Bonanza Boomers

to Boomers!

and Ranger! Glad you found us!

I've only heard rumors that the Ponderosa Ranch would again be open to the public someday at an unspecified future date, but nothing definite that I recall.

If it was mentioned at the Ponderosa II Reunion in Mesa, I was either out of the room at the time or I just don't remember.

. and welcome

Ranger and

About the Ponderosa, I feel just like you. It should be open to the public, and I hope to be able to see it one day...

Ranger wrote:Hello all,
I used to live in California and have visited the real Ponderosa where they filmed some of the show since I was a kid. Before we moved to Vermont somewhere around 2007 we went to visit the Ponderosa again but found out it had been sold to a private seller who was rumored to be just going to use it for his own amusement. Another rumor was that the government wanted to get their hands on it and make it a park. Either way I was really bummed. I felt this was wrong because the show and the Ponderosa were part of Americana and to me, belongs to everyone. I contacted Mitch Vogel who played Jamie on the later episodes and he was bummed about it too but said he heard that the person who bought it was trying to fix it up and open it up again but he wasn't certain of this. Enough time has passed since then and I can't find any info about its status.
Anyone know anything about the Ponderosa at Incline Village? I'd appreciate any updated info about it.

Thank you -

Howdy, Ranger, and to Boomers. There is an article about the Ponderosa house on Wikipedia. Here's a little snip from it. This is about as recent as I know about. I'm sorry it closed, too. I was never able to go (only a child when it closed, and hadn't heard of Bonanza at the time) but it sounded like it would be fun. If the owners were to open it, they would have guests galore!

"Closure of the theme park
The ranch and park remained a popular seasonal attraction for decades after the network run of Bonanza ended, having outlived most of the series' original cast. Business remained strong into the late 1990s. The land was purchased by billionaire software entrepreneur David Duffield in 2004. In September 2004 he closed the Ponderosa "indefinitely".

An article in the Reno Gazette-Journal on September 26, 2004 (Ponderosa rides into the sunset) quoted "co-owner Anderson [son of the original owner]" as saying: "This is the biggest year we’ve ever had", and conservatively estimated that 250,000 people visited the Ponderosa during its last April to September 2004 season.

Royce Anderson, son of ranch founder Bill Anderson, said he decided to sell the ranch because "land values are so high." Bill Anderson had retired to his personal ranch in Dayton some ten years earlier.

The Washoe County, Nevada Web site reveals a Ponderosa Ranch land use concept diagram which alludes to a plan for a new theme park within the Ponderosa Ranch limits. No other information is available and owner David Duffield has not publicly announced a new theme park plan. Nothing new has been built. Google Map imaging indicates that as of January 14, 2011 all of the original structures were still standing."