The Irvine Ranch

"The Irvine Ranch: A Time for People" describes the excitement, the accomplishments and the conflicts during the first 50 years of development of the 90,000-acre Irvine Ranch in Orange County, California, into the largest master-planned new community in the United States.

The book highlights The Irvine Company, the privately held corporation which developed the Ranch under three ownerships during the post World War II years, focusing on the firm's seven presidents and current chairman.

Here is the dramatic transformation of an agricultural dynasty into an urban empire told in eight engrossing chapters wrapped around the actions and personalities of Myford Irvine, Arthur McFadden, Charles Thomas, William Mason, Raymond Watson, Peter Kremer, Thomas Nielsen and Donald Bren.

The book provides the reader with an intimate perspective of the workings of the sometimes mysterious and frequently misunderstood Irvine Company.

Martin A. Brower was Director of Public Relations for The Irvine Company, developer of the Irvine Ranch, from 1973 to 1985, responsible for all of the Company's corporate, residential, commercial and industrial external and internal communications. From 1985 through 1999, he published "Orange County Report" a newsletter covering trends in Orange County, California, and continued to follow The Irvine Company intensively. He lives in Newport Beach, California, with his wife and editor, Tamar, and writes a monthly real estate-oriented column for Coast magazine.