Inceville (Los Angeles, California)

USA / California / Santa Monica / Los Angeles, California
 interesting place, film/video production studio/facility, movie / film / TV location, historical layer / disappeared object, movie ranch
Historical location.

In Santa Ynez Canyon, Inceville was the studio ranch of pioneering silent film director Thomas Ince.

In 1912 he purchased 460 acres including ocean view, but Ince leased another 18,000 acres stretching 7.5 miles up Santa Ynez Canyon.

Ince (and his successors) shot mostly westerns, and extensive outdoor western sets were built and used for a number of years. Production ceased in 1922 and the whole thing burned to the ground in 1924. This was Ince's second studio locaton in Southern California.

Ince originally located his Bison 101 studio in Edendale across the street from Mack Sennet's Keystone Studio. Ince's aspirations, however, soon led him to leave the narrow confines of Edendale and find a location that would give him greater scope and variety. He settled upon a 460-acre (1.9 km2) tract of land known as Bison Ranch located at Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway in the Santa Monica hills, which he rented by the day. By 1912 he had earned enough money to purchase the ranch and was granted permission by NYMP to lease another 18,000 acres (73 km2) in the Palisades Highlands stretching 7.5 miles (12.1 km) up Santa Ynez Canyon between Santa Monica and Malibu.

Here Ince built his studio, named "Inceville". The studio was the first of its kind in that it featured stages, offices, labs, commissaries (large enough to serve lunch to hundreds of workers), dressing rooms, props houses, elaborate sets, and other necessities in one location. While the site was under construction, Ince hired the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wildwest Show, including many cowboys, horses, cattle, and a whole Sioux Indian tribe, who set up their teepees on the property. When construction was completed, the streets were lined with many types of structures, from humble cottages to mansions, mimicking the style and architecture of different countries. Extensive outdoor western sets were built and used on the site for several years

The dimensions described here are approximate and represent the initial 460 acres. Waiting for verification of actual location and dimensions.

After Ince's ownership, William S. Hart bought it and renamed it "Hartville." In 1920 it was bought by Robertson-Cole Studios (subsequently called FBO, owned by Joseph Kennedy and RKO, the legendary film studio). The name at that time was "R.C. Ranch."

movielocationsplus.com/INCE.HTM
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_Booking_Offices_of_America
www.palisadespost.com/content/index.cfm?Story_ID=3139
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Ince
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°2'44"N   118°33'24"W

Comments

  • OMG it was Sunset Blvd!
  • I mean is
This article was last modified 6 years ago