Willard George, a Hollywood furrier who owned the ranch from 1929 to the mid-1940s, had this one-story, rectangular fieldstone shed built for raising chinchillas. These small South American rodents were introduced to the United States in 1923 and raised for their fine-textured fur. Stone was well suited as a building material for this shed because it provided insulation against the desert heat. Stone may also have been used to provide protection from predators such as coyotes.
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