Middle Iverson Ranch Set: a history in pictures

Middle Iverson Ranch Set ("Smoky Canyon," 1952 — composite photo)

One of the most important manmade sets on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., was a small cluster of buildings located on the Upper Iverson, usually referred to as the Middle Iverson Ranch Set. It was situated north of what's now the Simi Valley Freeway (Highway 118), above the northern end of Topanga Canyon Boulevard, on land that today holds a sprawling condominium complex.

The ranch set existed in some form for about 30 years — from roughly 1940 to 1970 — until a huge fire swept through the region from Newhall to Malibu in September 1970 and destroyed most of Iverson’s remaining sets. The Middle Iverson Ranch Set consisted of a variety of buildings over the years, including a main house, two different barns at different times, a bunkhouse and a small cottage situated right in the middle of the compound. A number of other smaller buildings also came and went over the years.

Here's a pictorial history of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set — click on any of the photos for a larger view ...

Early Barn

Along with the main house, the original construction of the ranch set (circa 1940-1942) included a barn. This barn was only around for a few years, and is not widely seen in the movies. But it does make a few appearances.

"Bells of Rosarita" (Republic, 1945)

Here’s an early view of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set from the Roy Rogers B-Western "Bells of Rosarita," showing the first barn along with a glimpse of the main house (southwest face), at the right, and the cottage, at left.

"Rough Riders of Cheyenne" (Republic, 1945)

Another early look at the Middle Iverson Ranch Set layout — rough picture quality but offering a more open view of the set, with the main house toward the left, the early barn at the right, and the cottage just above the horses.

Main House (“Halfway House”)

The main house, often referred to as the Halfway House because it was situated between the busiest areas of the Lower Iverson and Upper Iverson, was part of the original construction of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set. It was featured in film and TV productions for almost three decades, making one of its earliest appearances on film in 1942, in "Outlaws of Boulder Pass." It has been described as having multiple fronts, and it did have two main fronts — one facing southwest and one facing northeast — and both fronts were filmed for movies and TV shows. The house has at times been described as having either three different fronts or four fronts, which isn't exactly accurate. I'll talk more about that below.

"The Millerson Case" (Darmour's "Crime Doctor" series, 1947)

The Middle Iverson Ranch Set's main house — southwest face. This is the most common view of the house.

"Buffalo Bill Rides Again" (Screen Guild, 1947)

Main house (northeast face), along with the cottage, at right. Even though this looks like a smaller house, it's the same building seen in the photo above it, viewed from the opposite side. The non-rectangular shape of the structure creates the illusion of different-sized buildings.

"The Hills of Utah" (Gene Autry/Columbia, 1951)

Here’s another look at the smaller northeast face of the main house. The "rake-style" pillars supporting the porch are a key identifier for this side of the building. Picket fences came and went over the years, and they tend to have a dramatic impact on the appearance of the house. The same house front that looks like a family residence here looks more like an old Western cabin in the shot above this one.

"Don't Knock the Rock" (1956)

Obviously a dark shot, but the main house of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set served as a nighttime gathering place for dance-crazed teenagers in "Don’t Knock the Rock."

"Don't Knock the Rock": Screen shot corrected for lighting conditions

The "Don't Knock the Rock" scene was shot "day for night," and by correcting the light setting to more accurately depict the daylight conditions from the shoot, we get a much better look at the ranch set. The house appears at the right with hot rods starting to gather in front of it, with the bunkhouse visible at the left.

"Gun Duel in Durango" (United Artists, 1957)

Main house — southwest face. Note that by this time telephone poles had begun to find their way into the backgrounds, as if to underscore that the era of the Western was winding down.

This view also offers a decent look at the main house's less widely filmed northwest face (on the left). On a few occasions — but only a few — this side of the house was used as a third "front."

"Black Hills" (Eagle-Lion, 1948): Northwest face of the main house

Western movie location expert Tinsley Yarbrough pointed me to this unusual appearance by the house, in which the northwest face is prominently featured. In this shot the northwest face almost looks as though it includes a garage, which I don't think is the intent as this is a horse movie. At any rate, I still think of this shot as depicting the side of the house rather than the front.

"Black Hills": Guests arrive at the southwest face of the main house

This shot from the same movie tends to support the suggestion that the southwest face, as usual, represents the front of the house, as guests arrive here and enter the house through the front door.

"The Real McCoys" TV show (pilot episode, 1957): Northeast face of the main house

The main house makes an important appearance in the pilot episode of the TV show "The Real McCoys" — important because it was such a widely seen and much-loved show, but also symbolically important because it underscored the role of the San Fernando Valley both in the settling of the greater Los Angeles area and in the booming film and TV industries that played a huge role in the expansion of the city. That's the McCoys driving up in the family jalopy, having just made the trip from West Virginia to their new California farmhouse. Both in the show and in the filming of the show, the family's new home was in the San Fernando Valley.

