Westlake Village, CA news and local guide

In 1795 the area became part of Rancho Simi, one of the first Spanish land grants, given to the Pico family and confirmed under Mexico in 1842. In 1881 the Russell brothers bought a large part of it for cattle, and according to the family historian Patricia Allen, Andrew Russell won the land by racing across 6,000 acres in a buckboard in fifteen minutes and sealed the deal with a $20 gold piece, at $2.50 an acre. The Russell Ranch was sold to William Randolph Hearst in 1925 and to Fred Albertson in 1943, and while the Russells leased back land for cattle, the Albertson Company used it as a movie ranch for films and television shows such as Robin Hood, Gunsmoke and Bonanza. In 1963 Daniel K. Ludwig's American-Hawaiian Steamship Company bought the 12,000-acre ranch for $32 million and, with the Prudential Insurance Company, commissioned a master plan from A. C. Martin and Associates for a "city in the country" built around a lake, with commercial areas, neighborhoods and open space. Sources Wikipedia: Westlake Village, California