Walking Box Ranch
Clara Box and the Walking Box Ranch
Clara Bow was Hollywood’s original “It Girl.” In the 1920s she was the biggest star on the screen, famous for her energy, her flapper style, and her ability to light up a theater. By 1930 she was the top box-office draw in America, adored by fans who sent her tens of thousands of letters every month. But the bright lights of Hollywood wore her down. The endless schedule of films, the gossip, and the pressure left her burned out. At just 25, she longed for something quieter, something real.
That’s when Clara fell for Rex Bell, a cowboy actor who played charming Western heroes on screen. Bell loved ranching as much as he loved acting. In 1931 the two married in Las Vegas and soon bought a spread of desert land near Searchlight, Nevada. They called it the Walking Box Ranch, named after their cattle brand – a tripod and camera box, a wink to their Hollywood roots.
The ranch was both a working cattle outfit and a desert retreat. The Bells built a Spanish Colonial Revival home with white stucco walls, red tile roof, and a grand stone fireplace. Around it were barns, corrals built from railroad ties, a cactus garden, tennis court, and even a pool. Clara left Hollywood behind, raising their two sons on the ranch while Rex worked the cattle. For her, this life of cooking, gardening, and riding horses felt more genuine than anything fame had given her.
Though they sought peace, the Bells still welcomed friends. Hollywood stars like Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and Errol Flynn made the long trip out to the desert for parties and poker. John Wayne and Lionel Barrymore were among the regulars. Walking Box Ranch became a playground where movie stars could relax under the desert sky, free from cameras and gossip.
By the mid-1940s, Clara’s health struggles and Rex’s growing career in Nevada politics pulled them away from the ranch. Rex sold it in 1951, but the land stayed in use as a cattle operation for decades. Later, a gold mining company bought it, then preservation groups stepped in. In 2009, Walking Box Ranch was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places, honored both as a working ranch and as a striking example of Spanish Colonial Revival design.
Today, the ranch sits in the middle of a desert tortoise conservation area. The house, barns, and gardens still stand, though tours are closed for now. Visitors can walk the perimeter and imagine what it must have been like when Clara Bow, once the most famous woman in America, chose the silence of the Mojave Desert over the roar of Hollywood.
Sources:
https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/nevada/walking-box-ranch
https://www.unlv.edu/news/release/walking-box-ranch-granted-listing-national-register
https://www.npr.org/2013/12/18/251815606/screen-test-clara-bow-walking-box-ranch
https://travelnevada.com/historical-interests/walking-box-ranch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Box_Ranch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Bow
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_Bell
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(BLM)
Rex Bell & Clara Bow