The McCoy family takes a good first look at its new house, which is in pretty bad shape. The scene takes place entirely on the Middle Iverson Ranch Set, and in this shot the cottage is visible behind the McCoys.

Later in the pilot episode of "The Real McCoys," Grandpappy Amos, played by Walter Brennan, brings his banjo when he comes a-callin’ on a neighbor lady. In an interesting twist from a location standpoint, the neighbor’s house — which is supposed to be some distance away — is played by the other side of the McCoys’ house: the southwest face of the main house at Middle Iverson.

The McCoy family's new home at 40 Acres in Culver City

This shot is NOT taken at Iverson, but on a new set in Culver City that became the substitute for the original Middle Iverson house seen in the pilot. Following the pilot a new set was created that closely resembled the northeast face of the Middle Iverson main house. This new set, built on the studio backlot, was used as the family home for the remainder of the series.

Another view of the set on the backlot at 40 Acres, used for most of "The Real McCoys"

The rake-style roof supports make it clear that the new set in Culver City was designed to closely resemble the Middle Iverson Ranch Set seen in the "Real McCoys" pilot. The use of the rake-style supports was an effective visual trick — it took some careful comparisons to determine that this is not the original building.

"Panic in Year Zero" (American International, 1962)

One of the more intriguing appearances by the Middle Iverson house — aka Halfway House — is in the Cold War movie "Panic in Year Zero," which involves the outbreak of World War III and includes stunning shots of a nuclear bomb falling on Los Angeles. (The money shot of the mushroom cloud, which is included in a detailed post about "Panic in Year Zero" that you can see by clicking here, was taken from Santa Susana Pass Road, west of the Iverson Movie Ranch, and if you know just where to look you can see the Garden of the Gods in the distance.) Here’s a nice shot of the southwest face of the house, along with two of the young hoodlums who take over the residence in the movie after the atom bomb destroys L.A. If you compare this shot to the view of the house as the neighbor lady's home in the "Real McCoys" pilot (three photos up from this one), you should be able to spot similarities such as the two distinctive pillars supporting the roof over the front porch.

This shot from "Panic in Year Zero" shows most of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set as it appeared in 1962, including the main house, the later barn at far left, the bunkhouse to its right, and at the far right of the shot, a rarely seen shed to the east of the house. (The view of the much more commonly seen central cottage is blocked by the house.) This shot also offers a good look at the southeast end of the main house, establishing that it could not have been used as a house front. This is a really nice shot of the whole spread — I encourage you to click on it to enlarge it. (For an in-depth post about "Panic in Year Zero," click here.)

Besides being used extensively for filming, the house was apparently occupied as a residence, but it is unclear who lived there. It’s also unclear exactly when the house disappeared and what happened to it, but it was gone at least by 1969 — outlived, for a short time, by both the Bunkhouse and the second barn.

Like all of the former Middle Iverson Ranch Set, the location where the house stood is now part of a condominium complex off Poema Place, north of the Simi Valley Freeway in Chatsworth, Calif. The exact location of the house is now one of the driveways into the condo complex.

Bunkhouse

The bunkhouse was one of the more enduring sets at the Iverson Movie Ranch, being built in about 1947 and lasting until the 1970 fire. It was a regular feature in a string of movies, mostly B-Westerns, and continued to appear regularly after the focus shifted to television.

Here’s a shot of the bunkhouse from an episode of the TV show "The Lone Ranger." The episode, "The Prince of Buffalo Gap," first aired April 4, 1957, and was part of the final season of the TV show — the only season that was shot in color. Here you can catch a glimpse of Oat Mountain, the sprawling backdrop to the north of the Iverson Movie Ranch, peeking out above the roofline.

Cottage

The Middle Iverson Ranch Set included a variety of minor outbuildings over the years, but by far the most commonly seen one was a small wooden cabin, or cottage, sometimes referred to as a shed, which stood right in the middle of the main buildings and survived for most of the life of the set.

Here’s a look at the central cottage in 1945, in "Rough Riders of Cheyenne."

Late Barn

A second barn went up sometime in the mid- to late 1950s, and for a time the Middle Iverson Ranch Set included three main structures: the main house, the bunkhouse and the late barn. The central shed also remained in place during this period.

"Gun Street" (United Artists, 1961)

Like the early barn, the late barn made only a few appearances in the movies and TV.

A similar view of the late barn, in color, in "The Cat," released in 1966.

