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In 2003, Stallion Oaks Ranch, a 243-acre retreat property located in Descanso (45 minutes east of downtown San Diego), was donated to The Unity Center by the Grosvenor Family Foundation.
At an elevation of nearly 4,000 feet and nestled in the rolling hills of San Diego's back country, the property is graced with hundreds of oaks and Manzanita trees, beautiful, natural rock outcroppings, acres of pristine wilderness and a hill of daffodils that bloom each Spring. There are hiking trails, a small lake, a pond and a stream on the property as well as a trailhead to the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650 mile national scenic trail that runs from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon and Washington.
Though more than a dozen structures and many acres were burned by the Cedar Fires that devastated so much of San Diego's back country in October of 2003, the large meeting hall (barn), three cabins, bath house, swimming pool and a few other structures were undamaged and remain in use today. And in the years since the fire, the natural vegetation of the area has started to come back in an even lovelier vista of trees, shrubs and flowers.
The rebuilding of the Retreat Center has already begun and will be done in phases. The intent is to "build it green." The first phase is currently underway and includes erecting more than a dozen yurts for sleeping and meeting space, several meditation gazebos, a labyrinth and large meeting tent as well as the re-working of damaged or aged utility lines. The second phase--which will include building new cabins, a meeting lodge and commercial kitchen--will require a capital campaign and the raising of several million dollars to complete.
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