Deukmejian Wilderness Park / Le Mesnager Barn

Deukmejian Park is now open to the public.

• Download the Deukmejian Wilderness Park brochure for more information.
• The Wilderness Park occupies a rugged 709-acre site in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains at the northernmost extremity of the City of Glendale.
• The park is predominantly chaparral and sage scrub, but includes secluded streamside woodlands and scattered remnants of big-cone spruce woodland in Dunsmore and Cook's Canyons. Trails on the site provide spectacular views of the Crescenta Valley and the Los Angeles basin.
• The park is bordered on the north, west, and east sides by the Angeles National Forest. The south edge of the park is primarily a County debris basin and sediment placement site (spreading ground).
• Park elevations range from about 2159 at the park entry to 4775 in the northeast corner of the site. The barn is at about 2330 elevation.
• The site is relatively undisturbed except for an area of about 12 acres in the southern part of the property known as the Park Center area, where the historic Le Mesnager barn, the Glendale Park Ranger Station, site parking, restrooms, picnic facilities, and walking paths are located.

• The property was acquired in 1898 by George Le Mesnager, a French emigrant, prominent winegrower, and prominent Los Angeles businessman. Between 1914 - 1918, Louise Le Mesnager constructed the stone barn and shed along with a number of other buildings that no longer exist.
• The barn was used as a stable, for the storage of equipment and for the storage of grapes prior to their shipment to the Le Mesnagers' Los Angeles Winery. It operated in this capacity only until 1920, when prohibition ended the winemaking industry.
• In 1933, prohibition was repealed and a winemaking operation once again began in the barn.
• In December of that year a massive fire swept the hillside area, gutting the barn and shed and destroying the winemaking equipment and most of the smaller buildings.
• The fire was followed by major flooding during the rainy season, which did considerable damage in Glendale and led to construction in 1934-35 of the County dam and debris basin adjacent to the site.
• The barn was rebuilt with a new arch roof and residential quarters on the upper floor. The Le Mesnager family moved to the site in 1937 and lived there until 1960.
• In 1968 the property was sold to a developer who intended to construct homes on the site. The City of Glendale purchased the site in 1988 and renamed it Deukmejian Wilderness Park.
• The stone barn on the site is of historical significance as a relatively rare example of a two-story vernacular rock structure. However, it is not included in any register of historic places except that of the City of Glendale.

Barn 1932

Barn 1935

Le Mesnager Family

Barn 1975

Amphitheater

Grapevines

Picnic Area

8/11/2008