Erle Stanley Gardner's residence in Temecula

Temecula's famous author of the Perry Mason series, Erle Stanley Gardner, was affectionately called "Uncle Erle" by his secretaries and younger friends. Gardner lived on a big ranch he called Rancho del Paisano which is now within the Pechanga Tribe's reservation boundaries southwest of the casino. The ranch with many outbuildings was a perfect compound for the many people who were part of his "Fiction Factory."

Gardner, who was more complex and interesting than any of his fictitious characters, put down his stakes near Temecula in 1927 when he stayed at Albert Nienke's Palomar Auto Camp on Pa...