Much of Matthiessen's Ranch, including the dam and lake, was deeded to his son's ex-wife, Elsie Canterbury, in 1923. That same year, the area southwest of Lake Sherwood was subdivided as Lake Sherwood (community) into 2,500 plots by Elsie and her new husband. "The idea was to offer a country club setting, lake privileges, bridle paths and the Sherwood Country Club clubhouse for the affluent people of the Roaring Twenties. " However, construction of the private community was halted by the stock market crash of 1929, and Elsie Canterbury was forced to sell the land west of the lake to William Randolph Hearst. Hearst appreciated the area’s geographic beauty, which continued to occasionally appear in the films of the Golden Era of Hollywood. It is claimed a single scene from Warner Brothers’ 1938 "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was shot there.