{"nrhp_refnum":"93000596","name":"Hofer Ranch","other_names":["Ballou Ranch, Ben Haven"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"11248 S. Turner Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ontario","county":"San Bernardino County","state":"CA","lat":34.04884420600007,"lon":-117.58554849599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-07-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-acre working ranch district at 11248 South Turner Avenue in Ontario, San Bernardino County, California, developed from 1898 by Sanford and Benton Ballou. It includes a ranch house, barn, bunkhouse, windmill, water tower and other farm buildings and structures.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the ranch is the best surviving example of a working ranch in Ontario, more intact than the nearby Guasti Winery complex. It is significant for agriculture, including dry-farmed grapes and orchard crops, and for its California ranch vernacular buildings, which have kept their integrity with few alterations.","narrative":"Hofer Ranch is a five-acre cluster of farm buildings and structures on South Turner Avenue in Ontario, California, now surrounded by industrial parks built on former farmland and vineyards. Sanford Ballou bought the first ten acres in 1882, and around 1898 he and his son Benton began building the ranch, starting with the barn. Benton proved that grapes, peaches and apricots could be dry-farmed in the semi-arid area, and by 1915 the ranch covered about 900 acres, mostly vineyards. His nephew Paul B. Hofer, Sr., became foreman in 1919 and gradually bought the property. The buildings, mostly redwood in California ranch vernacular style, include a rambling two-story Craftsman ranch house that grew from an 1870s school building, a rare two-story bunkhouse, a tripod windmill, a water tower and a Quonset hut. Original furnishings and equipment remain. The ranch is considered the best example of a working ranch in Ontario and is significant for its agricultural history and architecture.","period_of_significance":"1898-1946","architect_builder":"Ballou, Sanford; Ballou, Benton; Hofer, Paul B., Sr.","architectural_style":"Other: Ranch Buildings (California ranch vernacular, with a Craftsman main house)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a dwelling and for agriculture, with the original buildings largely intact; the windmill is no longer operational.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.966353-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/93000596.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000596/ead6ed153a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000596/ead6ed153a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Lure Photography","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hofer_winery-3.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lure Photography</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hofer_winery-3.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123860764","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofer_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20714413"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/san-bernardino-county/hofer-ranch-93000596/"}