Skywalker Ranch covers some 5000 acres of land of which only 15 acres have been developed. George Lucas began accumulating this enormous estate in 1978, using early proceeds from the runaway success of Star Wars. It serves as a retreat for the movie-maker- a place to conduct business privately and get his and his employees’ creative juices flowing away from public gaze. Though Lucas himself does not live on site most of the time, security is tight. Members of the public are not welcome, though tours have occasionally been given to journalists, competition winners, and a few other fortunate souls. The entrance to the ranch has a guard station and, perhaps unsurprisingly for a movie director, banks of cameras to keep a close eye on proceedings (though for visitors, there is a strict no photography” policy). In short, unless you’re a close buddy of George, a trusted employee, or just plain lucky, this is not somewhere that you’re going to get to see. At the heart of the ranch is the three-storey Main House, built in a Victorian style and the site of Lucas’s private offices. There are further buildings for various divisions of his company: the vast Research Library stands out for its huge, art nouveau stained-glass skylight Elsewhere, there is the Stag Theater for screenings, a guest house, a zoo, and even the ranch’s own fire station. For good measure, Lucas can stroll through a vineyard, visit his hilltop observatory. or swim in the manmade Lake Ewok. The ranch also encompasses the Lucasfilm Archives, an Aladdin’s cave for any fan of modern cinema. Designed for the preservation and protection of items related to the great man’s movies. it includes props from the Star Wars movies, as well as from Indiana Jones American Graffiti. Willow, and many more. But as if to prove the ranch’s exclusiveness, even President Ronald Reagan had a request to tour the site turned down.
Wreck of Submarine K-129
The K-129 was a nuclear equipped submarine that sailed as part of
