(photo by Gregg Segal)

Los Angeles Times reporter Geoff Boucher visit the famed Skywalker Ranch in Marin, Calif. and reveals what mysteries lurk past the security gate. And no Ewoks do not tend to the property like Oompa-Loompas, but we do have an Ewok Lake!

Here’s what he discovered:

Walking through the Main House, with its inlaid brass, amber lights and honeyed glow, is to stroll through a stately past. It’s very different, though, at the busiest site on the ranch, the Technical Building, the sleek home of Skywalker Sound, a highly regarded brand in Hollywood postproduction. There, I watched digital artisans work in sound-effects studios, on a huge scoring stage and in mixing suites outfitted with state-of-the-art gear. Because the ranch has a pastoral, summer-camp setting, these workspaces make Skywalker a favored spot for filmmakers who yearn for Walden Pond but with the computer power of the Pentagon.

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