Southfork Ranch

Southfork Ranch is a conference and event center in Parker, Texas, in the United States, about 25 mi (40 km) north of Dallas. The ranch includes the Ewing Mansion, which was the setting for both Dallas television series: the original, which first aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991 (except for the first five episodes which were at Cloyce Box Ranch), and its continuation, first aired on TNT from 2012 to 2014.

Southfork Ranch as seen in the television series Dallas

History

The house was built in 1970 by Joe Duncan and was known as Duncan Acres, named after his family. The property was originally 200 acres (0.81 km2) in size. The "mansion" at Southfork Ranch is a 5,900 sq ft (550 m2) house with a 957 sq ft (88.9 m2) enclosed garage that was turned into a den/card room.

The ranch appears in the television series Dallas. Exterior shots were filmed on location from 1979 until 1989, though Lorimar Productions also made a studio mock-up of the ranch's exterior (complete with swimming pool) in California in 1979 for use when the weather made it impractical to film on location in Texas. From 1989 the series' production shifted entirely to the California studio set. The reunion movies J.R. Returns (1996) and War of the Ewings (1998) returned to the ranch, as did the non-fiction special The Return to Southfork (2004). War of the Ewings, in 1998, was the only time filming was done inside the real ranch for dramatic purposes. Southfork was again used for the new Dallas series.

In 1993–94 the ranch was featured in the Little Texas music video "God Blessed Texas".

The ranch is now an event and conference center, owned by Forever Resorts. It was home to the KLTY-FM radio Christian concert Celebrate Freedom, held annually during the Independence Day celebration, and hosted the 4 July 2009 "America's Tea Party", which an organizer said drew an estimated crowd of 25,000–35,000.[1]

In December 2012 a memorial service was held at the Southfork Ranch after the death of actor Larry Hagman, who starred as J.R. Ewing in the series. A memorial book for fans to sign was set up in the "J.R. Ewing room".[2]

  • Southfork Ranch Main Gate
  • Rear view of mansion
  • Swimming pool at Southfork

See also

References
  1. "More than 25,000 attend Southfork Ranch tea party, organizer says," Dallas Morning News, July 5, 2009.
  2. Dallas Morning News - Nov. 30 2012 - Staff Writer ALAN PEPPARD: "Southfork memorial for Larry Hagman a ‘Dallas’ family affair" DallasNews.com - 11:15 PM 01 December 2012

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