Another shot from "The Cat" shows the relationship of the late barn, partially visible at far left, to the bunkhouse, in the background at left, and the cottage, at far right. Seen in the distance is Oat Mountain, and in front of it are a couple of the distinctive low hills that help identify countless Iverson productions. The 1966 movie "The Cat" is one of the later productions to be shot at the Iverson Movie Ranch while it was still a working movie filming site, and one of the very last to feature the Middle Iverson Ranch Set.

Identifying markers

While everything that was on the ground in the immediate area of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set is gone now — replaced by a condominium complex — some key markers remain that help pinpoint where the set once stood. Most significantly, Cactus Hill — a fairly large hill that effectively divided Upper Iverson and Lower Iverson during the filming era — remains intact. At the eastern end of Cactus Hill are some large rocks that can be seen in the backgrounds of movie and TV shots of the set.

Here’s an example:

Boulders at the eastern end of Cactus Hill, as seen in "Buffalo Bill Rides Again" (1947).

Boulders at the eastern end of Cactus Hill, as seen in recent times. Note the large parallelogram-shaped boulder at the top of the photo, just right of center, and the small stacked rock toward the left, both of which are also seen above in the shot from "Buffalo Bill Rides Again."

Bigfoot Subdues Dracula

Click here to read the strange story of the Middle Iverson Ranch Set's unbelievably weird rock feature Bigfoot Subdues Dracula.

The Gorge Cabin

Iverson's Gorge Cabin, seen in "Billy the Kid in Texas" (1940)

The above shot from "Billy the Kid in Texas" is one of the best views in the movies of the Gorge Cabin on the old Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif. The movie is an early entry in Producers Releasing Corp.'s Billy the Kid series starring Bob Steele. (He was later replaced by Buster Crabbe, who went on to do most of PRC's Billy the Kid movies.)

The Wall — detail shot from "Billy the Kid in Texas"

One thing I like about the screen shot is that the background includes the spectacular rock formation The Wall in its entirety, along the top of the photo. Potato Rock, which sat atop The Wall, can also be seen in these shots. In the full screen shot at the top, it's directly above the point where the wooden and stone sections of the cabin join, at the very top of the photo. The blurry shot below may help identify it.

Potato Rock — detail shot from "Billy the Kid in Texas"

The Wall was eventually destroyed — and with it, Potato Rock — to make way for condo development, and some of those condos now occupy the space where Gorge Cabin once stood.

Gorge Cabin (early 1940s promo still)

Here's a much clearer shot of Gorge Cabin from around the same time — early 1940s — courtesy of film historian Jerry England, whose impressive collection of vintage promotional stills is continuously providing better clarity on movie history than we might otherwise have available. Jerry has a nice entry on Gorge Cabin on his own blog, which you can see by clicking here. Jerry mentions that the origin of this shot is unknown, but he notes that it may be from the 1943 Columbia serial "Batman." (More about that below.) We know it's a production of the early 1940s, as that's the time period when the cabin was in place and included the smaller extension toward the left.

You'll notice that the angle of this shot is different from the shot at the top of this post, and therefore the background scenery is different. Directly above the cabin is the Devil's Doorway cluster, and in the background is Cactus Hill. If you have a sharp eye you may also notice that the roofline on the small extension toward the left of the cabin is different between this shot and the 1940 shot at the top of this post. I'll get into that in more detail below.

Screen shot from the Columbia serial "Batman" (1943)

I think Jerry's suggestion that the shot is from "Batman" is correct, and one important clue is the car. I snapped the above screen shot from "Batman," with a car that looks exactly like the car that's partially visible in Jerry's promo shot. In this case the car is seen somewhere else on the Lower Iverson — in front of Mushroom Rock (above the hood of the car), in the area that is now the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village. Also visible, above the rear third or so of the car, is a rock I call Saucer, protruding out from the hillside.

"Riders of the Badlands" (1941)

Here's another nice view of Gorge Cabin, from a similar angle to the "Billy the Kid in Texas" shot at the top of this post, but showing the full "log cabin" extension at the left end of the cabin. This shot comes from the Columbia B-Western "Riders of the Badlands," starring Charles Starrett, which is on my list of the great Iverson movies. Comparing this shot to the shot from "Billy the Kid in Texas" reveals how even minor variations in angle, distance and lighting can make a big difference in location research, as in this shot it's much more difficult to make out The Wall and Potato Rock, even though they're in the shot.

The main part of the cabin was built of stone — or more accurately, material that was made to look like stone. The general rule with these old movie buildings was to build them as cheaply as possible and still have them look like what they were supposed to represent. The actual finish was typically plaster. In the case of Gorge Cabin, the "stone" section was built first (as seen in a screen shot from 1938, below), and the wooden sections on the left were added later.

