Routledge Transforming the Irvine Ranch: Joan Irvine, William Pereira, Ray Watson, and the Big Plan (American Real Estate Society Book Series)

From citrus trees to spring breakers, Transforming the Irvine Ranch tells the story of Orange County’s metamorphosis from 93,000 acres of farmland into an iconic Southern California landscape of beaches and modernist architecture. Drawing on decades of archival research and their own years at the famed Irvine Company, the authors bring a collection of colorful characters responsible for the transformation to life, including: Ray Watson, whose nearly century-long life took him from an Oakland boarding house to the Irvine and Walt Disney Company boardrooms Joan Irvine Smith, a much-married heiress who waged war against the US government and the Irvine Foundation's reactionary board and won William Pereira, the visionary architect whose work became synonymous with the LA cityscape. Spanning the history of modern California from its Gold Rush past to the late 1970s, Transforming the Irvine Ranch chronicles a storied family’s largely successful attempts to remake the vast Irvine Ranch in its own image. Review "Transforming the Irvine Ranch: The Big Plan is a must read for anyone interested in local community planning, California history, and American real estate development. The authors provide a thorough, thoughtful, and behind-the-scenes account of the birth of a major city, university, and foundation that have had profound impacts on the people of California." - Mark Baldassare, President and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California "Transforming the Irvine Ranch: The Big Plancombines memoir, oral history, and in-depth research to show how big personalities and bigger ambitions propelled Irvine from ranchland to metropolis. Innovative urban planning, corporate infighting, and expansion of California’s university system are part of this fascinating story. Essential for real estate professionals and anyone who cares about the future of California." - D. J. Waldie, author of Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place "In Transforming the Irvine Ranch, [Oliver and Stockstill] lay out in highly readable form the history of this most successful, and epoch-shaping developments. There may be no other place with the resources and locational advantages of the Ranch, but there are many lessons to be learned by the next generation of planners and developers." - Joel Kotkin, author of The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us "Transforming the Irvine Ranch: The Big Plan is a must read for anyone interested in local community planning, California history, and American real estate development. The authors provide a thorough, thoughtful, and behind-the-scenes account of the birth of a major city, university, and foundation that have had profound impacts on the people of California." - Mark Baldassare, President and CEO, Public Policy Institute of California "Transforming the Irvine Ranch: The Big Plancombines memoir, oral history, and in-depth research to show how big personalities and bigger ambitions propelled Irvine from ranchland to metropolis. Innovative urban planning, corporate infighting, and expansion of California’s university system are part of this fascinating story. Essential for real estate professionals and anyone who cares about the future of California." - D. J. Waldie, author of Becoming Los Angeles: Myth, Memory, and a Sense of Place "In Transforming the Irvine Ranch, [Oliver and Stockstill] lay out in highly readable form the history of this most successful, and epoch-shaping developments. There may be no other place with the resources and locational advantages of the Ranch, but there are many lessons to be learned by the next generation of planners and developers." - Joel Kotkin, author of The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us About the Author H. Pike Oliver has worked on real estate development strategies and master-planned communities since the early 1970s, including nearly eight years at the Irvine Company. He was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and resided