Making Sure Agoura Homes Look “Like it never even happened.”

11/3/2020 (Permalink)

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SERVPRO of Agoura / Calabasas / Hidden Hills is Ready to Restore Water-Damaged Homes

Agoura, an unincorporated community just southeast of Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks, got its start as a stagecoach stop called Vejar Junction. In the 1920s, Agoura was most well known for having a ranch in the area called Paramount Ranch, which was primarily used for outdoor scenes and Westerns. The presence of Paramount eventually earned Agoura the name “Picture City” during this period of cinema. Before settlers established the area, the Chumash Native American tribe made its home here. In the 1700s, Spanish missionaries settled the area along the California Coast.

Why Agoura? Residents were required to choose a one-word name for their town to establish a post office. In 1927, the townspeople settled on the surname of “Don” Pierre Agoure, a swashbuckling immigrant rancher of French Basque origin. While the slight difference in name is frequently attributed to ease of pronunciation, others insist it was a government typo that created the current name.

After the Ventura Highway, later known as Agoura Road, was built through the town in the 1960s, Agoura quickly developed into a thriving community of over 20,000 people. Part of the area was later incorporated as Agoura Hills in the 1980s. However, the unincorporated regions surrounding the city are still designated as Agoura.

Today, you can find the following in the Agoura area and nearby Agoura Hills:

• The Reyes Adobe Historical Site, with an immaculately-preserved historical home
• Lake Lindero
• Various parks, including Old Agoura Park, Reyes Adobe Park, and Chumash Park

Agoura’s Namesake: Don Pierre Agoure

Agoura and Agoura Hills both get their name from a unique and colorful man: Pierre Agoure. Born as Pedro, Agoure was the son of a wealthy farmer in Basses-Pyrennes. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17 in 1871.

Though he was French Basque, Agoure admired and emulated the styles of the Spanish ranchers at the time. His farming endeavors began in the Conejo Valley in 1875 with a modest 400 sheep, which grew to over 25,000 under his care. By 1906, his land holdings had swelled to a massive 16,800 acres for his sheep to graze on. Agoure passed away in 1912.

Pierre Agoure is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles. He had a wife, Kate Smith, and four children: Lester, Vivian, Bijou, and Angela. His legacy could be said to live on in the old Western stylings that bring visitors from all over to such attractions as Paramount Ranch and the Museum of the American West.

Paramount Pictures Turned Agoura into Picture City

Paramount Ranch was purchased the same year that Agoura was named as a town. Paramount pictures purchased 2,700 acres to use for shooting various films, particularly Westerns. For the next two decades, some of Tinseltown’s most prominent stars would perform for the camera at this movie ranch.

What made the real estate perfect for filming was the diverse array of scenes available for filmmakers, from ancient China and colonial New England to island locales and even San Francisco. The varied scenery combined with creative camera usage and matte painting created captivating scenes for decades.

After a period of decline, the Paramount Ranch was born anew in 1953. New owner Willian Hertz bought the property and turned part of it into a permanent Western-style shantytown.

In 1955, the property was sold to new owners who repurposed it for use as a raceway, which closed 18 months later, after two fatalities in 1957. Racers considered the Paramount Raceway among the most challenging in the United States. The Racetrack still exists today, its road winding throughout the park.

The National Park Service purchased part of the old Paramount property in 1980 and breathed new life into the ranch for filming once more.

A few of the hundreds of films and shows shot at the Paramount Ranch include the following:

• Westworld
• The Texan
• Geronimo
• Scream
• Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

The Paramount Ranch is now a famous attraction that is still part of the National Park Service. Many of the buildings were destroyed in some of California’s wildfires and require reconstruction.

How Does SERVPRO’s Structural Drying Process Preserve Agoura Homes?

SERVPRO’s water drying procedures for Agoura residences rely on two primary pieces of equipment to succeed: air movers and dehumidifiers. Centrifugal air movers are positioned every 10 to 16 linear feet in water-damaged spaces to pull moisture off surfaces and out of cavities and into the air. Meanwhile, dehumidifiers pass this humid air over materials like silica gel or refrigerant coils to create condensation and expel warm, dry air.

A multitude of factors determines drying goals. SERVPRO technicians take the following into account when restoring a home to a preloss state:

• The temperature and relative humidity in the affected area
• Current saturation and humidity levels of surfaces like tile grout, plywood subfloors, fiberglass insulation, and sheetrock
• Ideal temperature and humidity levels for each affected surface
• The size and scale of water damage present

Types of Dehumidifiers

Refrigerant dehumidification is the most common type used in water damage restoration. It returns materials to humidity levels as low as 40 grains per pound (GPP) of dry air. Low-grain refrigerant coils can reach humidity levels even lower than 40 gpp.

On the other hand, desiccant dehumidification uses materials like silica gel as a medium for separating moisture from the air. This type of equipment is more effective at removing humidity. It can reach much lower humidity levels than refrigerant coil dehumidification units.

SERVPRO techs can use multiple types of dehumidification on your property depending on the amount of moisture present, the surfaces affected by water, the ambient temperature in the area, and numerous other factors.

SERVPRO of Agoura / Calabasas / Hidden Hills can ensure that your property looks and feels “Like it never even happened.” Call (818) 991-6292 for around-the-clock restoration services.