I’ve always been fascinated with Lancer, both with the show and the real location. Whether it exists beyond the episodes, the scripts, the imaginative fan-fiction and our memories doesn’t really matter, but I wondered if there really was a real ranch. In researching the origins of the property and the wonderful hacienda I discovered a very interesting history and uncovered some rich details about the interior of the house as well as about the owners.

In 1922 George Gordon Moore, a Canadian-born lawyer, businessman, socialite and sportsman bought the ranch property. He had been looking for a place to ride and hunt in his usual grand style. Moore enjoyed his wealth and put a lot of money and effort into building a house that befitted his sense of style.

His grand residence was none other than the Hacienda: a 37-room, Spanish Colonial Revival beauty that was located eight miles off the main road. His own sanctuary included extensive stables, polo grounds and riding trails. Due to his involvement with local timber companies, he used local wood for the flooring throughout the hacienda.

It was said that Moore’s objective was to wine and dine and otherwise entertain wealthy friends and potential clients with a little hunting - to encourage them to invest in his various companies located in the United States and abroad.

Moore often had an idea and did whatever it took to achieve his goal, never mind the expense. He was an avid hunter, as were many of his celebrity and political friends. To please them Moore imported twelve Russian wild boars to the ranch. These boars mated with feral pigs, some growing to four feet in length and 250 pounds.

Although Moore and his friends and neighbors hunted the large pigs for years, the animals bred well in the foothills, and even today there are plenty of their descendents enjoying life on the “Lancer Ranch.” By the 1960s the boar had become a big nuisance to folks all the way up to San Simeon and the Hearst Ranch, and they still abound today.

By the time of the Great Depression, Moore was losing money, and was forced to give up the Rancho San Carlos home and land. It was the end of an affluent and extravagant era, but he left behind a magnificent hacienda. Arthur C. Oppenheimer, of Salinas, bought the San Carlos and restored it to a cattle ranch. He maintained the property until 1990, when a group bought the largely untouched property intent on establishing select homes in conjunction with a large conservation preserve. It was during the ownership by the Oppenheimers that the hacienda was loaned out in 1968 for the filming of a new television series: Lancer.

Once the pilot was accepted a set was built for the series. The set designers worked from photos of the original hacienda to duplicate every detail of the rooms shown in the pilot - the great room and dining area, though it was downsized for the show. The steerhead and lances over the fireplace were replaced with a plaster shield with the Lancer 'L' on it, but the bookcase and everything in it, including the pheasants were duplicated. Also reproduced for the show were the model ship, large desk and other furniture including the famous dining room chairs.

The chairs made for Lancer set were later used in the films Young Frankenstein and The Omen 2. They have a palm tree motif and are edged in gold braid, a style popular in the early 1900s.

The real hacienda and the set version of the Lancer house have little in common beyond the great room. The Lancer's front door, the arched verandah that leads out to the front drive don't exist. In the pilot the arched French doors lead out to a patio area, the men go around the corner and up exterior stairs to a small balcony to take shots at the incoming "land pirates". You can see they are positioned over the large arched window that is right behind Murdoch's desk.