For decades, Lake Sherwood — a 165-acre body of water near the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties that claims the title of the state’s oldest human-made lake — was a favorite destination for local families. 

About 100 older cabins ringed the lakeside, and on the weekends, people from surrounding communities in Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley would drive up to the lake and pay $2 to enter, where they could rent boats and fishing rods. 

Then, in 1984, owner Dayton Realty Co. drained the lake, citing a need to inspect its dam. At least, that was the official line. Lakeside homeowners, however, have long believed the draining was retaliation for their opposition to Dayton’s plans to build over 1,000 new homes around the lake. 

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Billionaire and Dole Food Company owner David Murdock then swept in to purchase the lake and surrounding area, and within a few years, the lake filled back up again. But there were other changes too. Murdock started on plans to add a golf course, a country club and, yes, hundreds of luxury homes on the hillsides surrounding the lake. 

A sign shows a private community next to Lake Sherwood on Sept. 3, 2026.

An under-construction home near Lake Sherwood on Sept. 3, 2026.

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It’s been 40 years since that shakeup, and the lake is still just as idyllic. It’s just no longer open to the public. 

Lake Sherwood was first called Lake Matthiessen after the cattle rancher who built the dam across Malibu Creek that created the lake in 1905. It went through a few other name changes over the years, as potential developers occasionally circled the lake as a potential resort town. But the lake’s big claim to fame came when Douglas........

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