Here is a timeline of the Irvine Ranch, from purchase by the Irvine family to the present:

• 1864: James Irvine, who made his wealth in the California Gold Rush, buys the ranchland with two partners, both of whom he buys out in 1876.
• Son James Irvine II in 1894 incorporates the land as The Irvine Co. Agricultural and cattle business keep the ranch busy for decades, including citrus, lima beans, barley and a saltworks operation in what is now Newport's Back Bay, a protected reserve. One million boxes of oranges were harvested from more than 950,000 orange trees in 1967.
• Late 1950s: Architect William Pereira begins the planning of the Irvine Ranch as post-World War II Los Angeles County's inevitable sprawl moves south.
• Summer 1960: The Irvine Co. reserves 1,000 acres of land for what will become UC Irvine.
• Summer 1960: A key planner, who served as president from 1973-77, is hired. He is Ray Watson. He later is quoted: "The people would have come whether we had planned for their arrival or not. We chose to plan."

As Donald Bren grows in business: Bren had made his mark as a homebuilder, founding the Bren Co. in 1958, and as a master builder, forming the Mission Viejo Co. in 1963, where he served as president. He sold his interest in 1967, focusing on the Bren Co., now known as California Pacific Homes. Bren sold the company to International Paper Co. for $34 million in 1970; he bought it back for $22 million in 1972.

• 1977: Bren and a group of investors purchase the company from the James Irvine Foundation for $337.4 million, or about $3,628 per acre. Fellow major investors are A. Albert Taubman, a shopping-center developer from Detroit; Wall Street investor Herbert Allen; industrialist Max Fisher; retailer Milton Petrie; and Henry Ford II. Irvine heiress Joan Irvine Smith and her mother, Athalie Clarke, hold an 11 percent share. Bren is the largest shareholder with a 34 percent stake.
• Twenty years ago next month, April 1983: He secures ownership of 92 percent of the company for $518 million and becomes chairman of the board. Another $256 million, which includes interest, is paid to Joan Irvine Smith and her mother in 1991 to settle litigation over the property's worth at the time of the sale.
• July 1996: He becomes sole shareholder.

Sources: The Irvine Co., "Irvine Ranch"; "The Irvine Ranch: A Time for People," by Martin A. Brower; Fortune magazine, Aug. 27, 1990; Los Angeles Times, June 20, 1991.