Midway House: One of the Iverson Movie Ranch's best-kept secrets

"Badman's Country" (1958): The Midway House

One set that has been largely overlooked among the many structures that stood during the filming era on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., is this ranch-style house, which I call the Midway House. Built in 1956, the structure was located in the middle of the Upper Iverson, midway between the North Rim and the South Rim, two of the location ranch's busiest filming areas. The screen shot comes from the Warner Bros. Western "Badman's Country," starring George Montgomery.

"Fury" TV show, circa 1958

This shot puts the Midway House in context, looking at the middle section of the Upper Iverson, as seen from the south. The Fury Barn, the main feature of the Fury Set, appears in the background.

The Fury Barn was built in 1955 for use in the "Fury" TV series, which aired from 1955-1960. Midway House was also built for the show, in summer 1956, and first surfaces as the Newton family home in "Fury" in fall 1956.

"The Gambler Wore a Gun" (1961): The Fury Barn House joins the Fury Set

A later view of the Fury Set, from the United Artists B-Western "The Gambler Wore a Gun," shows that the set eventually included its own house, located adjacent to the barn and known as the Fury Barn House.

Along with the Fury Barn and Fury Barn House, the Fury Set included a cabin and a corral, which are not visible in this shot.

1959 aerial photo of the Fury Set and Midway House area

This aerial photograph of a portion of the Upper Iverson as it appeared in 1959 shows the juxtaposition of the Fury Set and Midway House, along with the Midway Rocks.

The long, rectangular objects that were seen visiting the sets at the time the 1959 aerial photo was taken are probably movie trucks.

"The Gambler Wore a Gun" (1961)

Another shot from "The Gambler Wore a Gun" again has the Fury Set and Midway House in the same shot, but with more of Midway House visible this time, filling up the right half of the frame. Midway House is seen mainly in productions from 1956-1961, but remained standing throughout the 1960s. It is presumed to have burned down in the Newhall-Malibu Fires of 1970, which ravaged much of the Iverson Ranch and the surrounding hills.

"Have Gun — Will Travel" TV series (1958)

Here's a better look at the front of Midway House, as it appears in the episode of the TV show "Have Gun — Will Travel" titled "The Lady," which first aired Nov. 15, 1958.

"Badman's Country" (1958)

The front porch of Midway House offered a great view of the Rocks Across the Way, located a short distance to the northwest, as seen in this shot from "Badman's Country."

"Five Guns to Tombstone" (1960) — the bunkhouse side of Midway House

Like many of the movie sets on the Iverson Ranch, the Midway House served multiple purposes, with its back side designed to look like a bunkhouse. The shot comes from the United Artists Western "Five Guns to Tombstone," starring James Brown and John Wilder.

In this view of the "bunkhouse" side of Midway House from "Five Guns to Tombstone," a portion of Cactus Hill is visible in the top left corner.

I'm including links below to DVDs and streaming videos on Amazon.com in case you're interested in following up on some of the movies or TV shows featured in this post: