The Park

The Park area is one of the largest "Back-Lot" park sets left today. No other studio has anything comparable to it in Hollywood. Another original to the Ranch and still (mostly) in tact, this park can be seen in almost any Columbia Production filmed on the Ranch.

Originally the park was slightly larger and covered the current area of the Skeffington house (known to "Bewitched" fans as Shelia's House). The movie "The Wild One" shows a bit of what it looked like in 1953 and also shows that it had many huge pine trees that were native to the lot. Between 1953 and 1958, the park was scaled down and slightly reshaped to its current layout which can be seen in "The Last Hurrah" from 1958 with Spencer Tracy.

In the late 1930's and early 1940's the "Three Stooges" used the park and surrounding area in many of their shorts. There was even a gas station located in the park, between the fountain and where the pool would be later, for one of their many crazy episodes.

Heavily used during the mid sixties in many television shows, this park has a fountain, many trees, a large open area and a swimming pool. The latter was added in 1948 to add a flair of swankiness that was popular at the time and give the Studio another good set location.

The Park was used in countless movies and television shows. Sometimes just as the Park and thus very recognizable, but sometimes disguised and hardly even noticeable. Such as in the movie '13 Frightened Girls' from 1963, where an entire fake backyard was created, complete with a false back of a mansion. 

During the filming of the movie "1776" in 1972, the Park was transformed to represent a French Colonial garden in Philidelphia, Pensilvania. Many extra shrubs, bushes and trees were added to hide or add features of the Park.

The main entrance of the Park, at the corner of Park Blvd (Boston Street) and Gray Square as seen in the movie "The Happiest Millionaire" from 1967. This entrance is also very visible in the movie "1776" from 1972.

In the early eighties, the Park was again used in several shows filmed on the Ranch. Some of them include 'Code Red', 'Mr. Merlin', 'Scarecrow & Mrs. King' and 'V' the original series.
Its large scale, pool, fountain and lushes covered trees and shrubs, has always made for a perfect shooting location for outdoor scenes. Flanked on one end by well kept suburban homes, and opposite by Boston Row homes, it makes the perfect location for a group of 'Friends' to clown around by a fountain or to have that mid American century feel in "Pleasantville".

As of 1998 a new permanent structure was added to the Park. The Alan house, built for "Small Soldiers" and named after the lead character Alan Abernathy. It was altered for the 2007 production of "Pushing Daisies" and recently seen in the movie "Project X". In December of 2012 it was also widely used for Television commercials seen during the Holiday season.

Below the Park as it looked in mid 2019. The gravel walks to the fountain and the fences had been removed already. The original East entrance has been cut back slightly to accommodate the straightened road to line up with what used to be New York Street.  Shortly after this photo was taken, the Park lost one of its most iconic staple and original to the Park, the Fountain.  This all in preparation for the eventual dissolution of the WB Ranch Facilities in 2023. The Fountain was moved to the Main Lot. More information and the history of the Fountain can be found here .