Ventura County Landmark No. 71: Patterson Ranch Buildings
Historical Background
The Patterson Ranch Company, which had farmed on the Oxnard Plain, purchased 12,500 acres of what later became Patterson Ranch in 1903 for raising grain, cattle, hogs, and sheep. The company subdivided portions of the ranch and formed the Tapo Mutual Water Company, creating a network of water wells, utilities, and packing facilities that supported walnut, citrus, and apricot growers (Patterson Ranch papers, n.d.).
During the 1930s, J. Paul Getty acquired the ranch and continued agricultural operations. By the 1950s and 1960s, Getty began to allow film and television production on the property. Westerns such as Bonanza and Rawhide were filmed at Tapo Ranch (Aushenker, 2016).
In 1981, Watt Enterprises purchased the property and renamed it Big Sky Ranch. From that point forward, the ranch became one of the most prolific filming locations in the region. Numerous productions were filmed there, including Gunsmoke, Little House on the Prairie, Highway to Heaven, Father Murphy, Carnivàle, The Thorn Birds, The Rookie, The Yellow Rose, Tales from the Crypt, and Westworld (Brooks, 1987).
The Property Today
The 1994 Northridge earthquake caused substantial damage across the region, and Big Sky Ranch sustained significant structural impacts. Several historic filming structures were damaged during the earthquake, and subsequent wildfire destroyed many of the remaining original sets (Big Sky Movie Ranch, n.d.).
In 2024, life sized recreations of the iconic Little House on the Prairie structures—including the Ingalls farmhouse, barn, Wilder house, school for the blind, post office, Hanson’s Mill, and Oleson’s Mercantile—were constructed for the Little House on the Prairie cast reunion and festival (Knapper, 2024).
Big Sky Ranch continues to operate as an active filming location and offers limited tours. Although it faces competition from filming venues in counties with less restrictive permitting requirements, the ranch remains optimistic about its future (Aushenker, 2016). It continues to be a scenic and highly adaptable filming environment and has recently hosted productions such as Murder Mystery, Spider Man: Homecoming, Baywatch, and The Little Mermaid (Locations Hub, n.d.).
Additional Reading
References
Aushenker, M. (2016, December 16). Big Sky marks 35 years in the movies. Simi Valley Acorn. https://www.simivalleyacorn.com/articles/big-sky-marks-35-years-in-the-movies/
Big Sky Movie Ranch. (n.d.). Fiction House Press. https://www.fictionhousepress.com/bigsky.htm
Brooks, N. R. (1987 April 20). Big Scene Change Planned for Famed Old Movie Ranch. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-04-20-fi-1203-story.html.
Knapper, A. (2024, January 26). Big Sky Ranch: the set of “Little House On The Prairie.” Little House on the Prairie. https://littlehouseontheprairie.com/big-sky-ranch/
Locations hub. (n.d.). Big Sky Movie Ranch. https://rs.locationshub.com/Home/LocationDetail?rsLocationId=050-10182872
Museum of Ventura County. (n.d.) Paterson Ranch papers, circa 1880-1987. (bulk 1900-1941). Online Archive of California. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c800088d
Date Designated: July 1981
Location: End of Bennett Road, across Tapo Canyon Wash, Simi Valley
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