History
Oldest House In Rancho Mirage Finds New Home at Whitewater Park
Moving day for Ranchito Chiquito, the city's oldest house, was not an easy one. It lasted nearly 7 months, from May to November of 2004. The house that once sat at the southwest corner of a 10-acre date ranch, near the Rio del Sol estates, at the northeast corner of Follansbee Road and Rancho Palmeras, was to be moved, piece by piece to Whitewater Park, on the opposite side of the wash. The City of Rancho Mirage's Historic Preservation Commission had recommended to the City Council that the house would be worth preserving as a testament of Rancho Mirage's early days, before the advent of country clubs, golf, and architectural modernism. Moving the house came at a cost of $164,660, which was divvied up between the City of Rancho Mirage and developer John Wessman.
The name "Ranchito Chiquito" is not Spanish for "Banana Ranch" as someone once suggested, literally translated, it means "very small farm." It was built in 1934 by Les and M.C. Clancy, brothers who arrived from Santa Monica in 1932 to develop the first ranch and raise dates, grapefruit and grapes on their 10-acre parcel adjacent to the street that now bears their name; "Clancy Lane". The dates from the grove were among the first high-quality 'Deglet Noors' produced in the valley. In the early settlement years of Rancho Mirage, the Rio Del Sol and Clancy Lane area was home to many date and citrus farms. These "gentlemen farmers," many from Santa Monica, established small 10-acre farms and built self-sufficient ranch houses, many without electricity or telephones, and with water supplied from local wells. In ensuing years, the ranch houses were expanded and made more livable with electricity, telephones, evaporative coolers and air conditioning.
Ranchito Chiquito, a ranch style house with Mediterranean Revival elements, is constructed of local Whitewater River rock, with handmade clay roof tiles, board and batten siding and an open beam ceiling. On the south side of the house, the battered, exterior chimney composed of smooth river rocks was first disassembled and numbered rock by rock, for its eventual reassembly. The large stone hearth heated the home in winter. Residents often hung wet blankets in open windows to feel relief from summer heat. The tile and stone used throughout the house helped to keep the interior cool. Although there were changes and additions to the house over the years, it now stands in Whitewater Park as it was originally built, painstakingly reassembled piece by piece. A wooden sign with the name "Ranchito Chiquito" is attached to the cornice above the paneled wood entrance door.
Although visitors cannot go inside of the restored Ranchito Chiquito because the building is not seismically sound, they can peer through windows and learn about Ranchito Chiquito through the informational plaques installed around the outside of the house. Whitewater Park is located on San Jacinto Drive, one block west of The River.
