In 1906 Kingsley Macomber and Myrtle Harkness Macomber and partner George Sykes bought the 8,917.52-acre Rancho Cienega de los Paicines Ranch in Northern California.
The partners divided the property and Macomber kept the developed portion, and in addition to raising cattle began breeding thoroughbred horses. Myrtle, who had spent several years working with her father’s horses in Kentucky, took an active role in their new enterprise. During a visit, Myrtle’s father Lamon died at the ranch in January 1915.
While the original cottages were fine for a while, in 1912, King and Myrtle had a 15,000 sq ft home built by architect Frank Delos Wolfe that was more reflective of their station in life. The house was inspired by a residence they saw in Nice, France, and had 20 rooms, an indoor pool with a bronze-screened arched roof and gold dome, a 12-car garage, and a golf course. Their 8,900-acre ranch served as the center of their cattle-breeding and thoroughbred racehorse operations, with over 100 horses.
Paicines is still an operating ranch. You can see it here.
Pebble Beach
In 1871 the Pacific Improvement Company (PIC) was formed as an affiliate of Southern Pacific Railroad to expand travel and build infrastructure in Northern California much in the same way as Henry Flagler did in Florida. They owned over 10,000 acres around Pebble Beach and Monterey, including the land where the Pebble Beach golf course is today.
In 1916, the PIC was sold off in chunks by Samuel Morse. Since Pebble Beach was just 60 miles west of Paicines and a nice place to get away from the heat, Myrtle and Kingsley decided to buy in. In June 1916, they bought 82 acres of Del Monte Forest with the stipulation that they could not subdivide it for at least 50 years.
This was well before Samuel Morse created building codes in favor of Mediterranean-style architecture and Macomber started clearing the lot using the Monterey Pines on the site to build a large log mansion. Source: Who was Macomber of Macomber Estates? - by Neal Hotelling
Samuel Morse describes the cabin as follows: "The living room is 90 feet long. The height goes up to the rafters above. At one end there is a musician’s gallery, at the other end a bar, which is back of what looks like an intact log wall. Kingsley was fond of the dramatic. You press a button and up goes a portion of the log wall and there is the bar. The fireplace is high enough for a man 6 ft. tall to walk into. The dining room is also spacious, with its own huge fireplace, and he had a row of servants’ rooms.
Source: Who was Macomber of Macomber Estates? - by Neal Hotelling
"Ironically, it was not Macomber, but Morse, who soon wanted to divide Macomber’s parcel, but only a bit of the lower acreage. The parcel extended down into the area soon planned for Pebble Beach Golf Links. Morse needed some of the Macomber land to move 17-Mile Drive inland and allow for some residential lots between the new golf course and the rerouted scenic road; Macomber was amenable. Their growing friendship led to restoration of the old race track at Del Monte and creation of the Monterey Jockey Club in 1917. The club founders also included W.H. Crocker, August Belmont, Louis J. Hill and Rudolph Spreckels. While Macomber did not have a horse in the opening meet in Oct-Nov 1917, he was in attendance and sponsored the Macomber Handicap, a showcase of the final days’ races. Macomber abhorred Prohibition and he and Myrtle moved to France in 1920, where they continued breeding thoroughbreds. When King died in Paris in 1955, Morse threatened to sue the heirs if they tried to subdivide the holding at Del Monte. They sold the property back to the company in July 1958. For several years, Morse’s son John made it his home. He and the company hosted many large parties there in the 1960s. After S.F.B. Morse died in 1969, the mansion sat empty and in April 1977, the once stately mansion was destroyed by fire, but the name survives on the property that was sold by the company in July 1978 and finally subdivided into estate lots by J. Lohr Properties in 1993 Source: Who was Macomber of Macomber Estates? - by Neal Hotelling"
Poissy
The Macombers sold the Paicines Ranch in 1927 and bought St. Louis de Poissy horse operations in France, from William K. Vanderbilt. Poissy was 20 miles outside of Paris.
The movie below shows Poissy in Vanderbilt days.
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