Rancho Nojoqui had already passed through five owners by the time Charles Pete Jackson Jr. bought the cattle ranch in 1943, and it wasn’t built for guests. Ranch manager Lynn Gilliam saw an opportunity in the cattlemen’s quarters and convinced the Jackson family to convert them into rooms. The Alisal Guest Ranch opened for its first summer season on July 16, 1946, with room for just 30 visitors across 10,500 acres of the Santa Ynez Valley.
Word spread fast among Hollywood’s set. Clark Gable married Lady Sylvia Ashley in the ranch library, and Doris Day became a regular enough guest to land on the cover of a fan magazine during one of her visits. The Jackson family still runs Alisal today, now welcoming closer to 200 guests at a time, and it remains a working cattle operation alongside the resort. It’s been a Historic Hotels of America member since 2021.