Edgemoor Farm Dairy Farm was built as part of a dairy farm in 1913 in Santee, California. Edgemoor was part of a Spanish land grant to Maria Antonio Estudillo who married Miguel de Pedrorena, a native of Madrid. By the 1850s, through a variety of ways, individuals obtained portions of the grant and began to farm. Walter Hamlin Dupee purchased Edgemoor Farm in 1913 and built it into a national award-winning dairy farm, polo pony ranch and early tourist attraction.Such was his prominence that the Guernsey Breeders Association in 1921 called his place "the foremost authority and breeder in the U.S.", having given the most grand champions at this ranch founded by John and Walter Dupee. Dupee said, "I am interested in pure breeding stock, modern equipment, and scientific methods, which I place at the disposal of all dairymen". A series of personal setbacks and problems brought Dupee to sell Edgemoor to Godfrey L. Strobeck.As a home for the aged and indigentFollowing Edgemoor's glory days as a commercial dairy, the County of San Diego purchased the property from Godfrey L. Strobeck for use as a "last resort" home for the aged and indigent in 1923. It was one of the last poor farms (or farm homes) established in the United States prior to the Great Depression and the introduction of Social Security. By the mid-1920s the Edgemoor cared for 520 people. Throughout the years the County added new buildings; in 1950 apartments and wards were added. In 1953 the County of San Diego discontinued the farm, dairy operations and planned renovation of the barn. Two years later the place name was changed to Edgemoor Geriatric Hospital.
