Aerial survey · USDA NAIP · public domainLA's oldest adobe ranch—home to a Ghost Adventures investigation, a Victorian woman who walks through visitors, and the ghost of the man who planted the eucalyptus trees
22633 Vanowen St, West Hills, CA 91307
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free admission to the public park.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Flat park grounds; the historic ranch house exterior is accessible; interior access limited
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1869 · LA Historic-Cultural Monument #9 · Wizard of Oz screenplay connection · First eucalyptus grove in western San Fernando Valley · 19th-century adobe ranching heritage
Alfred Workman arrived in California from Australia and in 1869 received permission to build a house on a 13,000-acre wheat tract at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley. He constructed the main house using adobe brick and redwood lumber, completing it around 1872. On the day he married, Workman planted seeds of Australian blue gum eucalyptus he had imported from his homeland — those trees, among the first eucalyptus plantings in Los Angeles, still stand and define the property's character.
The ranch changed hands multiple times in the following decades. By the 1930s it was purchased by screenwriters Colin Clements and Florence Ryerson, who restored the house and converted it into a center of Hollywood social life. Florence Ryerson was part of the team that adapted the source material for The Wizard of Oz — the screenplay was drafted or refined at the house during the years she lived there.
The property was transferred to the City of Los Angeles in the mid-20th century and became Shadow Ranch Park, a public green space administered by the LA Department of Recreation and Parks. The ranch house was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #9 — one of the earliest buildings to receive that designation — in November 1962. A volunteer organization, the Supporters of Shadow Ranch Park, maintains the historic structure and hosts community events.
Sources
The paranormal accounts from Shadow Ranch are varied enough to suggest multiple independent sources converging on the same location. The most striking figure is a woman in a white Victorian dress who reportedly does not walk around visitors but through them — a detail consistent enough across unconnected accounts that paranormal researchers have treated it as a signature phenomenon of the site.
A second recurring figure is described as a little girl who has been observed by park employees staying late on the grounds. She is associated with following staff members through the building and, in some accounts, physically tugging on their arms. A third account describes a decapitated boy visible in upper-floor windows — a figure not obviously connected to any documented historical event at the ranch but reported consistently enough that it circulates in local paranormal literature.
The ghost of Alfred Workman, the original builder, appears in accounts that predate the Ghost Adventures episode, which aired in 2023 under the title 'The Beast of West Hills.' Ghost Adventures is on IMDb as season-documented. Historicparanormal.wordpress.com documented apparition reports from the site as early as 2010, establishing a pre-television record of activity claims.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Explore the grounds of Shadow Ranch Park and view the 1869–72 adobe and redwood ranch house that serves as LA Historic-Cultural Monument #9. The Supporters of Shadow Ranch Park group maintains programming and occasional public events at the site. The eucalyptus grove planted by original owner Alfred Workman on his wedding day still shades the grounds.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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