George Lucas turned California ranchland into nearly 5,000-acre Skywalker Ranch

First, it was just a dairy ranch tucked away in a quiet Marin County valley. Today, it is a 4,700-acre moviemaking retreat, with its own fire brigade, a vineyard and a lake named after the Ewoks!In 1978, filmmaker George Lucas bought the first parcel of what would eventually become Skywalker Ranch, using money he had made from Star Wars. All he wanted was a private filmmaking haven away from Hollywood. Nearly five decades later, that idea has grown into a sprawling creative compound with more than a dozen buildings, a 50,000-square-foot main house and Skywalker Sound at its heart. But despite its futuristic name, the ranch looks like an old Northern California estate, with Victorian architecture, gardens, farmland and handcrafted details woven into the landscape.“I've never been into science fiction,” the creator of Star Wars told AD. His penchant for Victorian and Mission architecture is evident on the ranch.