At a table in the Pleasure Acres clubhouse, a sturdy structure still painted in McFadden colors of green and red, Col. Julian McFadden, 77, sits among a wealth of memorabilia collected over nearly a century, since the building was built by his grandfather, Julian N. McFadden, in 1912.

A snarling cougar, bagged by the colonel in 1996, sits in one corner atop a table and is one of the most recent artifacts. Countless historic photos from the glory days of the thoroughbred breeding farm line the walls, along with portraits of the first Julian and his father, Judge William S. McFadden.

Known as Oregon's "father of horseracing," the colonel's grandfather bought the land for his horse farm from the John and Mary Stewart Donation Land Claim, and, parlaying his youthful proclivity for the sport of kings, proceeded to create a nationally renowned race track. Its half-mile course was abutted by the clubhouse with an elevated viewing stand. Exotic birds such as peacocks and golden pheasants roamed the grounds; the sumptuous site included a stocked deer pen and Stewart Lake, an indigenous water feature.

"I don't want to be snooty, but all through my young days in the 30s it was something special to get invited to Pleasure Acres," the colonel explains. "This building has hosted every governor from 1916 until about 1950."

McFadden horses have raced throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, carrying green silks with the bright red Oregon rose first embroidered by the colonel's grandmother, Agnes. At least one McFadden colt, Bill Looney, was named a favorite for a Kentucky Derby, in 1930, but did not run out of concern for its stamina, feared depleted by runs in other big races. Subsequently three McFadden colts have run the race, the colonel says.

The son of Julian's daughter Mary McFadden and Art Goldblatt, a professional horse trainer, the colonel affectionately describes his mother as "a wonderful loving mother and a very independent woman" who took control of Pleasure Acres when her father died in 1953, and calmly weathered a storm of criticism for her dealings with Hewlett-Packard when the company approached her for the purchase of the farm's acres.

"Hewlett-Packard wanted the site," he says. "My mother could have cared less but she brought HP to Corvallis after people angered her."

A threat of bodily harm from one citizen clinched the sale, Col. McFadden says, and the farm site was sold. Pleasure Acres was disassembled, moved south toward the city limits, and rebuilt from the ground up in the spring of 1975.

Now owned by the colonel and his brother Art, a lawyer and entrepreneur who lives in Portland and raises horses in Washington, Pleasure Acres is kept in caretaker status while the Colonel works on acquiring and breeding horses. A Vietnam veteran who flew hundreds of missions, he returned to Corvallis in 1981, working since then in the development of commercial and residential properties as well as overseeing the farm. He estimates he has attended "about 40" Kentucky Derbies, and currently owns "three real good brood mares" he hopes will produce winners some day.

"Next spring I'm going to start a rehab project out here," he says, standing in the Pleasure Acres drive between the clubhouse and the barn. "We'll get it all fixed up."