Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz at their Desilu Ranch, Chatsworth, 19700 Devonshire Street. No longer exists. Receipts from their home on Devonshire.
Lucille Ball was 28 and Desi Arnaz, her bandleader husband, just 23 when they paid $16,900 for a ranch house and five acres behind a white plank fence at 19700 Devonshire Street, in orange groves between Northridge and Chatsworth. They dubbed it Desilu Ranch, bought a station wagon and adopted a pack of dogs and six cats. Desi planted fruit trees and built an extra suite for parties that also served as his home in exile when the couple fought, which they did often. One morning, Lucy got up at dawn and in a rage used a hammer to smash every window in the station wagon. They also made up with style. On her thirtieth birthday, Desi sent Lucy to town to do some shopping. When she returned in late afternoon, she traversed the long driveway off Devonshire to find a Latin combo leading 40 friends in "Happy Birthday." Floating white gardenias covered the pool.
In 1954 Lucy and Desi sold their beloved ranch to Jane Withers, a former child star. Their demanding roles in their hit show, I Love Lucy and being President and Vice President of Desilu Productions, forced them to move to Beverly Hills where they were closer to their work. They also had a house in Palm Springs.