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30-620: 34°04′19″N 118°30′47″W  /  34.072°N 118.513°W  / 34.072; -118.513 The Murphy Ranch is an abandoned ranch in Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles , built in the 1930s by Winona and Norman Stevens. A long-running urban legend claims the ranch was built to serve as a pro- Nazi enclave. From 1950-1965, the property was owned by the Huntington Hartford Foundation, which operated it as an artists' retreat. The site, now abandoned and in

60-500: A cooler and slightly more humid microclimate than most other areas of Los Angeles. Coastal fog is common throughout the year, winter lows rarely drop below 35 °F, and summer highs rarely exceed 80 °F. Due to its humid climate and the surrounding dense suburban development, the canyon is less threatened by wildfires than other communities within and adjacent to the Santa Monica Mountains. The properties in

90-415: A gas station. Residences designed by Lloyd Wright , Richard Neutra , Craig Ellwood , Ray Kappe , Moore Ruble Yudell , Marmol Radziner and other prominent architects are located in the canyon. Rustic Canyon has long been a site of conflict between real estate developers and local residents. Local legends from the 1930s tell of residents staging displays of chasing each other with kitchen knives down

120-495: A house on the property, and three of his followers also moved to the property: Ilsa Reynolds, Josephine Spotts, and Florence Kamp. All but Conrad Anderson worked daily on the property, tending livestock and chickens, maintaining the orchards, milking cows, raising hay and other crops, etc. The family moved out in 1945, after the war ended. The Stevens moved to property they bought in Ramona. Anderson had died in 1943. In 1949, they sold

150-410: A public city street, and eventually lost the case. Beginning in 2001, a long-running and complicated legal battle in the canyon at Brooktree and Greentree Roads has questioned a 14 feet (4.3 m) setback encroachment by the owners, raised allegations of corruption within the city of Los Angeles' Building and Safety Department, and as of 2013 remained unresolved. The owners had erroneously calculated

180-520: A relationship with Will Rogers , whose ranch and estate lay on the other side of Sunset, and built a polo field in the canyon. During the Prohibition era , the Uplifters was known as a high-class drinking club, of which many prominent local politicians and wealthy residents of the city were members. The relative isolation of the area provided an ideal retreat for the wealthy and powerful members of

210-617: A state of disrepair, is currently owned by the city of Los Angeles. Jessie M. Murphy purchased 41 acres of the Lawes property in Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles in the early 1930s. This land became known as Murphy Ranch . Winona and Norman Stevens purchased it from Jessie Murphy in 1933 or 1934. Winona Bassett Stevens was a wealthy heiress, inheriting a fortune amassed by Arthur J. Bassett in the Chicago steel industry. A Rasputin -like spiritual healer named Conrad Anderson convinced Winona to purchase

240-760: A swimming pool, baseball diamond, and tennis courts, were donated to the city in the early 1950s. They are now within the Rustic Canyon Recreation Center city park. Los Angeles Police Department operates the West Los Angeles Community Police Station at 1663 Butler Avenue, 90025, which serves the neighborhood. The neighborhood is composed almost entirely of single-family homes, and is without commercial development. The nearest commercial buildings are in lower Santa Monica Canyon at Pacific Coast Highway, and consist of several shops, bars, restaurants, and

270-539: Is the only structure left standing on the Murphy Ranch portion of the property. It is thoroughly painted over by graffiti, which is continually updated. All entryways have been sealed. John Vincent was a UCLA music professor who helped Huntington Hartford with the purchase of Murphy Ranch from the Stevens family and later managed the art colony. He told the story that the Stevens family had bought Murphy Ranch at

300-528: The Portola expedition of 1769. The expedition sought to follow the coastline, but were stopped by the coastal cliffs of the Santa Monica Mountains. The next day they turned around and went inland, finding a way north through Sepulveda Canyon . Under Mexican rule, the land between Topanga Canyon and present day Santa Monica was in the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica . It was used for grazing and firewood by

330-511: The Santa Monica Mountains from Pacific Palisades through Malibu. Rustic Creek is one of the few in developed Los Angeles not in a concrete storm channel, until its confluence with Santa Monica Creek which flows into nearby Santa Monica Bay . The area is heavily wooded and lush with vegetation, including coast live oaks , California sycamores , various species of Eucalyptus , and many ornamental trees . The narrow canyon has

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360-460: The Murphy property as a survival retreat, accurately claiming that a great war was coming. Construction began in 1934. Canyon hillsides were terraced, and 8 long concrete staircases were built into the side of the canyon to maintain orchard trees on the terraces. A good well was drilled, and a 300,000-gallon water tank and another smaller tank were added to be filled from the well. A watering system

390-547: The Santa Monica Canyon neighborhood of Santa Monica . It is distinctly isolated by its canyon geography and narrow streets. The canyon and creek, with less development, run north of Sunset Boulevard past Will Rogers State Historic Park , and into natural habitat within Topanga State Park . Rustic Canyon and Santa Monica Canyon are the southernmost of a series of coast-facing canyons which cut into

420-508: The canyon are within the 90272 ZIP Code of Pacific Palisades or the 90402 of Santa Monica, though all are within the City of Los Angeles. The original inhabitants of the area were the indigenous Tongva people (after 1771 referred to by the Spanish missionaries as "Gabrieleño" because they were in the jurisdiction of Mission San Gabriel ). The first Europeans to visit the area were members of

450-569: The club, who lived primarily in the upscale areas (of the time) near downtown and in Pasadena to indulge their appetites without undue notice. A sign reading "Uplifters Ranch" hangs over Latimer Road near the former Uplifters clubhouse, which was designed by the architect William J. Dodd . Following the Depression the club began to sell off properties in the area, and disbanded in 1947. The clubhouse and adjacent recreational elements, including

