Buffalo Ranch - As Urbanus Square

As Urbanus Square

In late 1959/early 1960, Buffalo Ranch was shut down due to rising land costs. At the same time, a nearby site had been chosen for the University of California, Irvine campus, and at the same time the Irvine Company had hired the campus' architect, William Pereira, to plan the city of Irvine around it. Pereira, who considered himself a "barn freak" and enjoyed renovating them, took the vacant Buffalo Ranch barn, which stood on the corner of MacArthur and Ford Road, and converted it into his on-site planning office which he called "Urbanus Square." It was here that much of the cities of Irvine and Newport Beach were planned.