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The First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs
Official Edgar Rice Burroughs Tribute Site
Since 1996 ~ Over 15,000 Webpages in Archive
Volume 1091
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Danton Burroughs 
Presents
Another Rare Item 
From the 
Burroughs Family Tarzana Archive
Scanned by Bill Hillman
Danton Burroughs

~ El Caballero Souvenir Booklet ~
Tarzana Ranch Photos with Art by Studley O. Burroughs
Introduction and Overview
(Go to ERBzine 1092 and 1093 for full-page scans)

Packard Approaching Tarzana Ranch
 
Edgar Rice Burroughs bought the sprawling Harrison Gray Otis estate in 1919 which he named Tarzana Ranch. The years here were happy ones but the operation ran into financial difficulties after a few years.  Ed's mounting debts from his unsuccessful farming and ranching ventures resulted in the Tarzana Ranch livestock and equipment being auctioned off on January 15, 1923. The Burroughs Tarzana Tract subdivision project was very slow in getting off the ground. Sales of residential lots in the Ventura Boulevard section of the ranch were sluggish. Film companies made occasional use of the Koonskin Kabin location of the ranch for film production, but income from this source was sporadic. After some initial excitement, the Golden Gate Oil Company had little success in finding oil reserves on the ranch. Book sales were in a bit of a slump. Income from all sources was not enough to balance the mounting debts from bad investments, high overhead, and extravagant lifestyle.

In desperation, Burroughs sold 120 acres of the Tarzana Ranch in early 1924. The property sale included the main house and grounds. Investors planned to turn the property into an exclusive country club called the El Caballero. Ed, in his role as managing director of the Club, was very involved in membership drives, building plans and the running of the Club. He seemed surprisingly contented with this turn of events, as it lessened his financial difficulties and family pressures... temporarily, at least. The move to a rental home in Los Angeles got them out of the social whirl trap that they had gotten into at the Ranch, and it was also more convenient for the kids' education. Perhaps the move could have been predicted as in the 24 years that Ed and Emma had been married they had moved to about 24 different homes

Burroughs severed all official connections with the foundering club in late 1925. A year later the Burroughs family moved back to Tarzana to live in a small house they had built on a lot on Mecca Avenue,  from which they had an excellent view of their former mansion on the nearby hill. The lodgings may have been somewhat humble but their new location still gave them free access to their beloved hills and trails to the south.

 Although not a great financial success, the El Caballero golf was highly respected and the course played host to the Los Angeles Open Golf Tournament in 1927. The booklet featured here, and in the two following Web pages, was produced as a souvenir of that event which was won by Bobby Cruickshank.

NOTE: 
Many years back, Danton Burroughs and I scanned this rare booklet for release on our Websites.
The Web was slower then so we released the scans in small low res images.
I've updated these three pages with larger images: ERBzine 1092 and 1093
On the day after Dan's Memorial in Tarzana
his friend Ralph Herman spent a day showing me around what was left of the Tarzana Ranch grounds 
and then took me on a golf cart tour of the El Cab 
after which we dined in their exclusive Members Dining Room. 
Quite a change now from the images shown in this old booklet. 
More about Tarzana in our companion site:
www.tarzana.ca

Tarzana Ranch and Rider

Main Ranch House and Ballroom-Theatre
Main Ranch House and Ballroom-Theatre

East Lawn .North Side
East Lawn      ~      North Side

West SideSwimming Pool
West Side      ~      Swimming Pool

North Verandah
North Verandah

No. 10 Tee and FairwayValley Panorama from North Driveway
                          No. 10 Tee and Fairway      ~      Valley Panorama from North Driveway

Golf Course Out:Golf Course In
Golf Course Out:      ~      Golf Course In

No. 16 Green and Koonskin KabinKoonskin Kabin
No. 16 Green and Koonskin Kabin      ~      Koonskin Kabin

Dinner Party on Pool LawnBallroom-Theatre
Dinner Party on Pool Lawn      ~      Ballroom-Theatre

Water Gardens ~ Terraced Lily Ponds ~ View from Patio
Water Gardens ~ Terraced Lily Ponds ~ View from Patio      ~      Grape Arbor and Driveway



STUDLEY BURROUGHS ART
BallroomTheatre
Ballroom       ~     Theatre
Dining Room
Dining Room



Click for full-size collage poster


See this page with the original smaller images.
 http://www.erbzine.com/mag10/1091a.html



 
TARZANA RANCH FEATURES IN ERBzine
www.tarzana.ca

Tarzana Ranch in World War II by Ralph Herman
Back to Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzana Ranch 1921
An Illustrated Docu-Novel by Bill Hillman starting at ERBzine 1041
Tarzana Hall of Fame
The Tarzana Ranch Story in ERBzine 0008
Ranch Tour: ERBzine 0064
Tarzana Ranch Mosaics:
ERBzine 0954 and ERBzine 0955
El Caballero Promotional Booklet 
Photos ~ Text by ERB ~ Art by Studley Burroughs
ERBzine 1091 ~ ERBzine 1092 ~ ERBzine 1093
THE STORY OF TARZANA 
 A rare booklet from the '20s
 written and published by Edgar Rice Burroughs 
Tarzana Trek
A Photo Diary by Bill Hillman
Home
Article and Letters describing Tarzana
by Edgar and Mary Evaline Burroughs
TARZANA ECOF CONVENTION 2002
Tarzana News Clipping Archive
ERBzine 1358
Farewell Tarzana
A Photo Tribute and Poem by Larry Lingenan
with The Last Photos of Tarzana Ranch by:
Steve Ramada and Peter O'Keefe 
of the Tarzana Cultural Center
Tarzana: Then and Now
ERBzine 1161

~ El Caballero Souvenir Booklet ~
Tarzana Ranch Photos with Art by Studley O. Burroughs
Introduction and Overview
Text & Art Work Pt. I
Text & Art Work Pt. II

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