Historic ranch won’t be saved after fire

Developing details on a historic Thousand Palms Ranch ravaged by fire back in July. We’ve learned it will be torn down despite a last-ditch effort to save Desert Moon Ranch with a historic landmark designation.

“It’s one of the few things left of the very beginning of Thousand Palms,” said co-owner Tyrone Dunham.

But now piece by piece, what’s left of the 80-year-old ranch is becoming just a memory.

“It’s very heartbreaking because we had such huge plans and it was such a beautiful building,” said Dunham.

In July, a shop vac sparked a fire no one could stop until it was too late.

“It was just heartbreaking to have it burn like that,” said Dunham.

Now just a shell of the grand two-story ranch it once was, Riverside County slated it for demolition. However, Dunham wasn’t giving up that easily. He went to the historical society to get a historic landmark designation for the building.

“We were hoping it would keep them from forcing us to demolish it,” said Dunham.

Built in 1931, the nine-bedroom home was the center of Thousand Palms.

“They held elections, and civic events, and Sunday school so there was dances on Saturday night,” said Dunham.

It later became a vacation destination and later a sobering living refuge. He had history on his side.

However, Dunham said the historic site designation wasn’t enough, they needed $750,000 to restore it as well.

“Because there was no money available to rebuilt and we had a limited amount of time, we decided to go forward with the demolition,” said Dunham.

He couldn’t bear the thought of someone else tearing it down, so he’s doing it himself.

“This was the entrance to the kitchen and the maids quarters, so now we are tearing all of this drywall and stucco,” Dunham said as he showed us.

While he couldn’t save the main house, Dunham is still hoping to get historic status for the carriage house next door, which was completely untouched by the fire.

“We just need to get someone involved to develop the property to make it worth developing the back half,” said Dunham.

In the meantime, this chapter of Thousand Palms history is now closing.