Where was the "Mystery Adobe Ranch"? One of the biggest mysteries about the early Western movies is finally solved

Hollywood's "Mystery Adobe Ranch" of the 1930s

Back in the early years of the talkies, Hollywood discovered an obscure ranch outside of Los Angeles where film companies could shoot Westerns.

 

"Terror Trail" (Universal, 1933): A wide shot of the Mystery Adobe Ranch

Westerns were the most popular genre of the era, and the "Mystery Adobe Ranch," as it later came to be known, appeared in a number of the early talking Westerns, spanning a period roughly from 1932 to 1937.

 

"Terror Trail" (Universal, 1933)

The ranch enjoyed a brief but productive run as a go-to filming location, and can be seen in movies from Universal, Columbia, RKO, Mascot, Republic and other studios.

 

Buck Jones and Barbara Weeks in Columbia's "Forbidden Trail," filmed on the ranch in 1932

Early cowboy stars who made movies on the mystery ranch included Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Hoot Gibson, Charles Starrett, Bob Steele and Harry Carey.

 

The Mystery Adobe Ranch: Long gone!

By the time people like myself and my film historian colleagues came along and started trying to figure out where those old Westerns were shot, the "mystery ranch" was long gone.

 

Janss Conejo Ranch in the filming days (top), and Avenida de los Arboles
in Thousand Oaks, in modern times (bottom)

But that usually doesn't deter us. Most old filming locations — the buildings, at least — are gone now, but we try to figure out where they were anyway.

 

Janss Conejo Ranch — easy to identify, with or without the buildings

Sometimes it's a ridgeline that provides the best clue, as in this widely circulated "then and now" shot from the Janss Conejo Ranch, a historic filming location in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

 

Janss Conejo's readily identifiable Mountclef Ridge

With Janss Conejo — known today as Wildwood Park — the ridge is especially distinctive, which makes pinpointing the location relatively easy. We usually don't have this much to go on — and usually don't need it.

 

"Terror Trail," 1933: Tom Mix on the Mystery Adobe Ranch, but where was it?

But the Mystery Adobe Ranch was different — a mystery so persistent that many of us feared it would never be solved. But everything changed earlier this month, when we had a breakthrough.

 

"Outlaws of the Prairie" (Columbia, 1937): Filmed on the mystery ranch

The first domino fell when Marc Wanamaker, who maintains the exhaustive repository of Hollywood history known as the Bison Archives, discovered a pertinent reference in some old Columbia files.

 

The Mystery Adobe Ranch: Could this be the "Holman Ranch"?

The Columbia document referenced something called the "Holman Ranch," noting that it was in Calabasas. Marc sent out word to a group of movie historians, and none of us had ever heard of the Holman Ranch.

 

Could this hill be somewhere in Calabasas?

They say two heads are better than one, and in this case we had about six heads involved. We all started doing follow-up, whether it was reaching out to local historians, scouring aerials or poring over old newspaper clippings.

 

The same hill, hiding in an obscure spot in Liberty Canyon

After Jerry Schneider found a historical reference to a possible location near Calabasas for a Holman Ranch, I went out to the location to see whether it was the right spot ... and bingo! It was a perfect match.

 

"Terror Trail" (1933): looking north from the Holman Ranch

This shot from "Terror Trail" shows a part of the old ranch, along with the hills to the north.

 

The same hills in 2024, seen from the former Holman Ranch location

Those hills are still there, and still look pretty much the same.

 

The Holman Ranch's trademark oak tree, in the 1930s

One of the best surprises from my visit to the site involves this huge oak tree, which was situated just in front of the main ranch house and made appearances in almost all of the movies filmed on the ranch.

 

The same oak tree in 2024 — a grizzled version of its former self

I was delighted to find that the giant oak tree has survived — and it hasn't really changed all that much, although today it looks like an older and possibly wiser version of its younger self.

 

Today the old ranch is accessible to hikers

The former ranch location has been preserved as public land, and today is part of Malibu Creek State Park. It's open to hikers, with an access point near Liberty Canyon Road and Park Vista Road.

 

Thanks, guys!

Congratulations to all the dedicated researchers who have been tracking this unusual filming location for years, and a big shout-out to everyone who was part of the great collaboration that finally solved the mystery.