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Family
holidays & gatherings
We love our property and share it often...
But it was also our home and we cherished it. It was never a mansion and it lacked any kind of architectural distinction but it was pretty and comfortable and welcoming.
A welcoming world of family and friends, of animals and gardens. Our ranch in the sky. Our Home.
Garden
oaks, olives & flowers
We bought our Malibu property in 1997 and it was anything but “Millionaire Malibu.” It was then 13 acres with a horse corral, a broken-down old A-Frame house, a trampoline and a magnificent view. We gutted and renovated the A-Frame first and then turned our attention to the groves and gardens.
Sparky propagated oaks (Quercus agrifolia, coastal live oak) & brought in 600 olive trees which we harvested for the first time in 2008. We won a silver medal from the California Olive Oil Council for our oil.
more about our garden
Jill planted over 50 heirloom roses and a variety of herbaceous borders around the 50 x 70 ft lawn. We brought in specimen trees and grew others from cuttings and seeds. We built outdoor sitting areas, romantic corners and colonnades which we stuccoed in what became our trademark Cielo Golden Yellow.
The Rancho del Cielo gardens are a work in progress, as are all gardens. And like all gardens, ours is a place we return to again and again, to weed and rake and water and feed. Or just to sit in the shade of the colonnade and watch the hummingbirds and smell the roses.
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