Owners Of Ponderosa II House In Mesa, Arizona Discuss Fandom Of Western TV Show 'Bonanza' & Restoration
For some people, the idea of being in reach of their idols is a palpable dream. For Tom & Louise Swan of Mesa, Arizona, they made it a reality. Both lifelong fans of Bonanza, the seminal western show starring Lorne Greene, they had the opportunity to become owners of Ponderosa II, a fully functional house based on the set plans. The house itself was lived in by Greene and his wife for years. Now, after much paperwork and detailed restoration, the Swans have opened up this hidden gem to the public for tours. The Buzz talked to The Swans on the back porch of the Ponderosa II about values, fandom and achieving a dream.
The Buzz: So how did you end up having the Bonanza House, known as Ponderosa II, in the middle of Mesa, Arizona?
Tom Swan: We were Bonanza fans from our youth and had a big collection of Bonanza memorabilia. And somebody asked us once, "Well, what would be the crown jewel of a collection of Bonanza stuff?" And we said, "This house." But we didn't own it then. We've never had any idea we'd be able to buy it. But things just worked out.
The Buzz: How did you two meet?
TS: The last Bonanza convention we did at Lake Tahoe was in 2009 and we met in 2008. I was still living in New Mexico and Louise lived in Gilbert. And we were doing a marketing event in Avondale, a western event. I was a business manager then. And I thought, okay, I'm going to need somebody from the area to help. [Our company] published a quarterly magazine called Bonanza Gold. So I had the list of everybody that lived in this area and I contacted three or four ladies that couldn't do it for one reason or another. I contacted Louise and she said, "Sure. I can do that."
The Buzz: What is it about Bonanza?
Louise Swan: I think Bonanza is about the Camelot that was the American West. That is our mythology. The American West lasted from 1865 to 1900, 35 years. There is so much mythology, so much mystery and legend around the American West. We love Bonanza because it's about family. It's not just a loner, a shoot em up guy that has now family, a drifter or a marshall that doesn't connect to anybody. Bonanza is about a father and three sons. The stories were emotional. The stories were helping each other and supporting each other.
TS: And the stories were funny.
LS: Yeah, a lot of them were comedies. Right, but Bonanza is about courage and intelligence and being able to trust. And those are all the connections to Bonanza that made it unique among all the Westerns that were on TV at the time. This was [about] family and there was something about it that the continuity was so great. Plus for me being a woman watching Bonanza, those guys were real easy to look at too (laughing).
The Buzz: Can you talk about the connection on obviously how this house came to be here? Because it’s hidden away…
LS: Lorne Greene was a very shrewd businessman as well as being an actor. And he was very connected to Mesa. He actually was involved in the community. He helped support charitable events here. He made commercials out at Apacheland and he did motivational speaking at the GM proving ground. Well, when he met some guys that wanted to start a new subdivision out in East Mesa called Apache Country Club Estates in the late '50s, he invested in the development. He was on the board of directors of Apache Country Club Estates. Well, after they'd built a few houses here, I don't know who got the wild hair but someone said, "Hey, let's build a replica of the Ponderosa to attract people to build here." And it would give him a weekend home.
The Buzz: So he actually lived here.
LS: He did. They had the plans from the set in Hollywood. They built this big room to the exact specifications of the set. And they built the Ponderosa. The first weekend that they opened it to the public to see...3,700 people came through to tour the house to benefit the New Mesa Lutheran Hospital at the time.
TS: A dollar a person and 50 cents for children.
LS: But he and his wife Nancy lived in the house on and off we think for about four years, as a getaway from Los Angeles. They enjoyed the house. They enjoyed furnishing it. Nancy talked to Tom about it-- he knew her.
TS: Yeah. I met her at our first and second events in Montauk.
LS: She picked out these wrought-iron gates. She loved the wrought-iron. She enjoyed buying antiques for the house.
The Buzz: Did you keep some of it?
TS: No. It's all ours.
LS: Yeah. Except the gates. We got the house pretty much empty. What we've done over the last five and a half years is try to replicate the look and feel of the show based on what we know about how the Greenes decorated the home, where we don't have something that looks like the Bonanza set. We have something that looks like the way the Greenes had the house because we received a photo archive from the estate of Lin Valentine, who was the interior decorator. And we had this trove of pictures that showed us the way it looked when it was first decorated. So that helped a lot too.
The Buzz: How did you guys eventually get the house?
TS: The second owner lived here for 40 some years. His name was Harold Casteel. And he was a lumber guy from Northern California. He had a home in Incline Village, Nevada, as did Lorne Greene. We think that's how they met. We figured when Lorne was ready to sell it-- they played golf or something.
LS: Harold lived here until he died at age 95 in 2010. And it went into an estate. His family sold off all the assets. And 2010 was like the bottom of the great recession for housing, so we got a pretty good price. And also, we made the case with them that nobody else is going to buy this house but us (laughing).
TS: We approached the city of Mesa after we had spent a year and a half in restoration. We had to get all the carpet out, redo all the rooms. We approached the city of Mesa about landmark status. And a representative came out to the house and they were just blown away. "Oh, yeah. We can do this." And we told them the whole story. We did all of the applications. We sent out over 100 letters to all of the residents, telling them what we were up to, and if anyone had any objections.
The Buzz: Can you talk about the idea of passion behind fandom and how it propels something like this? Because it's not like a normal destination.
TS: No, it's not. One of the things that struck me was when we didn't know if we could buy it or not. Somebody else might buy it before we did. But we said, "Well, whoever buys it, I sure hope they let us come in and see it." So we always intended to share it. We never meant it to be closed up where nobody could ever see it. This is the only remaining ponderosa that you can see. And it's the only one that they can come in, go up the staircase, sit on the furniture, sit on the hearth. Because the Ponderosa Ranch free-standing set that used to be up at Lake Tahoe…that's closed now. It was all roped off. You had to walk through this little corridor and just look.
The Buzz: It's about touching and having a physical connection…
TS: Right. They can have a physical connection to this house. They can sit, touch, walk anywhere they want to. And they can make this house their house for [a few minutes]. And that's why it's [so] special.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Lost Dutchman RV Resort, which is in an area filled with Southwestern flavor, brilliant blue skies, and desert adventure. The community offers a vacation style Apache Junction 55+ neighborhood surrounded by welcoming neighbors...a desert oasis where you will find a life rich with all the pleasures of Arizona.