MALIBU RANCH HISTORY
Frederick and May Knight Rindge acquired a 13,330-acre tract of land in 1892, where they built their dream home: Rancho Malibu - a working cattle and grain-growing ranch. It was a working cattle and grain-raising ranch, which was to become one of the most valuable large real estate holdings in the U.S.
In 1903, the Malibu Canyon home was destroyed by a brush fire, and two years later, Frederick Hastings Rindge died at the age of 48. Following her husband’s passing, May Rindge took over the management of the family business.
For 14 years, the Malibu Historical Society fought against the destruction, and through their sustained efforts the property was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house, with its 13 garden acres and walls covered with Malibu Potteries tile, was spared to become the Malibu Lagoon Museum.
Source: Malibucomplete.com
“I was very lucky to live the life I have lived out here like this. Being outside in the sun seems to do more good than anything else.”
Millie Decker, Founder of Malibu Ranch.
Decker, one of Malibu’s oldest and most treasured residents. Arriving in 1925, she remembers a Malibu inhabited solely by the original ranching/homesteader families. Pacific Coast Highway was just a dirt track with gates at both ends.
From the Pepperdine University Archives, Malibu CA.