorat- Guest House. He was aided by a hostess,
ed in a restrained Spanish style to cre- Florence Cheyne, who greeted guests Other notables residing in the ranch
ate an ambiance of casual elegance that and acted as concierge, as noted in early included movie directors King Vidor
was reminiscent of a European hostelry publications of the Endless Miracle, the and John Robertson, actor Victor Ma-
or bed and breakfast, a far cry from the community newspaper. ture, opera diva Amelita Galli-Curci, and
luxurious, often ostentatious hotels The marketing was successful. The ranch Howard Hughes who rented a home
usually associated with an affluent and attracted corporate millionaires like with his wife actress Jean Peters. A
fastidious clientele. story is retold that they were so enam-
bank barron George A. C. Christiancy
Leone G. Sinnard, the engineer who from Massachusetts, and movie stars ored with the ranch that when the lease
was up Hughes paid his landlords large
designed the initial concepts for the like Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pick- amounts of money to travel more.
civic center, or the downtown area of ford who fell in love with Rancho Santa

62 Wine Dine & Travel Spring 2014