Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas. It is located in a secluded, but open area near Nicasio, California, in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, who was a turn-of-the-century landowner in the area.[1] The Ranch is not open to the public and keeps a low profile from the road.[1] A gated road leads to the ranch.
Assembled parcel by parcel since September 1978,[2] Skywalker Ranch has cost Lucas up to US$100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. After neighboring ranchers complained that Skywalker Ranch was polluting the environment, Lucasfilm acquired 3,000 acres (12 km²) of adjoining land for a total of over 4,700 acres (19 km²). Only 15 acres (60,000 m²) have been developed.[3]
The Ranch contains a barn with animals, vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center with racquetball courts, the man-made "Lake Ewok," a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theater called "The Stag" as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape.[4] Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building.[5] The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome.[1] Skywalker Ranch has its own fire station, which is part of the Marin County Mutual Aid system, and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood.[1]
Skywalker Ranch is intended to be more of a "filmmaker's retreat" than a headquarters for Lucas's business operations. The headquarters of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and LucasArts are located in Lucas's Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio of San Francisco.[4] Lucas does not live on the Ranch.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Big Rock Ranch
Big Rock Ranch is a later Lucasfilm development in Marin county at 3838 Lucas Valley Road[6] adjacent to Skywalker Ranch. The county's planning commission approved this facility in September 1996[7] and construction was completed in August 2002.[8] However in November 2004, Lucas announced that the 250 employees of the ranch were to be moved to the Letterman Digital Arts Center.[9]
The ranch comprises 1061 acres (4.3 km²), of which 43 acres (17 hectares) are developed with 317,000 sq ft (29,500 m²) of office space.[8] Before the move to the Presidio in 2005, Big Rock Ranch housed the marketing, licensing, distribution and online divisions of Lucasfilm.[9] As of 2007[update] it was the headquarters of the animation division[10] and the George Lucas Educational Foundation.
[edit] In the media
The story of Fanboys circles around five Star Wars fans on their quest to break into the Skywalker ranch and steal a rough cut of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace before its official release.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Strickler, Jeff (2002-05-18). "Skywalker Ranch: George Lucas creates a magic world in real life". Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/389/story/26653.html.
- ^ Labrecque, Jeff (2005-05-10). "'Star Wars' Timeline". http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1059915,00.html.
- ^ "Lucas can build additions, bridge on Skywalker ranch". Marin Independent Journal. 2007-03-31. http://www.marinij.com/westmarin/ci_5564105.
- ^ a b Arnold, William (2005-05-12). "Inside the secure world of Skywalker Ranch". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. http://www.seattlepi.com/movies/223819_skywalker12.html.
- ^ "Skywalker Sound: History". http://www.skysound.com/about_history.html. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ Google maps street view of 3944 Lucas Valley Road, Marin, California
- ^ "Lucasfilm, Ltd. Master Plan and Use Permit with construction". 1996-09-25. http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/mcbds/plng/devproj/lucsr-1.html. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ a b "CMA - Big Rock Ranch Project". CMA. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20071016192357/http://cmaincsf.com/services/bigrockranch1.html. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ a b Kravets, Jim (2004-11-24). "Lucasfilm to transfer much of its workforce". Point Reyes Light. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. http://web.archive.org/web/20071006084342/http://www.ptreyeslight.com/stories/nov25_04/lucasfilm_move.html. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
- ^ Vilmur, Pete (2007-09-21). "Clone Wars at the Ranch". Archived from the original on 2007-11-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20071111135144/http://www.starwars.com/theclonewars/blogs/f20070921/index.html. Retrieved 2007-10-28.
[edit] External links
- Virtual Tour of the Stag Theater
- A detailed tour description by a rare visitor from the press (1986)
- Regular land map of Skywalker Ranch: from The Center For Land Use Interpretation
Coordinates: 38°3′43″N 122°38′38″W / 38.06194°N 122.64389°W
