It's the spring of 1923. The stock market is rising, as are ladies hemlines. Life is roaring along for many during this blissful era of prosperity after World War I. F. Scott Fitzgerald is writing The Great Gatsby, Walt Disney incorporates his first film company Laugh-O-Gram Films, and a modest rustic, but elegant, guest house, La Morada, officially opens in Rancho Santa Fe.
The occasion, in the brand new master-planned community just five miles east of Solana Beach, made headlines in the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union newspapers. Lauded as the most perfectly-planned community, by writer Lee Shippey, Rancho Santa Fe was positioned to be a success.
A marketing campaign that delved into the era of the Spanish Dons and the 1800s Spanish land grants, created a romantic vision. Ads in AAA Touring Topics were strategically placed to entice east coast men of means to retire to the Golden State and become "Gentlemen farmers". Powerful corporate executives left the board room for avocado groves and citrus orchards.
When word reached Hollywood two of the most celebrated icons of the silver screen bought into the concept of leaving behind the bustle of the movie industry for the tranquility of rural respite. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Mary Pickford were among the first to purchase vast acreage in Rancho Santa Fe to realize their dream of owning a real-life ranch, a popular concept in the 1920s as the Los Angeles' boom meant less privacy for the stars of the silver screen. The romantic notion of an escape to agrarian environs was enticing and they eagerly purchased vast acreage to convert into cattle and agricultural ranches
Learning of the beauty and remoteness of Rancho Santa Fe more Hollywood stars followed Fairbanks and Pickford's lead. Estate homes, designed in a simple, yet elegant, Spanish eclectic type, by a lady architect, Lilian J. Rice, were built for these celebrated achievers. Nestled on prime hillside lots the homes commanded spectacular views from the mountains to the coast. Like the hub of a wheel, a quaint village formed the center of the development. Inspired by the architecture of Andalusia it was designed by Rice and soon become the heart of the community, a gathering place for the Ranch's famed citizens.
This era of romance and stardom in the Ranch came to an abrupt halt after the stock market crash of 1929. Sales of lots were slow, fickle movie stars moved on, and the land company that owned the former Spanish land grant held on for its fiscal life.
With the arrival of Bing Crosby in 1934, the tides turned, and fame revisited Rancho Santa Fe. Lilian Rice was hired by Crosby to design auxiliary buildings, a race track, tennis courts, a swimming pool, stables and a house for his brother, on the land where the hacienda built by Juan Maria Osuna had stood for decades. Crosby would become a colorful, energetic force in the Ranch. He resuscitated the golf club through media celebrity golfing events he called Clambakes, and brought Hollywood in droves to the area when he funded the building of the Del Mar Racetrack in 1937.
Many of these celebrities from the elegant era of the 1920s and 30s are now lost in the shadows of time but the ghost of them still clings to the buildings in the village of Rancho Santa Fe. A fun and educational heart-healthy walking tour of the village reignites these stars bringing back to life the glamor and the excitement of their era.
My Diane Welch Celebrity Walking Tours retell of the bygone days when Hollywood came to the Ranch and the role that La Morada played in the home-away-from-home for these stars. Now renamed The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, it is the starting point for these tours and all are welcome to join me for a personal stroll through history.
To find out more about the walking tours or to schedule a group walking tour contact The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe at 858.756.9291
