Skywalker Ranch
Skywalker Ranch is the name of the well-disguised workplace of film director and producer George Lucas in secluded but open country near Nicasio, California. Curiously, it is located just off Lucas Valley Road, although there is no relation between Lucas and the road's namesake - the road was named for a turn-of-the-century landowner in the area. The Ranch and production facilities are not open to the public, but die-hard fans present occasional problems to perimeter security. When President Ronald Reagan requested a tour of Skywalker Ranch, shortly after Lucasfilm lost a court battle to have the U.S. government refrain from calling the Strategic Defense Initiative Star Wars, a visit could not be arranged.
Assembled parcel by parcel, Skywalker Ranch consists of over 4,700 acres (19 km²) and has cost Lucas up to US$100 million, according to a Wall Street Journal feature. Over the objections of neighboring ranchers that Skywalker Ranch was polluting the environment, Lucasfilm acquired four neighboring ranches adding more than 3,000 acres (12 km²) to the Skywalker Ranch. All but 15 acres (60,000 m²) remain undeveloped.
The Ranch contains a barn with animals including a donkey named "Burrito" and a pot-bellied pig named "Betty Boop", vineyards, a garden with staff who cultivate fruits and vegetables that are used in the staff restaurants, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center with racquetball courts, its own fire department, man-made "Lake Ewok", hilltop observatory, multiple theater screening rooms, and parking (concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape). It is also the location of Skywalker Sound. The main house has a small company research library under a stained-glass dome.
A selection of props used in various Lucasfilm productions are displayed in a foyer just off the entrance in the main house.
Trivia
- Lucas, who based his Star Wars films on the scholarship of Joseph Campbell, was involved in the creation of the 1988 documentary which explored Campbell's works of The Power of Myth. The series of 6 one hour interviews between Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers, was filmed at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch. In the first episode, Moyers discusses Campbell's friendship with Lucas and the impact of his scholarship on Lucas' Star Wars films (episodes IV,V, and VI) [1].