Merry Christmas to all!

Neek sez:  Lex, Sar and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry and Safe Christmas!  The following are photos from a recent trip to King Gillette Ranch near Malibu, California.  It was the one time home of the inventor and seller of the Gillette Safety razor, King Gillette (his actual name).  His fame was to create the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel. 

The mansion was built in the late 1920’s by renowned architect, Walter Neff.  It had changed hands a number of times after Gillette’s death.  Once being owned by Bob Hope, Claretian Order of the Catholic Church, Elizabeth Prophet, and Soka University of America who had opposition from the residents of the area on its planned expansion.  The residents sought to protect the Chumash ancestral sites as well as the nature habitats and ecology of the area.  King Gillette ranch was purchased jointly for $35 million by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and California State Parks, who then made it available for public use.

Hope you enjoy it.