ANAHEIM – Disneyland’s oldest building, a 1,300-square-foot house built in the 1920s, has moved from a northern behind-the-scenes area to an off-site parking lot on Ball Road for visitors to the company’s administrative building.

The Wednesday relocation of the Pope House preserves an important part of Disney history – while also preparing for the park’s “Star Wars” land at Disneyland.

The house was constructed near what is now Harbor Boulevard and moved during Disneyland’s construction onto the theme park’s grounds.

In 1954, Owen and Dolly Pope, who Walt Disney hired to train and care for the horses, mules and other animals that became part of the park when it opened the next year, moved in.

The house sat next to the Circle D Corral, a ranch that was off-limits to the public and where the horses that walked Main Street, U.S.A. were kept along with other park animals.

The Popes retired in the mid-1970s, and the house was then used as an office by employees who cared for Disneyland’s animals.

Disneyland officials said the house will stay put at its new site, and they are figuring out how to use the home. The cost to move the Pope House was $20,000, according to city records.

Last year, Disney officials announced that the “Star Wars” land would take up 14 acres in the northern part of Frontierland and the backstage areas including the Pope House and Circle D Ranch.

The horses have moved to a nearby off-property stable, while the rest of the animals were adopted by a family in Murrieta.

Staff writer Mark Eades contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3764 or jpimentel@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney