Ronald Reagan's Summer White House
Ronald Reagan's favorite summer vacation spot was Rancho del Cielo, a 688-acre ranch, covering over one square mile, located in the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California. The Ranch is also sometimes called Sky's Ranch or Heaven's Ranch. It served as a vacation home for President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan not only during Reagan's Presidency, but from after his terms as Governor of California, and during his retirement, prior to the advancement of his Alzheimer's Disease.
The ranch was originally called Rancho de los Picos. It was named after José Jesús Pico, who was a descendant of Santiago de la Cruz Pico, a man who who arrived with the Anza expedition in 1776. José Jesús Pico homesteaded the property and in 1871 he built the original adobe house which was located on the property. The ranch was passed down through the Pico family until 1941. It was then that Joe Pico, one of Jose Pico's sons, sold it to Frank Flournoy, a Santa Barbara County surveyor, for $6,000 ($96,200 in 2010 dollars). Flournoy sold the ranch to Roy and Rosalie Cornelius, who purchased additional land for the property. The Corneliuses sold the ranch to the Reagans in 1974 for about $527,000 (about $2,520,000 today). Reagan bought the property just as his second term as Governor of California was coming to an end.
Rancho del Cielo has a pond called Lake Lucky. It also has stables and a barn for horses, and a 1,500 square foot house decorated with 1970s-style furniture. The ranch is located on the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains next to Refugio Pass. It can be reached from the ocean side of the mountains by the one-lane, paved Refugio Road from U.S. Route 101, and from the other side of the mountains by an unpaved, one-lane road from Solvang, California, which is often not passable during the rainy season.
Reagan spent his vacations as President at the ranch. Reporters dubbed it his Western White House. It was at this ranch that Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Reagan's guests at the ranch included British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
When he left the presidency in 1989, Reagan moved to a home in Bel-Air, California. Het kept the ranch as a retreat. As his Alzheimer's disease advanced, visits to the ranch were no longer feasible. Reagan last visited the ranch in 1995 and Nancy Reagan was last there in 1998. That year the property was sold to the Young America's Foundation, a conservative group which preserves it today. The foundation describes the ranch as "a living monument to Reagan's ideas, values, and lasting accomplishments." However the ranch is not open to the public, but the foundation offers students and supporters the opportunity to visit the property. Further information on how students can visit the ranch may be found here.
The ranch was originally called Rancho de los Picos. It was named after José Jesús Pico, who was a descendant of Santiago de la Cruz Pico, a man who who arrived with the Anza expedition in 1776. José Jesús Pico homesteaded the property and in 1871 he built the original adobe house which was located on the property. The ranch was passed down through the Pico family until 1941. It was then that Joe Pico, one of Jose Pico's sons, sold it to Frank Flournoy, a Santa Barbara County surveyor, for $6,000 ($96,200 in 2010 dollars). Flournoy sold the ranch to Roy and Rosalie Cornelius, who purchased additional land for the property. The Corneliuses sold the ranch to the Reagans in 1974 for about $527,000 (about $2,520,000 today). Reagan bought the property just as his second term as Governor of California was coming to an end.
Rancho del Cielo has a pond called Lake Lucky. It also has stables and a barn for horses, and a 1,500 square foot house decorated with 1970s-style furniture. The ranch is located on the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains next to Refugio Pass. It can be reached from the ocean side of the mountains by the one-lane, paved Refugio Road from U.S. Route 101, and from the other side of the mountains by an unpaved, one-lane road from Solvang, California, which is often not passable during the rainy season.
Reagan spent his vacations as President at the ranch. Reporters dubbed it his Western White House. It was at this ranch that Reagan signed the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Reagan's guests at the ranch included British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
When he left the presidency in 1989, Reagan moved to a home in Bel-Air, California. Het kept the ranch as a retreat. As his Alzheimer's disease advanced, visits to the ranch were no longer feasible. Reagan last visited the ranch in 1995 and Nancy Reagan was last there in 1998. That year the property was sold to the Young America's Foundation, a conservative group which preserves it today. The foundation describes the ranch as "a living monument to Reagan's ideas, values, and lasting accomplishments." However the ranch is not open to the public, but the foundation offers students and supporters the opportunity to visit the property. Further information on how students can visit the ranch may be found here.