Among the ranchos of Los Angeles County Rancho Topanga Malibu Sequit, more commonly known as the Malibu Ranch, is outstanding. Not that it was the first of the grants, although in fact it was one of the first, or because it was the largest, although its acreage of 13,315 was exceeded by few, but the historic rancho has in its almost intact state outlived all others and today it stands as “The Last of the Ranchos.”

The Malibu was first granted in 1804 to Jose Bartolome Tapia by Jose Joaquin de Arrillaga, Military Governor of the Californias, acting for the King of Spain. It bordered the Pacific for miles and extended back into the mountains,—a princely domain unexcelled for beauty.

The heirs of Tapia held the property until January 24, 1848, when they granted the great rancho to Leon Victor Prudhomme of the Pueblo of Los Angeles for the sum of $400, $200 to be paid in cash and $200 in groceries and wines. As the heirs were uncertain as to the true name of the rancho they gave four names under which it had been known and concluded by reciting that it was bounded on the north by the high mountains, on the south by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Rancho Santa Monica and on the west by the mouth of the River of San Buenaventura. The recital that the rancho was bounded on the south by the Pacific Ocean is correct as the rancho faces the ocean more southerly than westerly.

Prudhomme also had a famous vineyard near Cucamonga and in order to devote all of his time to the vineyard he sold the Rancho Topanga Malibu in 1857 to Matthew Keller, known in Spanish days as Don Mateo Keller, for $1400. Mateo Street in Los Angeles is named for Mr. Keller.

In 1872 an agreement was entered into between Matthew Keller and Mrs. Carrie S. Lewis for conveyance of the rancho to Mrs. Lewis for $35,000, a little less than $3.00 an acre, but the buyer failed to complete the deal and Matthew Keller remained the sole owner until his death in 1881.

In 1892 in two conveyances H. W. Keller, son of Don Mateo Keller and assignee of the other heirs, sold the property to May K. Rindge and Frederick H. Rindge for approximately $10 per acre. Mrs. Rindge is now President of the Marblehead Land Company, owner of the property, and it is now being developed into a seaside residential district.

From Tapia to Prudhomme, Prudhomme to Keller, Keller to Rindge—surely a very brief history of a great rancho—yet today its value is figured in tens of millions of dollars—surely a great advance from the days when it was traded for the wines and groceries.