Key, George, Ranch

This 2.25-acre citrus ranch in Placentia, Orange County, preserves the home, grounds and outbuildings of rancher George Benn Key, who bought his first 20 acres in 1893. He built the two-story frame house in 1898 and remodeled it about 1908 with pillared porches, a stone-columned trellis, fireplaces and hand-carved woodwork. A garage dates to 1908 and a tractor shed to 1945. Gardens, old trees and surrounding orange groves give the property a rural setting. Key worked as superintendent of an early Valencia orange ranch and helped organize the Placentia Orange Growers Exchange, a leading packing house whose growers used the Sunkist label. The ranch holds extensive collections of farming and equestrian equipment, citrus labels and family memorabilia displayed in a museum-like setting. The nomination presents it as the best surviving example of an early Orange County orange ranch and of the way of life that accompanied the citrus industry.