Scripps Ranch Real Estate
Scripps Miramar Ranch: Country Living

 
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Scripps Miramar Ranch, a beautiful community of eucalyptus trees and hiking trails surrounding all sides of Miramar Lake, lies within San Diego County, California, immediately east of Mira Mesa. Scripps Ranch was established in the 1890's and continues to proudly maintain its community motto, "Scripps Ranch - Country Living." Scripps Ranch, California, is also home to some of San Diego's most scenic parks, beautiful community facilities, landscaped neighborhoods and business centers.

Serendipity was at work when newspaperman E.W. Scripps came to California in 1890 to see his ailing sister, Annie (Julia Anne), in Alameda. Seeing that she was on the road to recovery, he boarded a steamship for a four-day visit to San Diego. He didn't think much of it, describing it as a "busted, broken-down boom town," but as he traveled north, he became more and more excited. The climate and the foliage reminded him of Algeria, one of the few places in the world where he had remained free of colds that had plagued him all his life. Arriving at a barren, arid mesa 16 miles from town, he decided to build a home, Miramar ("View of the Sea"), named after the Archduke Maximilian's castle in Trieste, Italy.

Scripps and his mentor, his beloved half-sister, Ellen Browning Scripps, purchased 400 acres of what is today Scripps Ranch for $5,000. Only 30 acres were to be E.W.'s, for his home and grounds; the rest would belong to Ellen. Eventually he acquired 2,100 acres, becoming a laughingstock for investing in the stony, treeless, waterless, hopeless acreage. Undaunted, he immediately started to build what he thought would be a "winter" home, to which he could escape during the cold months in Illinois. By 1900, Scripp's ranch had became the family's year round home, with E.W. seldom leaving it until 1917. He modeled the permanent residence - his dream home - after the architecture in North Africa, building three sides of a square around a paved courtyard with a fountain in the center and turreted rooms on three corners. The estate grounds were covered with citrus, pine, eucalyptus, and other beautiful trees, some of which still stand at the Scripps Ranch Swim and Racquet Club on Aviary Dr.

E.W. Scripps, whose pride and joy in Miramar never waned, conducted most of his business from the ranch, only occasionally making trips to his many newspaper offices around the country. He loved the quality of life it afforded him and his family, just as today's residents do.