Harry Balfe was born in New York, and after starting as a sales manager at wholesale grocer Austin, Nichols & Company, he worked his way up to manager, then vice president, and then president. When he retired in 1920, Harry Balfe was the CEO of the world's largest wholesale grocery business. Harry was instrumental in moving the business to the Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse, a massive Egyptian-Revival-style building on the Brooklyn side of the East River.
Determined to own the finest ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, Harry Balfe spent over a million dollars on his place on Herndon Avenue, 4 and 1/2 miles northeast of Clovis, California, and his ranch became a mecca for his granddaughter and her famous husband, as well as visitors from all parts of the United States. Befitting his status as the world's most successful grocer, Balfe's ranch grounds were said to produce every variety of fruit and other product commercially profitable in central California. The Balfe Ranch was approximately one thousand acres and was developed as one of the show places of California. There were more than twenty buildings on the place; it had its own wells with a pumping system distributing by underground pipes to various parts of the ranch, all run by electric power. The products included almonds, oranges, peaches, apricots, and figs, and a vineyard housed 150,000 grapevines. The Balfe Ranch had the only privately owned airplane landing in the San Joaquin Valley.
One of Mr. Balfe's principal interests was the breeding and ownership of blooded horses. He owned some of the finest horses in America and won hundreds of blue ribbons, cups, etc., all of which were exhibited in his trophy room. According to one newspaper report, "Mr. Balfe also has perhaps the finest private museum in California, housed in a specially built structure, where are displayed many valuable Indian relics, souvenirs, and antiques of pioneer western days."
Contributor: PJ Cooper (48365510)
Harry R. Balfe, vice-president of Ashenfelter & Balfe, New York; He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in both World War I as a captain and in World War II as a major.
He is the father of Veronica Balfe Cooper Converse, the wife and widow of actor Gary Cooper.
Veronica Converse Daughter
Determined to own the finest ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, Harry Balfe spent over a million dollars on his place on Herndon Avenue, 4 and 1/2 miles northeast of Clovis, California, and his ranch became a mecca for his granddaughter and her famous husband, as well as visitors from all parts of the United States. Befitting his status as the world's most successful grocer, Balfe's ranch grounds were said to produce every variety of fruit and other product commercially profitable in central California. The Balfe Ranch was approximately one thousand acres and was developed as one of the show places of California. There were more than twenty buildings on the place; it had its own wells with a pumping system distributing by underground pipes to various parts of the ranch, all run by electric power. The products included almonds, oranges, peaches, apricots, and figs, and a vineyard housed 150,000 grapevines. The Balfe Ranch had the only privately owned airplane landing in the San Joaquin Valley.
One of Mr. Balfe's principal interests was the breeding and ownership of blooded horses. He owned some of the finest horses in America and won hundreds of blue ribbons, cups, etc., all of which were exhibited in his trophy room. According to one newspaper report, "Mr. Balfe also has perhaps the finest private museum in California, housed in a specially built structure, where are displayed many valuable Indian relics, souvenirs, and antiques of pioneer western days."
Contributor: PJ Cooper (48365510)
Harry R. Balfe, vice-president of Ashenfelter & Balfe, New York; He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in both World War I as a captain and in World War II as a major.
He is the father of Veronica Balfe Cooper Converse, the wife and widow of actor Gary Cooper.
Veronica Converse Daughter
Harry Balfe was born in New York, and after starting as a sales manager at wholesale grocer Austin, Nichols & Company, he worked his way up to manager, then vice president, and then president. When he retired in 1920, Harry Balfe was the CEO of the world's largest wholesale grocery business. Harry was instrumental in moving the business to the Austin, Nichols and Company Warehouse, a massive Egyptian-Revival-style building on the Brooklyn side of the East River.
Determined to own the finest ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, Harry Balfe spent over a million dollars on his place on Herndon Avenue, 4 and 1/2 miles northeast of Clovis, California, and his ranch became a mecca for his granddaughter and her famous husband, as well as visitors from all parts of the United States. Befitting his status as the world's most successful grocer, Balfe's ranch grounds were said to produce every variety of fruit and other product commercially profitable in central California. The Balfe Ranch was approximately one thousand acres and was developed as one of the show places of California. There were more than twenty buildings on the place; it had its own wells with a pumping system distributing by underground pipes to various parts of the ranch, all run by electric power. The products included almonds, oranges, peaches, apricots, and figs, and a vineyard housed 150,000 grapevines. The Balfe Ranch had the only privately owned airplane landing in the San Joaquin Valley.
One of Mr. Balfe's principal interests was the breeding and ownership of blooded horses. He owned some of the finest horses in America and won hundreds of blue ribbons, cups, etc., all of which were exhibited in his trophy room. According to one newspaper report, "Mr. Balfe also has perhaps the finest private museum in California, housed in a specially built structure, where are displayed many valuable Indian relics, souvenirs, and antiques of pioneer western days."
Contributor: PJ Cooper (48365510)
Harry R. Balfe, vice-president of Ashenfelter & Balfe, New York; He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in both World War I as a captain and in World War II as a major.
He is the father of Veronica Balfe Cooper Converse, the wife and widow of actor Gary Cooper.
Veronica Converse Daughter
Determined to own the finest ranch in the San Joaquin Valley, Harry Balfe spent over a million dollars on his place on Herndon Avenue, 4 and 1/2 miles northeast of Clovis, California, and his ranch became a mecca for his granddaughter and her famous husband, as well as visitors from all parts of the United States. Befitting his status as the world's most successful grocer, Balfe's ranch grounds were said to produce every variety of fruit and other product commercially profitable in central California. The Balfe Ranch was approximately one thousand acres and was developed as one of the show places of California. There were more than twenty buildings on the place; it had its own wells with a pumping system distributing by underground pipes to various parts of the ranch, all run by electric power. The products included almonds, oranges, peaches, apricots, and figs, and a vineyard housed 150,000 grapevines. The Balfe Ranch had the only privately owned airplane landing in the San Joaquin Valley.
One of Mr. Balfe's principal interests was the breeding and ownership of blooded horses. He owned some of the finest horses in America and won hundreds of blue ribbons, cups, etc., all of which were exhibited in his trophy room. According to one newspaper report, "Mr. Balfe also has perhaps the finest private museum in California, housed in a specially built structure, where are displayed many valuable Indian relics, souvenirs, and antiques of pioneer western days."
Contributor: PJ Cooper (48365510)
Harry R. Balfe, vice-president of Ashenfelter & Balfe, New York; He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, having served in both World War I as a captain and in World War II as a major.
He is the father of Veronica Balfe Cooper Converse, the wife and widow of actor Gary Cooper.
Veronica Converse Daughter
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