FAMILY GIVING WALT DISNEY'S BARN TO L.A.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

In a historic move to preserve the belongings of Walt Disney, the Disney family reached an agreement Saturday to donate to the city a barn that served as his miniature railroad headquarters at his Holmby Hills home.

Diane Disney Miller said she and other family members wanted to see the barn, built as part of the family's home construction, to be relocated to Griffith Park's Travel Town adjacent to the Live Steamers miniature railroad.

``Griffith Park has had great significance in our lives,'' Miller wrote in a letter to city officials. ``My fondest memories of Griffith Park are of the merry-go-round. Every Sunday, after Sunday school, Dad would take us to the park and we would ride . . . it would seem like hours.

``Actually, it was at the merry-go-round where he began to envision what would become Disneyland. He would watch us go around endlessly and think about how to expand this type of entertainment opportunity for everyone with a family.''

The decision to donate the barn to the city of Los Angeles came only after the sale of the home following the death last year of Disney's widow, Lillian.

The Disney family will oversee and pay for the moving of the barn - built with a tongue-and-groove style of construction, so there are no nail holes.

To accomplish the transfer, the barn will be taken apart board by board, photographed and numbered to be rebuilt on the new site.

Steve Soboroff, president of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission, said the Disney family had contacted the city and told them the barn would be available.

``They told us if we could make the arrangements in three weeks, we could have it,'' Soboroff said. ``This is such a tremendous opportunity to save a piece of Los Angeles history, we just jumped at it.

``We know that Disneyland and Disney World would love to have this. We're just the lucky ones.''

Miller said the barn was a focal point of her father's life.

When he came home from work, Miller said her father would go directly to the barn that was equipped with various machines that he used to maintain the miniature railroad he built on the property. He would stay there until he was called for dinner.

``Afterwards, he would go down to the barn with our shaggy brown poodle,'' Miller said.

Michael Broggie, a biographer and founder of the Carolwood Pacific Historic Society dedicated to preserving Disney history, said the barn represented a sanctuary for Disney.

``It's what he called his happy place,'' Broggie said. ``He loved to do handiwork. He was a tinkerer and became a really quite qualified craftsman in woodworking and machine work.

``When he bought the property in Holmby Hills, one of his imperatives was that he would have his own barn that would be the centerpiece of his railroad.''

Broggie's book, ``Walt Disney's Railroad Story,'' details Disney's love of railroading, what he had constructed at the home and how it all inspired part of Disneyland.

The historian said Disney selected the Holmby Hills property because it afforded a plateau for the family home and land in the back for the barn and miniature railroad.

``Walt called it Yensid Valley - Disney spelled backward,'' Broggie said. ``He always had a thing for names.''

Broggie honors that with the name of his society - after the street on which the house is located.

Miller indicated the decision to donate the barn was not difficult.

``My family and I feel that barn has special significance in a story that is an important part of Los Angeles history, and the Live Steamers facility in Travel Town is the perfect site for it,'' Miller wrote. ``We are so pleased (railroaders) agree. But we are not surprised. Dad was one of them.''

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PHOTO Walt Disney's barn will be moved to Travel Town in Griffith Park.