{"nrhp_refnum":"97000295","name":"McCrea, Joel, Ranch","other_names":["DuMortier, August, Ranch"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"4500 N. Moorpark Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Thousand Oaks","county":"Ventura County","state":"CA","lat":34.24326110250004,"lon":-118.85750025363845,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-04-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 220-acre former cattle ranch district at 4500 North Moorpark Road on the northern edge of Thousand Oaks, Ventura County, California, with buildings dating from about 1890 and from 1933 to 1945. It includes the main house, barns, shop, milk house, corrals, pool and cabaña.","why_significant":"The ranch is significant nationally for its association with Hollywood actor Joel McCrea, who bought it in 1933 and lived there until his death in 1990. Its buildings, especially the main house, are also significant locally as a departure from architect John Byers' usual revival styles into the informal California Ranch style. It is also a rare surviving example of the ranching heritage of the Conejo/Santa Rosa Valley.","narrative":"This 220-acre former cattle ranch lies at the northern edge of Thousand Oaks, in a narrow valley at the eastern end of the Santa Rosa Valley. Working buildings sit near Moorpark Road, while a private road leads to the main house and maid's residence set against the hillside. Joel McCrea, a Hollywood star whose career spanned more than forty years and over eighty films, bought the property in 1933 and made it his primary residence until his death in 1990. He built the ranch house for his bride, Frances Dee, along with two barns, a shop, a milk house, corrals and a pool. The oldest building is a bunkhouse from about 1890, built by Belgian settler August Dumortier. Architect John Byers, known for adobe and Spanish Colonial Revival work, designed the main house in the informal California Ranch style. The ranch also survives as a rare example of the cattle ranching that once dominated the Conejo Valley before suburban growth.","period_of_significance":"1933-1947","architect_builder":"Byers, John, architect; Winget, Glenn O., builder","architectural_style":"Other: Ranch Style","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Retains a high degree of integrity from its period of significance; the ranch has 12 contributing and 4 noncontributing resources. Some barn wings were converted to residences between 1975 and 1989.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:28.147126-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/97000295.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000295/9dca7dd5b1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000295/9dca7dd5b1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Los Angeles","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buildings_at_Joel_McCrea_Ranch,_Thousand_Oaks.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Los Angeles</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:Buildings_at_Joel_McCrea_Ranch,_Thousand_Oaks.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123862348","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_McCrea_Ranch","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16997787"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/ventura-county/mccrea-joel-ranch-97000295/"}