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September 24, 2009· scvtalk.com · WordPress (SCVTalk 3.0) · Wayback capture

Introducing the future home of SCVTalk’s High Tech Headquarters

By Jeff — Jeff Wilson

Located high above the SCV, the Orcutt Ranch located on Oat Mountain is for sale:

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Oat Mountain is the sometimes drab, sometimes green mountain west of Towsley Canyon where all those radio towers (and Channel 7′s Live Mega Super Doppler HD 7000+) are located.

If it doesn’t look like that impressive of a mountain from below, read the description on what it’s like at the top:

For the first time in nearly 90 years, the historic Orcutt Ranch is offered for sale to the general public. This 784 acres of paradise lies along the crest of Oat Mountain above Northridge, California. A potential filming location within 45 minutes of Hollywood or Burbank that offers production crews a smog free and secluded setting reminiscent of the “Old West” or early California. A forgotten place, where dear roam freely, hawks circle the canyons, and cattle graze in the pristine pastures.
An ideal spot for all sorts of outdoor activities, where families can enjoy a quiet location without exposure to airplane, automobile or people traffic. Develop your own lifestyle here, whether it be an equestrian center, isolated retreat, camping facility or whatever your imagination desires. During the daytime the property offers spectacular views, and at night, the valleys below become a dazzling array of sparkling lights. The 646 acres and 138 acres may be purchased seperately, or a price consideration may be available for purchase of the entire 784 acres.

The ranch is located at elevations up to 3200 feet in the Santa Suzana Mountains in Los Angeles County, California. The colors at this elevation and the changes of the four seasons can be enjoyed by all. The property provides a variety of locations from open, scenic and spacious meadows, to shaded oak woodland hillsides, to deep canyons where trickling streams are hidden by towering firs, stately sycamore and lush bay trees. Maintained dirt roads allow access to all of these settings and the existing weathered ranch buildings.

Four seasons? In/around Santa Clarita? To paraphrase Ralph Wiggum, that’s unpossible!

All this (646 acres for lot one, 138 acres for lot two) can be had for a cool $9.6 and $2.07 million respectively.

I’m a little short this month on the down payment, so if you’d like to help construct a brand new, state-of-the-art, architecturally-significant yet ecologically-responsible hilltop villa for SCVTalk, you can PayPal me here. For $50,000, I’ll even put your name on a brick that I shall walk upon everyday.

All kidding aside, is this too far away and too expensive  for the City of Santa Clarita to buy with that Open Space fund money? I doubt this property could be developed (stay away Dan Palmer, stay away!) but it sure would be nice if the People could purchase it. Maybe the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy?

hat tip to SCVTalk reader David for the find

edit: More pictures from Flickr

Comments (4)

  1. IHeartSCVSeptember 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm
    I congratulate you on your future headquarters. Should things fall through, though, I second your mighty fine suggestion that the City purchase it as open space. Despite the fact that the open space assessment was almost certainly illegal, we may as well use the money to do something useful. Reasons the City of SC should buy Oat Mountain: 1. It falls within the “Benefit Area Boundary” of the map produced by SCVOpenSpace. http://www.santaclaritaopenspace.com/images/map.pdf (caution: big file) 2. It’s about the same cost on a per-acre basis as that semi-polluted parcel near Placerita, the aquisition of which shall be celebrated later this month. 3. Mountains are hugely important in conservation. If the climate warms or cools, species can shift their ranges on the mountain higher or lower, respectively, to find a belt of optimal temperature and manage to persist in a region. 4. It looks nice.
  2. cashSeptember 25, 2009 at 8:29 am
    If the city is serious about open space, this is the property they need to buy. To bad it is not closer to Sand Canyon and Placerita Canyon, the deal would get done..
  3. CCSeptember 25, 2009 at 1:00 pm
    If the City gets ahold of it, say goodby to the ridglines, oak trees, natural streams, and say hello to roads, buildings, cement trails, and stucco.
  4. cashSeptember 25, 2009 at 1:25 pm
    Open space.

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