Historical
Century Ranch came into being as the dream-fulfilled of a Bay Area scientist from Switzerland, Rolf Peter. According to the surviving literature, he visited the area and was enthralled by its Alps-like quality and wanted to share its beauty with others. Consequently, he formed a company, Century Ranch International, Inc., and began development in the mid-60s. The area was a going concern for several years and then went bust when events overtook reality in the form of unplanned and unsustainable development costs. Click on the link "About Century Ranch" to read about Peter's development woes.
To provide readers a flavor for those times, click on the links described below. You will need to have the Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to access these files. If you don't know whether you have the Acrobat Reader installed, click on the link. If it won't open, you probably don't have the Reader. You can download it free from www.adobe.com.
- Oakland Tribune, December 8, 1968. Article describes the Alps-like setting of Century Ranch.
- San Jose Mercury-News, November 3, 1968. Article describes the pristine nature of the area surrounding Century Ranch.
- Sales Brochure. This piece has all of the details about the development as envisioned at its outset.
- Map. This map is shows Century Ranch, as it was platted in 1968.