Ridgewood Ranch is a 5,000 acre ranch situated 7 miles south of Willits, California, in rural Mendocino County. The property was purchased by automobile magnate Charles S. Howard in 1919, and he quickly transformed it into a fully working ranch and thoroughbred facility, complete with the Howards’ large Craftsman style home, and horse stud barn. In May 1926, Charles’s son Frank was killed in a vehicle accident on the ranch. That tragedy led the Howards to fund the construction of Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital, opened in 1928 in nearby Willits. At the end of Seabiscuit’s successful racing career in 1940, he was put out to stud and live his retirement at the ranch, finally being laid to rest on the property in 1947.
My Dad, Mom, Aunt and I visited the ranch on October 17, 2009 and took the tour. It was pretty cool.
