The Santa Monica-Pacific Palisades ranch in California where Will Rogers did much of his writing has been
reopened to the public after a $5 million restoration of the house and grounds.
A March 25, 2006 ceremony attended by members of the Rogers family and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
marked the rebirth of a spot which, next to his boyhood home in Oklahoma, held special meaning for the legendary philosopher-humorist.
It was where he lived with his family until his death.
Will settled in California following his success on Broadway and his emergence as a movie star. Living
first in a new development named Beverly Hills, he later built a rambling ranch home on land overlooking the Pacific Ocean
which he had bought in the 1920s.
In a description of the Will Rogers State Historic Park, the California Department of Parks and Recreation
stated:
"The ranch became the place where Will Rogers could relax with his family and friends, pursuing his favorite
pastimes of riding and roping. At his untimely death in a plane crash in 1935, Will Rogers' ranch consisted of a 31-room
ranch house, a stable, corrals, riding ring, roping arena, polo field, golf course, and hiking trails. When his widow,
Betty, died in 1944, the ranch became a state park."
Will did a lot of his writing on the road - in an automobile, on a train, in the air - but at home he used
a second-floor study where he turned out his newspaper columns and magazine articles.
Joseph H. Carter and other biographers have written that the years spent at the ranch were quite productive.
Carter, in his new book, "The Quotable Will Rogers", says:
" In those final sixty-six months of his life, Will Rogers averaged a new movie feature every ninety
days, wrote 2,612 daily syndicated columns, filed 285 lengthy Sunday newspaper articles, circumnavigated the globe twice,
encircled the South American continent by commercial plane, reported on two political conventions, played numerous polo matches,
was a major radio commentator with a top Sunday night talk show, and delivered after-dinner speeches largely for charitable
events. Still, he spent afternoons roping calves with his children and staging cookouts with family and pals."
A detailed article about the rededication ceremony, "Will Rogers Ranch: a Legacy Restored", was published
in the Palisadian-Post.
