Nestled amongst a forest of eucalyptus trees and hidden behind private gates are the beautiful homes of the ultra-successful: CEO s of major corporations, sports celebrities, movie stars, musicians, politicians, and astronauts. This exclusive community is Rancho Santa Fe, and it is truly the town the railroad built. Though it began as a failed attempt to grow lumber for its railroad ties, the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway soon transformed the area into an exclusive community offering "gentlemen's estates." Among the first to sign on were Hollywood's reigning couple, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford. Santa Fe officials hired the best engineers, architects, landscape architects, and naturalists to affect a utopian community. It was not long before Rancho Santa Fe was home to celebrities such as Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, and astronaut Wally Schirra. Title: Rancho Santa Fe history comes into focus Author: Roger Showley Publisher: The San Diego Union-Tribune Date: 2/14/10 Rancho Santa Fe, which began in 1906 as a eucalyptus farm of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, in 1921 began to morph into the exclusive enclave of the rich and powerful it is known as today. In the newly published "Images of America: Rancho Santa Fe" (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99), local historian Vonn Marie May has captured the rigorous building period as well as the romance of the early days, when Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Bing Crosby and corporate executives set the tone for the 9,000-acre former Rancho San Dieguito. "The community of Rancho Santa Fe reveals itself through layers of California history," May says in the introduction to the 128-page book. "History that moves from a Spanish pueblo, to a Mexican rancho, to an ambitious horticultural experiment gone awry, and finally to an inspired planned community." Although well-known to residents, Rancho's history as depicted in May's book comes alive in rare pictures, maps and brochures. Beyond those walls, hedges and gates is a genteel world, where horses, golfing and citrus groves still hold sway. But it's not a stuffed-shirt place: Residents, especially the children, then and now had fun. Acquired from the heirs of the first rancho owner, Juan Maria Osuna, the ranch was master-planned in the 1920s by Leone G. Sinnard; landscaped under the direction of A.R. Sprague and Glenn Moore; and given its architectural theme by Lilian J. Rice, one of the first women to earn an architectural degree in California. The final touch was the 1928 protective covenant, drafted by town planner Charles H. Chene. Still in effect, it provides for a design review board (the "art jury") and the Rancho Santa Fe Association, which acts as a homeowners association and quasi-local government for the unincorporated community. The Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society was established in 1984 for the purpose of collection, preservation, and interpretation of the community's local history. Here it proudly presents the story of Rancho Santa Fe, including rare and never-before-published photographs selected from its archives. Used Book in Good Condition