Margarita Fisher Pollard
The silent film movie star who lived in
the house
History
The original land grant was
issued in 1845 to Felipe Subria. It consisted of 1,184 acres and was
granted to him by Pio Pico.
He later deeded the property
to his daughter, Maria La Garcia, for a
dollar. The Dunn family eventually
lost the ranch to Jesus Machado
to a debt of eight dollars.
Jesus was killed in an Indian
uprising in Mexico. The
ranch was then transferred to his son who
lost the property in a bank
foreclosure. The title then went to Lorenzo Soto,
a prominent Los Angeles
business man, who struck it rich gold-prospecting.
After Soto's death, his
wife married Thomas Alvardo and they sold the Rancho to Cave Johnson
Couts for three thousand
dollars in 1866. Cave Couts was married to Ysidora Bandini,
the daughter of a prominent
San Diego family. Couts also owned the surrounding Guajome Adobe,
Vallecitos de San Marcos,
and Las Milpit Ranchos.
In 1874 Ysidora Couts deeded the property to their daughter, Maria
Antonia, and attorney Chalmers Scott. Eleven children were born there.
Their work took them back
to San Diego. Then, Maria deeded the Rancho to her sister, Ysidora,
who married a judge from Los Angeles, George Fuller.
They were the ones who added
onto the Adobe, adding a dining room
and kitchen, making the Hacienda
U-shape. It was in 1886 the Vista Land Company
acquired a sizable portion
of land and the city
was laid out. In 1920, F.J.
Knight purchased the property and gave Wild Wood Park to the city
for three hundred and fifty residents of Vista to enjoy. It was then
sold to Harry Pollard, an MGM Producer, and his
wife, Marguerita Fischer
Pollard. She was a silent film screen star in the 1920s and 1930s.
They owned
the property from 1931-1951.
During that time, the film star from Hollywood, Joan Crawford, a frequent
visitor, gave the Pollards
a Magnolia tree that still stands in the front courtyard today.
It switched hands until
1989 when the City of Vista acquired the Rancho for us all to enjoy
today.
If you would like to know
more about the Rancho Buena Vista just click onto the link below:
Investigation 1
Dec-8-2006
9-28-2007
