This Ranch Featured in Hollywood Blockbusters Is For Sale

A Los Angeles-area ranch featured in Hollywood productions such as “War of the Worlds” starring Tom Cruise and “Babylon” with Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie is on the market.

Rancho Temescal, an approximately 5,600-acre ranch near Lake Piru in Ventura County, is selling for $44 million, the Wall Street Journal reported. The property was owned by finance industry veteran and racehorse breeder Jed Cohen and his son Tim; the elder Cohen died in 2022, and the son is now selling the property. The family bought the property from oil giant Texaco in 2000 for $3.9 million when the company was operating wells on the site.

Since the nearly $4 million purchase a quarter century ago, the Cohen family has invested more than $30 million into the property.

“Twenty-five years ago, we started and built this thing together,” Tim said of purchasing the property with his father. “It just feels a little different now without him.”

A buyer would gain access to eight separate residences on the property ranging in size from about 900 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Tim Cohen lives with his family part-time in one white stucco home, and the other structures are used for staff. The property is zoned to allow the creation of another home of up to about 20,000 square feet.

Besides being Cohen’s residence and a popular filming location, Rancho Temescal is a fully operational farm with various commercial portions. That includes about 600 acres of irrigated agricultural land, including lemon and avocado orchards as well as other crops. There are several equestrian facilities on site and an events venue used by the family in the past to host weddings and charity events.

Whoever buys the property could also end up benefiting financially, as the Cohen family currently collects royalties from an oil drilling operation that still exists on the property. The oil and farm businesses are for sale with the ranch.

— Chris Malone Méndez