"I Never Met A Man I Didn't Like"

Anyone know who spoke this famous quote? 

Most of us were probably born long after he was already gone, but he left a great legacy.

Mr. Tennis and I visited his beautiful ranch just outside of Hollywood this weekend and I thought I would share a few pictures of this pastoral setting, just minutes from the city.

Let me give you a few hints:

1.  He was really good with a lasso.

Original small, rustic cabin is the first level of this part of the house.  Ceiling was raised to accommodate his lasso spinning.

Addition added later.  No photos allowed inside, but mine wouldn't have done it justice.

2.  He had a wonderful sense of humor that he displayed on stage, on film, on the radio and through his newspaper column.

Courtyard/outdoor dining patio.  He liked to cook his favorite cowboy food right in this fireplace, Beans and franks.

He planted this vine himself!  Love the way it goes up the chimney.

This one too for the arbor!

3.  He loved to poke fun at politicians and was a great source of comfort to Americans during the Great Depression through his weekly radio broadcasts.

4.  He was one of the last people to see the Lindbergh baby the night he was kidnapped, and was a suspect initially because he asked the little boy if he wanted to come back to California with him.

Lots of stables and corrals throughout the park.

5.  He bought land off of what now is Sunset Blvd. (a dirt road at the time) in 1924 and turned it into a ranch, a polo field and a weekend getaway from Hollywood for his family.

Polo field is on the other side of those cars. The Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, which is just down the road,  is so-named because he and his pals would go there after their matches on this field.

Lessons, stables and horse trails all over the acreage.

6.  He regularly hosted weekend polo matches with friends riding the ponies.  Friends such as, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Spencer Tracy, William Randolph Hearst and Howard Hughes.

"The stable built with jokes"

He had the roof lowered by ten feet on the rotunda when one of his buddies said it was grander than the main house.

7.  He was an avid believer and supporter of commercial air travel and tragically died in a private plane crash in Alaska. Because they ran out of gas.

Empty, but beautiful.

8.  He always chewed gum on and off stage and signed a $6M lifetime agreement with Wrigley.

Lots of vintage goodness in this stable. I know some of you love these doors.

9.  His daughter, Mary, started and ended her acting career in New York on the day he died. In a play in which she played a young woman whose father dies in a plane crash because it ran out of gas. Humphrey Bogart, who was in the play with her was the one who broke the news to her the morning after opening night.

10.  His weekend retreat, which began as a single story "cabin in the sticks" became a sprawling ranch house, which in turn became their permanent home after their Beverly Hills mansion had to be torn down due to a termite infestation.

Mystery of the day:  these seeds/nuts all over the place from trees like the one pictured below.

Anyone know what this is?  I haven't looked it up yet.

Have you guessed?

A beautiful day spent exploring the grounds, stable and homestead at Will Rogers State Park.  Okay, now who's coming to visit so I can take you there?

Thanks to everyone's good wishes for a successful return to work for The Maven.  She has slipped back into her routine and met us for lunch today before we headed to the state park.  Although tired, she is happy to be back and to be rid of the headaches, nausea and dizziness that plagued her before the surgery. We are very blessed.