Skywalker Ranch

Skywalker Ranch is the name of the workplace of film director and producer George Lucas in secluded but open country near Nicasio, California in Marin County. The ranch is located on Lucas Valley Road, although Lucas is not related to the road's namesake, a turn-of-the-century landowner in the area. The Ranch is not open to the public and keeps a low profile from the road.

Before the 1800s, the land that would one day house Skywalker Ranch was home to the Coast Miwok Tribe. The fact that "Miwok" rhymes with "Ewok" has led to speculation on whether the Ewoks—being an isolated civilization that was under threat by a colonial power, in their case the Galactic Empire—were inspired by the struggles of indigenous peoples. George Lucas has confirmed the connection was intentional. Miwok tribe member Lucina Thomas-Vidauri spoke fondly of this possible connection to Star Wars Insider, saying that she hopes Star Wars fans will learn more about her culture thanks to the connection. Assembled parcel by parcel since September 1978, Skywalker Ranch has cost Lucas up to US$100 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. After neighboring ranchers complained that Skywalker Ranch was polluting the environment, Lucasfilm acquired 3,000 acres (12 km²) of adjoining land for a total of over 4,700 acres (19 km²). Only 15 acres (60,000 m²) have been developed.

The Ranch contains a barn with animals, vineyards, a garden with fruits and vegetables used in the on-site restaurant, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness center with racquetball courts, the man-made "Lake Ewok", a hilltop observatory, a 300-seat theater called "The Stag" as well as multiple theater screening rooms, and parking that is mostly concealed underground to preserve the natural landscape. Skywalker Sound was moved onto the ranch in 1987, now occupying the Technical Building. The Main House has a company research library under a stained-glass dome. Skywalker Ranch has its own fire station, which is part of the Marin County Mutual Aid system, and is often called on to assist firefighters in nearby Marinwood. Lucas also created a fictional backstory for the ranch, in which it "was once owned by an old sea captain". In 2007, Marin County gave Lucas permission to add two more screening rooms and a bridge across Bull Tail Creek.

The Main House has a safe where legal tablets with Lucas's Star Wars notes are kept. Under its foundation is a time capsule (buried in 1981) that contains Lucas's attorney's letter confirming the agreement with 20th Century-Fox. A barn next to a horse corral houses props, scale models, costumes and artwork from the Star Wars movies, including lightsaber hilts, Luke's landspeeder and the carbonite slab. Another building houses storyboards, concept art and other illustrations.

Lucas, who based his Star Wars films on the scholarship of Joseph Campbell, was involved in the creation of the 1988 documentary which explored Campbell's works of The Power of Myth. The series of six, one-hour interviews between Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers was filmed at Skywalker Ranch. In the first episode, Moyers discusses Campbell's friendship with Lucas and the impact of his scholarship on Lucas' Star Wars films (Episodes IV, V, and VI).

Skywalker Ranch is intended to be more of a "filmmaker's retreat" than a headquarters for Lucas's business operations. The headquarters of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light & Magic, and LucasArts are located in Lucas's Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio of San Francisco. Lucas does not live on the Ranch.

In an episode of the Netflix series The Chef Show, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni prepared various foods at Skywalker Ranch.

After the release of the 2005 film Revenge of the Sith, Hayden Christensen, the actor who played Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy, made visits to the Ranch and was motivated by the "sense of peace and escape" he felt. He then took a break from Hollywood in general and bought a farm in the Canadian countryside.