{"nrhp_refnum":"76000526","name":"Green Oaks Ranch House","other_names":["The (Isaac) Steele Ranch"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"13 mi. S of Pescadero on CA 1","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pescadero","county":"San Mateo County","state":"CA","lat":37.13376219350005,"lon":-122.31211672682099,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Green Oaks Ranch House is a ranch house and farm complex near Point Ano Nuevo, south of Pescadero in San Mateo County, California. The core house dates from about 1863 and was built for Isaac Chapman Steele, with later additions.","why_significant":"The ranch served as a headquarters for the Steele Brothers, pioneer dairymen who launched large-scale commercial cheese production in California. The firm gained national publicity for a giant 'Sanitary Cheese' made to benefit the Sanitary Commission during the Civil War. The house was the first built by any of the Steeles on their own landholdings, and the ranch preserved extensive business and family records.","narrative":"Green Oaks Ranch House sits on 13 acres along Cabrillo Highway near Point Ano Nuevo in southern San Mateo County. The oldest part is a two-story, three-bay Greek Revival house of about 1863, built of redwood lumber for Isaac Chapman Steele and enlarged over the decades with side and rear additions. Outbuildings include a barn, a 1905 garage, a spring house, a trophy room of about 1930 and a packing shed of about 1933. Remnants of gardens and an orchard survive. The ranch was a base for the Steele Brothers, a pioneer dairy firm that began in Sonoma and Marin counties and moved to the San Mateo coast in 1862. The Steeles pioneered large-scale cheese production and marketing in California, and in the Civil War era made a 3,850-pound cheese that raised money for the Sanitary Commission. The house was the first the family built on land it owned, and the family papers kept here now reside at Stanford University.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival (original c. 1863 house, with later additions)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as unoccupied and owned by San Mateo County. The packing shed is still in use and leased to a nearby farmer. Several dilapidated farm structures were demolished by the state parks department.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.275656-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/76000526.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861512","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-mateo-county/green-oaks-ranch-house-76000526/"}