Lars homestead The Lars homestead was the home of the Lars family for at least three generations . It was a moisture farm located on the Great Chott salt flat in the Jundland Wastes on the planet Tatooine . The farm was originally owned by Gredda and Lef Lars . They passed it on to their son , Cliegg Lars who then passed it on to Owen and Beru Lars . Owen and Beru raised Luke Skywalker , son of Anakin Skywalker , on the farm until age nineteen . The farm was burned and Owen and Beru killed by the Galactic Empire as they searched for the droids C - 3PO and R2 - D2 , who had been traced to the farm . Layout . A moisture farm , with sixty - three separate vaporators scattered on the property , the Lars farm was located on the Great Chott salt flat , on the outskirts of the Jundland Wastes , far removed from the closest city , Anchorhead . The homestead itself was mostly underground , to keep it cool , and always provided adequate room for the Lars family . The homestead ' s most prominent feature was the main living pit , a crater housing a courtyard from which occupants could access the various rooms , lofts and areas of the homestead . It was accessed via the main entry dome , set to the side of the living pit , and opposite the vehicle utility pit . The dome was made from pourstone , and hand - built by Cliegg Lars . It featured an external security access keypad and message center , and was commonly surrounded by various apparatus such as dew condenser jugs and area sensors . The crater walls were composed of hard packed soil , laced with magnetic ore , that served as insulation from the heat of Tatooine ' s twin suns , and from the chilly night - time temperatures . Funnel flowers grew around the rim of the crater . The center of the courtyard was given up to two GX - 8 water vaporators , commonly serviced by a droid patch - in unit . The courtyard provided access to the family dining room and kitchen , a storage room and sleeping lofts . The crater rim was commonly surrounded by power distribution conduits and fusion generator supply tanks . A tech dome was situated behind the entrance dome . The tech dome featured a hinged roof , allowing access to an elevator leading into the garage below . The garage had enough space to house the family vehicles , including Luke ' s X - 34 landspeeder , the family V - 35 Courier and Luke ' s T - 16 skyhopper . A vehicle recharge port was located next to the outer dome . History . It was originally owned by Gredda and Lef Lars , who passed it on to their son , Cliegg Lars , who lived there with his son , Owen , and for the last years of her life , his wife Shmi . After his father ' s death , Owen and his wife , Beru , inherited the farm . Shmi Skywalker Lars was buried there in 22 BBY and later Cliegg himself . Before the onset of the Clone Wars , two tombstone s could be seen outside the homestead : one for Edern Lars , Cliegg ' s brother , and the other for Shmi . By the end of the Clone Wars , however , they were removed . In 0 BBY , Owen purchased two droids , C - 3PO and R2 - D2 , from Jawa traders , He did not recognize , or chose not to acknowledge , C - 3PO as the droid owned by Luke ' s father over two decades before , nor did he know R2 - D2 held the secret plans for an Imperial superweapon and was being hunted by the Empire . When Imperial stormtroopers traced the sale of the droids to the Lars home and did not find them there , the farm was burned down with its occupants , Owen and Beru , still inside . The droids were safe in the care of Obi - Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker . Sometime after the Battle of Yavin , Luke returned to the ruins of his childhood home and paid last respects to his slain aunt and uncle . Tombstones were re - erected in the wake of their execution . Afterwards , he allowed the alien Throgg to take possession of the farm after he left Tatooine . This angered Huff Darklighter , the father of Luke ' s childhood friend Biggs , who wanted the property for himself . He convinced the Anchorhead Municipal Council to pass an anti - alien landowner tax . Unable to pay it , Throgg sold the farm to Jula Darklighter , Huff ' s brother . In 8 ABY , Han Solo and Leia Organa Solo traveled to Tatooine to acquire the Alderaanian Moss painting " Killik Twilight " , which contained coded information about Rebel agents deep under cover within the Imperial Remnant . While tracking down the painting , Leia and Chewbacca were caught in a sandstorm and found their way to the old Lars homestead , still owned by Jula Darklighter . While waiting for the storm to pass , Jula ' s wife , Silya , gave Leia an old journal she had found buried in the sand near one of the moisture vaporators . The journal had been recorded by Leia ' s grandmother , Shmi , and gave Leia an understanding of her father ' s background which had shaped the man , and monster , he had become . After the storm passed , Jula and Silya helped locate Han , who had been lost in the desert during the storm . As of 137 ABY , it was long abandoned , and was used by Cade Skywalker as a refuge during a sandstorm common to Tatooine . While here he had visions of the Lars family and Luke Skywalker appeared to him . He also viewed a possible future of him becoming a Sith , with his loved ones dead at his feet . These visions helped Cade once again gain his bearings on the thin line he walked between the light side and the dark side of the Force ; it remained abandoned after the sandstorm lifted and Cade and his company left . Behind the scenes . The Lars homestead scenes from the entire saga were filmed in Tunisia , North Africa . The domed Lars homestead was left to decay after filming finished on the original , in 1976 . The crater remained unchanged over the years and helped pinpoint the exact site location for new dome construction on " " in 2000 . Movie magic deceives the viewer into thinking the dome , crater and inner courtyard are at the same location . The dome and crater rims reside at Nefta , while the courtyard is at the Hôtel Sidi Driss in Matmata , 249 kilometers away . In 2012 , the homestead site was saved and restored by the efforts of Mark Dermul , who raised $ 11 , 700 from fans around the world , via a Facebook group . < ref name = " http : / / www . markdermul . be / tatooine / savelars . html " > http : / / www . markdermul . be / tatooine . be / tatooine / savelars . html < / ref > The Tatooine Training mission in the 2003 video game " " starts at the Lars homestead . Non - canonical storyline . During the Dark Times , Darth Maul , who had been outfitted with cybernetic legs after his bisection at the hands of Obi - Wan Kenobi , tracked the Jedi to the Lars homestead . Owen Lars tried to fight Maul but was disarmed . Kenobi , who had been hiding nearby , leapt out to engage the Sith Lord and defeated him . Kenobi held his lightsaber hilt at Maul ' s head , reluctant to kill him , but Lars shot the Sith with the remains of his rifle . Lars then ordered Kenobi to stay away from the infant Luke Skywalker . External links .