a tale still told by an idiot

Shots from my trip Saturday to Rancho del Cielo, AKA the “Western White House”.

Rancho del Cielo was bought by Ronald Reagan in the mid-1970s.

It’s a VERY small one-bedroom ranch house. The man lived simply, out here. Or as simply as the leader of the free world could.

Nancy Reagan put the house on the market a few years ago, literally. It was available to anyone who wanted it. All the Reagan belongings were moved out. Shortly thereafter, when she learned that the Young America’s Foundation was going to purchase the house and turn it into a tribute to the late President, she had all their things moved back in. The house is only open to tours by the Foundation, for Foundation members; I and my group are among the only non-Foundation members that have been allowed to see the ranch.

The President lived simply out here. Rotary phones. Kitchen appliances were circa 1975, and never needed replacing/modernizing because they just WORKED. Their bed was actually 2 plain twin beds, tied together with twist-ties. Aside from the direct line to the White House and the 60-odd Secret Service employed out here during and after the Presidency, the home is your average “Get-away-from-it-all” place.

As you go in the front door and look slightly to the right, there hangs this belt, which is a biography of the President. It’s difficult to make out from the picture, but from left to right it depicts his Illinois birth, his move to Hollywood, his stint in the Army, meeting Nancy Davis, buying the ranch, and riding his horse to the White House.

[I must point out that all 3 of my inside-the-house shots are very poor quality -- I wasn't using a flash. One of my tour-mates did, and at that point we were asked not to photograph things. They are trying to preserve all the objects in it.]

Various shots from the outside:

Lake Lucky, which used to have snakes… the Secret Service took them out and ever-so-conscious of the species, put them in a new lake a little north of the ranch. The new lake is called “Snake Lake.”

Behind this sign (actually in front of the house) is a pen with horses.

While I don’t remember the exact address of the Ranch, the house number is 3333.

From the Garage/Tack Room:

Shot of me with the Presidential Jeep. The “4 RR” license is a legitimate license plate; “GIPPER” is a commemorative of the 50th Inauguration, in January 1995. Also in the garage is a riding lawn mower with the Presidential Seal.

The saddles for the President’s horses. [This is the best shot I have; the others were drastically underexposed due to my mismanagement of the lighting conditions in there.] There is a mix of English and Western saddles here. In here, I learned that the President only rode on English saddles.

I also got to see the Secret Service headquarters on the ranch, up the hill a little from the garage. It was pretty nondescript. It’s also the last non-ranch structure standing; all the other buildings and the helo pad were removed at the end of the Presidency.

In one of the back rooms, behind an employees-only sign, is a room with a glass wall that had a clear view of the ranch house… and The Red Phone.

At the end, we were each given a copy of the book How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life by Peter Robinson, and a 2006 calendar.

All in all, it was pretty humbling. It was amazing to see a man with Hollywood origins live life in such a fashion. It also shows people the other (non-presidential) side of the man. Anyone who might have an opportunity in the future for this is highly encouraged to go.