He finally settled on a parcel of land that had once been a western section of the Mexican land grant Rancho Azusa de Dalton. He purchased several hundred acres and became associated with John W. Cook, a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors member, and Merrick Reynolds, the owner of the San Pedro Lumber Company. The three formed the Glendora Land Company and the Glendora Water Company. Whitcomb constructed a 26-room villa at the northernmost end of Vista Bonita Avenue. He laid out groves of oranges, and other citrus and deciduous fruit trees around his residence. Once his residence was established and his family was settled, his work began in earnest to develop the plans for his new town.