King Gillette Ranch Getting an $8.4 million Visitor Center

The National Park Service announced that it will grant $2.6 million to help create a visitor’s center at the King Gillette Ranch, adjacent to Calabasas, for a project estimated at $8.4 million.

The ranch is on 588 acres of unincorporated Los Angeles County just south of Calabasas. In 2005, a group of government and other agencies bought the land for $35 million to form a public park.

And yes, King Gillette was the inventor of the safety razor who bought the property in 1926. Bob Hope bought it in 1952 and turned it over to the Catholic Church, which ran a seminary there for 25 years. It was later bought by a new age church until 1986 when Japanese based Soka University purchased it and was thwarted in attempts to develop the property.

The visitor center is being created from a 6,900 foot stable that had previously served as a classroom and has been vacant for 20 years.