Rancho del Cielo, California

President Ronald Reagan’s favorite place was his ranch at the top of the Santa Ynez mountains above Santa Barbara, which he owned since 1974, and where he operated a Western White House while in office. Reagan often went there after leaving office in 1989, but within a few years he was too frail to enjoy it. He spent most of his final years at his 7,000 square-foot house in Bel Air. In 1998, the ranch was sold to the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative student outreach organization, that uses it occasionally for retreats and conferences, but primarily owns it as a Republican landscape trophy, a preserved pilgrimage site, off limits to the public. When the Reagans purchased the 688-acre site in 1974, it was known as the Tip Top Ranch, as it spans the crest of the mountains, with views to the ocean north of Santa Barbara in one direction, and to the Santa Ynez Valley wine country in the other. The moist winds from the ocean meet the hot dry air of the inland valley, often forming mists that enshroud the hills. Reagan renamed it Rancho del Cielo (Sky Ranch). Originally there was only a small adobe house on it. He added on to the original house, and did some of the actual construction, like laying tiles, himself. He enjoyed physical work at the ranch. Eventually there were a few more buildings, though all modest in size, and in a traditional one-story Spanish colonial style. The Seabees did much of the construction of the federal buildings and structures on the property when he became president. The Secret Service would keep watch from Snipers Point, where there was a good view of the grounds. Microwave motion sensor systems were hidden in fake rocks, made by Walt Disney Studios. Visitors over the years included Barbara Walters, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Margaret Thatcher. He would hold press conferences there, and ride horses with businessmen. The site was remote, and roads to it narrow. Most VIPs would come by helicopter. Cumulatively he was there for the equivalent of one year of the eight years he was in the White House. When he was there, Russian submarines are said to have re-aimed their missiles at Santa Barbara. With Alzheimer’s and old age taking a firm and final hold, Reagan visited the ranch for the last time in August, 1995. Rancho del Cielo was the stage set for his public-image, self-image, and his personal terroir. The Foundation that owns it does not allow the public there, but instead operates an interpretive center for the Ranch in downtown Santa Barbara. Inside are displays about the site that tell its story in some detail.