RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY—Joel McCrea and Frances Dee look out toward what will become Sunset Hills. The McCrea Ranch originally covered about 3,000 acres. McCrea, a popular movie star at the time, was a hands-on person, unafraid to work on his spread. Surrounded by green hills overlooking the Santa Rosa Valley, Wyatt McCrea helps preserve the dream of his famous grandparents, actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee—preserve the large ranch they established at the edge of the Conejo Valley.

The McCreas devoted much time and effort to help people in Camarillo, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. Many residents still remember the kindness of Joel McCrea, who wouldn’t hesitate to stop and help a stranded stranger.

Before she passed away in 2004, Dee honored her late husband’s final wishes and donated the remaining 280 acres of the ranch property to the Conejo Parks and Recreation District.

Now McCrea’s descendents and the park district are planning to use the ranch for the benefit of school children and preserve the open space for wildlife.

The ranch is still inhabited by Wyatt McCrea, who cherishes the memories of his parents and grandparents. As he steps into the old ranch house he uses for his office, Wyatt glances toward his three horses grazing in a field nearby.

HAPPY TRAILS—Actor Joel McCrea and his wife, actress Frances Dee, sit on the front porch of their ranch in Thousand Oaks with their two older sons, Jody, left, and David. “My grandparents were always great at making donations to local causes, especially when the kids were in school,” said Wyatt, 44, whose father, David McCrea, was one of three boys growing up on the ranch. Two of the sons now own and operate ranches in New Mexico.

When their sons were young, Joel McCrea and Dee were actively involved with the boys’ Santa Rosa school. They helped acquire educational supplies and even paid the salary of a teacher when the small school couldn’t afford one.

“They were always willing to do what they could,” Wyatt said. Joel McCrea and Dee were also involved in youth sports leagues.

Later, they participated in the drive to build the Civic Arts Plaza in the early 1990s.

The Hollywood pair donated their land to philanthropic organizations, such as the Thousand Oaks YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo and the park district.

Over the years, portions of the ranch were parceled off to become what is now Thousand Oaks. The bulk of the 3,000-acre ranch became the Sunset Hills tract.

But the remaining land is a history of yesterday’s California and Joel McCrea wanted to preserve it. He donated a 75-acre parcel to the Conejo Conservation Agency in the 1970s to create a nature preserve.

Tex Ward, park district general manager, who has been with the district since the 1960s, is making sure that Joel McCrea’s dream to share the region’s ranching history lives on with the remaining 280acre ranch that was most recently donated.

The property’s buildings were placed on the National Registry of historical places. The process to preserve the open space and the ranch ambience is a long-term project, said Ward.

Plans are underway to refurbish the main house and the lower ranch area so families and children can see how ranchers lived. The area will include a picnic area and trails, but it’s not open to the public now. “Our hope is that at some point

school field trips will come to see farming demonstrations and to have a few head of livestock so kids can be exposed to ranch life,” said Wyatt.

The district has received some grant money from the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which is being used for phase one of the project.

“McCrea demonstrated his care through his donations to the agency and to youth organizations,” said Ward, adding McCrea had characteand integrity and was a wholesome down-toearth individual who was not pretentious. McCrea’s wifeFrances Dee, was also special. She gave up a promising career in Hollywood to move to the ranch and raise three sons, Ward said.

To continue the family tradition of community service, Wyatt serves on the community advisory council for the Boys & Girls Club of Camarillo. He’s also on the board of directors for Ride On, a group that helps physically-challenged children and adults ride horses.

Wyatt also is on the executive committee of the Golden Boot awards, an organization that honors current and past actors in western productions. He serves on the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Western movies are a dying art, he said, although there is a push for them to make a comeback.

A Hollywood legend

As he browses through old photographs, Wyatt remembers that his grandfather always listed “rancher” as his occupation on his tax return. “The IRS questioned him on this one year because they knew he was an actor but he just stuck out his hands and asked: ‘Do you think I got these calluses from acting?’”

McCrea was popular in Hollywood. He appeared in over 80 films and his wife, Dee, was featured in about 40 movies.

McCrea is mostly remembered for the Western movies he was in, but he didn’t act in this genre until the last half of his career. From the mid 1940s on, McCrea specialized in westerns because he felt comfortable on a horse, said Wyatt.

Some of his best films were dramas and comedies, such as “Sullivan’s Travels,” “The More the Merrier” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Foreign Correspondent.”

McCrea grew up in Hollywood in the early 1900s, a time when people were still using horse-drawn wagons to travel. This spurred his interest in the West and in horses.

As a teenager, McCrea drove a team of horses that helped to grade Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He also worked on a ranch during the summer.

But the handsome and tall young man was surrounded by people who worked in the movie industry. He started working as an extra on the sets, then moved on to more prominent roles.

When McCrea began to earn money through his acting, Will Rogers advised him to invest in land and pointed to the Conejo Valley as a good spot.

Although they didn’t know each other until they were both in the film world, Dee was born only six blocks away from where McCrea lived.