Before California was a state, Spanish colonists traversed through Vista Verde along the "Old Spanish Trail" to bring goods over the coastal mountains from Pescadero to what is now Palo Alto on San Francisco Bay. Vista Verde was developed in the early sixties on the site of a 453 acre vacation ranch owned by "Sunny Jim" Rolph, who was mayor of San Francisco in 1912 and governor of California in 1931. Early radio buffs will be interested to know that this same coastal mountain area was the inspiration for the "Sky Ranch", the fictional home of the Barbour family in the 1932-1959 famed radio series, "One Man's Family" written by its Peninsula creator, Carlton E. Morse.