The cabin was located in the Upper Gorge section of the Lower Iverson, in an area that is now filled by the Cal West Townhomes development, and appears in productions filmed from about 1936-1944. The consensus among location researchers is that after that period the building was moved to the Upper Iverson — to an area known as Hidden Valley. I believe from that time on it appears in the setting seen here. I've never proved to my satisfaction that it's the same cabin, but it does look similar.

"Arizona Territory" (1950) — Gorge Adobe Village

This much is certain: Gorge Cabin disappeared from the Gorge by mid-1944, and later that year an adobe village appeared in the same general location. The adobe village is seen later in 1944 in "The Desert Hawk," and subsequently turns up in a number of productions of the late 1940s, into the early 1950s — including the 1950 Whip Wilson B-Western "Arizona Territory," from Monogram, as shown above.

The village seen here occupies some of the same turf that was previously home to the Gorge Cabin, although the cabin probably would have been off to the left and not a part of this particular shot. I also wanted to note that the popular rock feature The Wall appears in the shot, while a portion of the Garden of the Gods rocks can be seen in the background. Elders Peak, located south of the Iverson Ranch, also appears in the background.

"Terror of Tiny Town" (1938)

The Gorge Cabin may have appeared as early as 1936, but my earliest verified sighting of it is this 1938 appearance in "Terror of Tiny Town." Some uncertainty exists as to whether the cabin seen here, in 1938, is in fact the same building as the cabin seen in the shots posted above from circa 1940-1943, but my best guess is that it's the same. The angle shown here is almost identical to the one in the apparent "Batman" promo still (the fourth photo from the top). In the above shot, the background again includes the Devil's Doorway cluster (the prominent rock feature near the center of the shot, just above the cabin) and Cactus Hill. The chimney clearly changes location between this 1938 shot and the 1940-1943 appearances, but that's fairly routine. As the chimney was fake, it would have been relatively easy to move. I do have a small problem with the location of the window next to the chimney in the above shot, which seems farther from the corner of the building than the window in the 1940 shot at the top of the post — but that problem seems to have "corrected itself" by the time of the apparent "Batman" promo shot. It's possible that the narrowness of that space between the window and the edge of the building in the 1940 shot can be explained by compression due to the use of a telephoto lens.

"Adventures of Red Ryder" (1940)

Here's another early view of the Gorge Cabin, in the Republic serial "Adventures of Red Ryder." The cabin appears here without the wooden add-on seen in the top photo, from "Billy the Kid in Texas" the same year — or at least without the full-length version of it, which includes the "addition to the addition." While not conclusive, this shot tends to pinpoint the additions, indicating that at least some of that work must have been done around 1940. It's also interesting to note that in the "Batman" promo still (the fourth shot from the top), the "addition to the addition" does not appear to be in place. This revelation supports the idea that some of the additions may have been portable, and could be attached or detached from the structure as needed for various productions. Of particular note in the above shot is Gorge Arch, consisting of three main boulders, partially visible above the roofline. And a fake mine can be seen to the left of the arch.

"The Son of Davy Crockett" (1941)

One more view of the cabin, this one from the Columbia B-Western "The Son of Davy Crockett," starring Bill Elliott. The wooden addition was in place at this time, but isn't seen in the shot (it would be just off camera, to the left), and is only seen in partial glimpses in the film. It's unclear whether it was the intent of the filmmakers to avoid showing that addition, but it's possible they just wanted to make the cabin appear small. Note that the Devil's Doorway cluster appears again, in the top-right corner of the shot.

The Gorge Cabin can be seen in a number of other productions as well, including "Billy the Kid Wanted" (1941), "Outlaws of Boulder Pass" (1942), "Ride 'em Cowboy" (1942) and "Death Rides the Plains" (1943).

It's worth noting that a couple of completely different cabins can also be seen in the Upper Gorge at different times, in the same general area as the main Gorge Cabin — one very early cabin (circa 1933) and one much later cabin (circa 1960).

"Unknown Valley" (1933)

The Early Gorge Cabin — a small, crude wooden structure — turns up in in the old Buck Jones Western "Unknown Valley," as seen above. A more detailed blog entry about this cabin can be found by clicking here.

"One Foot in Hell" (1960)

The Late Gorge Cabin, seen in the 20th Century-Fox Western "One Foot in Hell," starring Alan Ladd, is seen here. This is probably a partial structure — missing one or two walls — as it appears to have been used for interior shots in the film, as well as for exteriors. It was part of a set that also included a stable, which is partially seen in the foreground in the above shot. The screen shot also shows part of Crown Rock, at far left, and the Devil's Doorway cluster, behind the cabin. The rocks seen here are all still in place, among the condos off Redmesa Road.

