AI-generated representative image showing the historic House surrounded by the rolling grasslands. Credits – Gemini
South of Half Moon Bay, California, Johnston Ranch covers 868 acres of coastal grasslands, agricultural fields and natural habitat. In 2024, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, known as Midpen, completed the purchase of 644 acres of the ranch’s uplands. The Johnston House Foundation says it is in the same place where it was erected in 1853, and it has arranged free, costumed docent visits on the third Saturday of each month from January through September in 2026.
When the transfer was announced, Midpen said it would conduct a public process on a possible loop trail near the Johnston House and connections to the adjacent Burleigh Murray Ranch State Park, while Half Moon Bay was preparing to plan a walking and cycling trail along Higgins Canyon Road to connect the house with downtown. In the early 1990s, developers proposed turning the property into a golf course and luxury homes. San Mateo County voters rejected the proposal, opening the way for conservation groups to protect the land. The land became part of the adjacent Miramontes Ridge Open Space Preserve, while farmland remained under separate ownership. The official account of Johnston Ranch’s preservation and transfer documents the property’s history and current ownership. People are part of the plan as well. And the house itself is owned by the city.
San Mateo County voters rejected it by 84%, creating an opportunity for POST, a private nonprofit land trust, to acquire and protect Johnston Ranch. POST purchased the property in two transactions, one in 1999 and another in 2001, for a combined $5.65 million. Midpen acquired the 644 acres of uplands for $4.8 million, using funds from Measure AA, which local voters approved in 2014. Grants totalling $700,000 from the Coastal Conservancy and the California State Parks Habitat Conservation Fund helped offset the acquisition cost.
The two purchase dates and the total amount are confirmed in Midpen’s historical account of the property.
The later ownership arrangement divided the ranch according to its conservation and agricultural uses. In the early 1990s, the golf course and housing proposal faced strong local opposition. POST’s longer-term plan was to find suitable stewards for the different parts of the property. That meant protecting the uplands as public open space while keeping the productive farmland available for continued agricultural use. The district manages the uplands as part of its open space preserve system. AI-generated representative image showing cattle grazing across the rolling grasslands. Credits – Gemini
