For anyone who watched the TV show “Dallas”, you should know what the South Fork Ranch is. Look at a map of the United States and find Plano, TX, and then look for a town called Parker. The South Fork Ranch is located in Parker
I’ve never seen an episode of Dallas, and I only know Lucy, played by Charlene Tilton. She was a guest on a Food Network show that I watch. Anyway, we visited the ranch today.
The land that the ranch sits on used to occupy 100,000 acres, as opposed to today’s 365. However, the set of the show is still there. A 6,000 sq. ft. house sits toward the front of the property, but nothing was ever filmed inside of this house. Anything shown inside was filmed on a 40,000 sq. ft. set out in California. Everything else such as scenes out by the pool or scenes filmed anywhere on the ranch were filmed at South Fork.
The house on the property was built by the original owners, Mr. and Mrs. Douglass. Both had served in the army, and upon release, they began searching for a place to live. Finally, in the early 1970’s, they bought some land. Mr. Douglass worked for a construction company, and once he earned enough money, they built the house that stands today.
In the early 1980’s, the producers of Dallas were looking for a place to shoot their new show. While searching in a helicopter, they found the Douglass Ranch (as it was named at the time.) They landed the helicopter in the front yard, but immediately their question of, “May we shoot here?” was answered with a stern “No!”
After flying around and finding nothing as beautiful as the Douglass Ranch, the producers returned- this time with money in their hands. Mr. Douglass promptly invited them in for a cup of tea, and after discussing the terms, both parties came to an agreement. Dallas would be filmed there, but they could not shoot anything inside the house. Mr. Douglass didn’t want actors of filming crews in his house, and both Mr. & Mrs. Douglass did not want their 3 boys exposed to that environment. However, the rest is television history. Dallas ran for about 11 seasons, and was one of the most popular shows of its time.
I’ve never seen an episode of Dallas, and I only know Lucy, played by Charlene Tilton. She was a guest on a Food Network show that I watch. Anyway, we visited the ranch today.
The land that the ranch sits on used to occupy 100,000 acres, as opposed to today’s 365. However, the set of the show is still there. A 6,000 sq. ft. house sits toward the front of the property, but nothing was ever filmed inside of this house. Anything shown inside was filmed on a 40,000 sq. ft. set out in California. Everything else such as scenes out by the pool or scenes filmed anywhere on the ranch were filmed at South Fork.
The house on the property was built by the original owners, Mr. and Mrs. Douglass. Both had served in the army, and upon release, they began searching for a place to live. Finally, in the early 1970’s, they bought some land. Mr. Douglass worked for a construction company, and once he earned enough money, they built the house that stands today.
In the early 1980’s, the producers of Dallas were looking for a place to shoot their new show. While searching in a helicopter, they found the Douglass Ranch (as it was named at the time.) They landed the helicopter in the front yard, but immediately their question of, “May we shoot here?” was answered with a stern “No!”
After flying around and finding nothing as beautiful as the Douglass Ranch, the producers returned- this time with money in their hands. Mr. Douglass promptly invited them in for a cup of tea, and after discussing the terms, both parties came to an agreement. Dallas would be filmed there, but they could not shoot anything inside the house. Mr. Douglass didn’t want actors of filming crews in his house, and both Mr. & Mrs. Douglass did not want their 3 boys exposed to that environment. However, the rest is television history. Dallas ran for about 11 seasons, and was one of the most popular shows of its time.
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