Another shot from "One Foot in Hell," this one is shot from the interior of the Late Gorge Cabin, which may have only been in place for this one movie. With the door open, we can see Crown Rock outside, proving that the shoot was done on location. That means the cabin probably had some missing walls and was effectively a soundstage rather than an actual cabin, as it wouldn't have been possible to pull off this shoot inside the confines of a small room.

Mysterious ruins found on the Iverson Movie Ranch

A portion of the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch, photographed in 2008

Soon after I began exploring the Iverson Movie Ranch several years ago, I ran across an intriguing bit of crumbling stone, brick and tile that I came to know simply as the Ruins. It's a relatively small and unimposing bit of construction by Iverson standards, but it captured my imagination nonetheless. The above photo contains a view of much of the Ruins, along with the impressive rock that was its main neighbor, which I call Hangdog.

(You may want to click on the photos to enlarge them.)

Besides the Ruins at the right and the multifaceted Hangdog on the left, the photo shows a portion of the Old Folks House (sometimes called simply the House), along with some San Fernando Valley development in the background at top right. Also visible in the distance, at top left, is part of Oat Mountain, which is often seen in the movies in the background of chases and other footage shot at Iverson. Directly above Hangdog — which appears in countless movies, by the way (more about that here) — are a number of other rocks that also make appearances in many productions.

The Ruins — detail of brick and stone construction

In this shot you can see a little bit of Hangdog — its "eyebrow and eyelid," if you will — peering out over a portion of the Ruins. I've heard various rumors about the Ruins since the initial discovery, but not much in the way of concrete information. The consensus is it was probably NOT built for the movies, which is in contrast to almost all other construction on the Iverson Movie Ranch. I've never seen it in any productions, although I continue to look for it.

The Ruins looking south, with Woolly Mammoth (aka Vultura's Trail Rock) in the background

In this view of the Ruins, Woolly Mammoth, or Vultura's Trail Rock, can be seen in the background. (The "Woolly Mammoth" name comes from the rock's appearance from a different angle than the one seen here. You'll find it here.) From this angle the rock has been described as looking like a saddlehorn (not to be confused with Saddlehorn Rock, which can be seen here).

Here's a firepit that was found inside the area of the ruins — a discovery that supports one of the theories about the Ruins, that they may have been a sort of patio and barbecue area associated with the Old Folks' House. I generally consider the construction of the Ruins to be associated with the Old Folks' House — a residence on the Lower Iverson that is believed to have been built in about 1928 and stood until the Porter Ranch Fire (also known as the Sesnon Fire) swept through parts of Iverson in October 2008.

Road past the Ruins — one of the few "paved" roads on the Iverson Ranch 

(Woolly Mammoth/Vultura's Trail Rock in background)

The House, which was generally not considered to be part of film productions other than very occasionally and tangentially, is gone now, having been destroyed by that fire. For the last many years of its life, it was not lived in, and by the end it was pretty decayed. Not long after the house burned down — but unrelated to the fire, as far as I know — someone also decided to tear down what was left of the Ruins.

Fortunately, I got photos of both the Ruins and the House before it was too late. I'll talk about the House in another entry. Suffice for now to say that the House, or Old Folks House, was built for the original Iverson couple, Karl and Augusta, to spend their golden years. It was later occupied by their son Joe, who ran the Lower Iverson through much of the peak filming period of the 1930s through 1950s. I figure at some point whoever was living in the House, probably Joe, decided to build the odd structure for some reason — maybe just as a barbecue area. Then again, maybe it was built for a movie that hasn't turned up yet.

Here's another portion of the Ruins that shows some of the tile work. This looks as though it would have ended up being where everyone sat, but whether it was built with that in mind, who knows?

Hangdog rises over the Ruins — the top of Bill Rock can be seen toward the left

The ruins were located in something of a "famous" area for fans of the old Republic serials, as they were right near where the fake front stood for Vultura's Palace (also known as Vultura's Temple) in the landmark 1942 serial The Perils of Nyoka (which is a landmark not only because it is considered one of the best Republic serials, but also, for location aficionados, it's an orgy of Iverson sightings from start to finish). You can find more about Vultura's Palace here, and more about the rock I call Hangdog, which connects the Vultura's Palace front with the Ruins (but not at the same time — the Ruins were not built yet when Perils was shot), here.

If anyone has additional insights into the Ruins, I would love to hear from you. Either way, I hope you'll leave a comment! Thanks.