3. Historic Buildings and Resources 



The hay barn, known for many years as "the red barn," was built circa 

 1870 and remodeled in 1944. It retains its size (52' by 198') and shape, and 

 much of what appears to be the original interior framing. The siding and roof 

 was replaced and a concrete foundation built under the barn. The barn was 

 apparently unpainted at the turn of the century, and from about 1920 to the 

 1950s it was painted white. By the time the park purchased Bear Valley Ranch 

 in 1964 the barn had been painted red. 



The Rapp house, built in 1923, was used as a summer residence by the 

 Rapp family, then as a permanent residence by members of the Langdon family. 

 The house was remodeled by Gene Compton in the 1940s, and has apparently 

 not been significantly altered since then. Most of the structures at Bear Valley 

 Ranch were built between 1944 and 1948 by Gene Compton. 



The bunkhouse, foreman's houses, horse barns, garage, equipment 

 building, and meat house were built in 1947-48. All are in good condition and 

 are maintained by the park maintenance staff. The west and north parts of the 

 bunk house were altered in the late 1960s with an addition for administrative 

 space, and an addition was constucted on the southeast corner in 1993. The 

 additions matched the existing style but increased the size of the building by 

 more than one third. During the 1993 construction, it was revealed that the 

 current Superintendent's office was originally a separate small cabin, apparently 

 predating the Compton improvements of the 1940s. The meat house was 

 recently moved to make way for a realigned access road to the roads and trails 

 shops and a new park housing area. 



A number of historic roads exist at the ranch. The Bear Valley Trail was 

 the major access to the coast from Olema, and dates from before 1873. Two old 

 ranch roads branch off of Bear Valley Trail, the Old Pine Trail (which appears 

 on a 1859 map) and the Sky Trail. Both provided access to the dairies at Mt. 

 Wittenberg and the coast. 



The site of the Bear Valley Country Club, 1890-ca. 1940, lies at Divide 

 Meadow on the Bear Valley Trail to the coast. The Country Club was 

 established by a group of wealthy and prominent members of the Pacific Union 

 Club in San Francisco as a place for hunting and social meeting place in the 

 country. The club thrived through the 1890s and early part of the century, 

 having fine facilities including an elegant club house, cottages, kennels, horse 



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