480-613: The gate could be operated remotely. A strong steel house was built to serve as a garage in the original plan. Several large mansions were planned, one by architect Paul Williams , a well-known African American architect in the Southern California area. But only the steel building and two other small houses were built by the time the Stevens family moved in, which was November 26, 1942 - Thanksgiving Day. The family consisted of Norman and Winona Stevens and their four children: Dale, Robin, Carlile, and Theanne. Conrad Anderson had

510-531: The late 19th century, the mouth of the canyon was considered as a site for the Port of Los Angeles , however San Pedro Bay was used. During the early 20th century, the Uplifters, an offshoot of the prominent Los Angeles Athletic Club , established a social club and ranch in Rustic Canyon and built many ranch and cabin style houses as second homes for weekend and annual retreats. The Uplifters later developed

540-535: The legend), built out the property based on National Socialist ideals. Young included the story in her book. Her son Randy Young told the story to many over the years and was interviewed for the History Channel . The legend grew in the telling, eventually claiming that the FBI raided Murphy Ranch on the day after Pearl Harbor , that Nazi spy Herr Schmidt and the Stevens family were arrested, that 50 members of

570-599: The pro-Nazi Silver Legion of America marched on the property, that the property contained a bomb shelter, that the fence was electrified, etc. None of this is supported by evidence other than Vincent's story. The legend spread without any reply or awareness of the Stevens family. In 2023, Stanton Stevens, grandson of Norman and Winona Stevens, published a book telling the family's story about Murphy Ranch. The ruins of Murphy Ranch are featured in Richard Kadrey 's Sandman Slim series novel Killing Pretty . Murphy Ranch

600-430: The prominent Marquez, Reyes , and Sepúlveda families. During the latter 19th-century, the canyon was known as a camping area and rustic retreat near the beach hotels and resorts of nearby Santa Monica. Abbot Kinney , the developer known for founding the nearby community of Venice Beach to the south, established an experimental forestry station and planted eucalyptus trees in the lower canyon, which still remain. In

630-694: The property to Huntington Hartford for $ 100,000. This was a huge loss for the Stevens’, as they had put $ 900,000 into the property. Hartford also bought the adjacent Josepho property, for a total of 154 acres. He set it all up as a retreat for artists and writers, who would be accepted to the retreat for six-month periods, all expenses paid for by Hartford. Henry Miller , Edward Hopper , and Christopher Isherwood were among those who were awarded these stays. The art colony ran until 1965 when Hartford ran out of money. He sold it that year to Jack Morehart, who owned Pacific Ocean Park . Morehart later sold 86.6 acres of

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660-422: The property, including Murphy Ranch, to the city of Los Angeles in 1972. He donated half and received $ 478,000 for the other half. Despite being so far from the city, it remains a Los Angeles city park to this day (2024). The Mandeville Canyon fire of 1978 destroyed most of the structures. The large water tank, gate, and remains of the steel building were torn down in 2016, mainly for safety. The concrete powerhouse

690-614: The required front yard setback. If a final ruling is ever reached enforcing the setback, the addition's encroachment would need demolition and removal. In September 2007 a judge ruled that the new addition to the Beglari residence was 14 feet (4.3 m) over the setback requirement and closer to the Greentree Road than permitted by the Los Angeles Municipal Code's zoning law. Even though judges have ruled:

720-452: The street to scare away real-estate agents. In more recent times, such conflicts have resulted in long legal battles. The wealthy and prominent residents of the neighborhood have demonstrated both the budget and access to the legal system necessary to block unwanted developments. During the 1980s Steve Tisch , a film producer and Loews Hotels heir, fought a five-year battle against local residents for expanding his large property to include

750-421: The urging of a German spy. He explained it in such a way that it was clear that he was talking about Conrad Anderson, though he called him "Herr Schmidt". When a local historian, Betty Lou Young , was writing a book about Pacific Palisades , she asked him to tell the story in the form of an affidavit in 1975. In the affidavit, he said that the Stevens family (he misspelled their name 'Stephens', which lingers on in

780-404: The use of invalid building permits for the nonconforming addition; and a post-construction occupancy permit being improperly granted; the owners have fought to maintain their non-compliant house for over 12 years. Still without definitive resolution or demolition, another unsuccessful appeal was filed by the owners in 2013. Betty Lou Young Betty Lou Young (May 18, 1919 – July 1, 2010)

810-493: The west side of Los Angeles, California . It is along Rustic Creek, in the Santa Monica Mountains . The residential neighborhood is bordered approximately by Sunset Boulevard to the north, Chautauqua Boulevard to the west, lower Santa Monica Canyon to the south, and Amalfi Drive and Mesa Road to the east. The neighborhood is between the main section of Pacific Palisades and the Brentwood neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and

840-643: Was a United States writer and conservationist. Young was born in Minneapolis to Chester Haller, the owner of a lumber warehouse, and his wife Amy, who was a teacher. While Young was still a baby, her parents separated, and her mother relocated in Long Beach . Young received her undergraduate education at UCLA , and her masters at Smith College in 1942, at which point she met and married Thomas Young. Young became deeply involved in her local community of Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles , writing several books about

870-413: Was built to water the trees in the terraces. A concrete building to house two large diesel generators was constructed, to provide electricity for the property's needs. The entire 41 acres were chain-link fenced at the perimeter, with barbed wire strands across the top. It appears that this fence is still there today. An electric gate at the property entrance had an intercom wired to the main house, from which

900-504: Was the featured location of the radio play "Annexing the Palisades" written in 2020 by Alex Goldberg. The play is set in 1939 and is about the construction of the house and its supposed Nazi ties. This article about a California building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Rustic Canyon, Los Angeles Rustic Canyon is a residential neighborhood and canyon in eastern Pacific Palisades , on

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