Hollister Ranch

Hollister Ranch
Gaviota Coast and Point Conception, looking southwest. Much of the land in the lower half of the photo is on the old Hollister Ranch.
Town/City	Gaviota Coast (Unincorporated) Santa Barbara County
State	California
Country	United States
Coordinates	34°28′47″N 120°19′31″W / 34.47972°N 120.32528°W / 34.47972; -120.32528
Owner	Private
Area	14,400 acres (58 km2)
Produces	Cattle
Status	Limited public access

Hollister Ranch is a 14,400-acre (58 km²) gated residential community amidst a working cattle ranch on the Gaviota Coast in Santa Barbara County, California. The dramatic bluffs, isolated beaches and terraced grasslands are within the last undeveloped stretch of Southern California coastline. The fallow and fertile fields, mountains and valleys include some of the oldest known human settlements in the new world, the last native population of which was the Chumash. The Spanish Portolà expedition, the first European land explorers of California, traveled along its coast in 1769. It became part of the extensive Spanish land grant known as Rancho Nuestra Señora del Refugio, operated by the family of José Francisco Ortega from 1794.

The land was purchased by William Welles Hollister after the Civil War as part of a large acquisition, the center of which was at Glen Annie, Tecolotito canyon. Lying between Gaviota State Park and Point Conception, there have been conflicts over public access to coastal parts of the ranch for nearly 40 years. Beaches along the Ranch remain technically open to the public per California state law, but access is difficult because the ranch itself is protected private property.^[1]

A cattle ranch since the days of the Ortegas, Hollister Ranch is the fourth largest cattle ranch in Santa Barbara County having shipped over 1,500,000 pounds (680,000 kg) of beef in the summer of 2005. As a result of the Hollister Ranch Owners' Association CC&Rs, Santa Barbara County zoning and California's Agricultural Preserve Program, when fully built out, over 98% of the property will continue to be devoted to cattle grazing. Other benefits to Hollister Ranch owners as a result of the cattle operation include a reduced fuel load in the event of range fire and the tax benefits that result from adherence to the restrictions imposed by the Uniform Rules of the Agricultural Preserve. Relative to the land prices for parcels in Hollister Ranch, however, the cattle ranching is probably uneconomic, and may continue largely for the sake of fuel load management for fire protection, Agricultural Preserve tax consequences and aesthetic considerations.