On the Block: Northern California’s Kahn Timberlands

For the first time in two decades, the 11,292±-acre Kahn Timberlands are coming on the market. Located in Northern California, these holdings contain over 142 million board feet of mature redwood and Douglas fir. The sealed bid auction will be conducted by Realty Marketing/Northwest. Bids are due no later than five p.m. July 12.

“The Kahn Timberlands contain some of the most well-managed lands we have ever put on the market, and will be offered so that adjoining owners, mill operators, timber investment management organizations, and other investors can participate in the bidding process,” said Realty Marketing/Northwest President John Rosenthal.

These well-managed North Coast timberlands, located in Del Norte, Humboldt and Trinity Counties, have been managed to create short-term cash flow and long-term growth. The properties are strategically located with access to competitive log markets responsible for processing 50 percent of California’s entire sawmill production. The individual tracts range in size from 40± to 2,739± acres, with most containing approved Timber Harvest Plans. Eureka-based Able Forestry has managed these properties for 25 years.

The Auction Catalog #1105, with Terms and Conditions of Sale, is available by contacting Realty Marketing/Northwest’s office at 800-845-3524 or online at www.rmnw-auctions.com.

For additional information contact:

John Rosenthal, President
Realty Marketing/Northwest
john@rmnw-auctions.com

For Sale: Hawaii’s Hana Ranch

A 4,500-acre working ranch on eastern Maui, Hana Ranch surrounds its namesake town of Hana. The breathtaking property boasts two miles of Pacific oceanfront and rises 2,200 feet up the slopes of majestic Haleakala. The ranch is divided by the Hana Highway. Approximately 667 acres can be found on the ocean side of the highway, and the remaining 3,833 acres sits on the mountain side of the highway.

Dan Omer of Island Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

$55 million
(808) 879-8880
Sotheby’s International Realty

Joe Montana: The Land Report Interview

At Villa Montana, Joe Montana does not talk about football. At all. Meet the man on his Sonoma County getaway and all he talks about are his wife, their two girls and two boys, and the memories they share on their breathtaking 503-acre estate. And Italy. The one thing the guy will not stop talking about is Italy.

“If you can believe it, some idiot drove across the Ponte Vecchio in his rent car,” Montana says. As his face lights up in a contagious smile, it’s clear that the idiot Montana is referring to would be the four-time Super Bowl winner himself.

“I’m looking at my GPS, and it said to get back to the villa where Jennifer and I were staying I needed to turn right. The pillars weren’t up on the Ponte Vecchio, so I follow the GPS and I turn right,” he says. And with that, the Hall of Famer etched his name in the history books yet again by driving across one of the most celebrated landmarks in all of Florence.

“I get to the other side, and this cop has his hands up” – Montana raises both hands in a mock “Have you lost your mind?” sort of look – “and he gives me a tongue lashing in Italian. I didn’t understand a single word he said, but I knew exactly what he was saying.”

Stories like this and his amazing wine country estate are two of the new chapters in his life that have been written since he hung up his helmet and retired from the NFL in 1995. With his football career behind him, kids and family became his life, which is why Villa Montana turned into such an important project for him and his wife.

Conveniently located just an hour and a half north of San Francisco, the ranch became the family’s great getaway. Cookouts and campouts quickly replaced practices and game days. Acres and acres of rolling hills were explored. So, too, were the year-round creeks that wind their way through the hollows and the draws that crease the terrain.

A full-size basketball court was built for Nate and Nick, and Alexandra, Elizabeth, and Jennifer got their own professional-grade equestrian center, complete with 17 heated stalls. A skeet shooting range was built in a secluded pasture. Naturally, Joe was the only member of the family who engaged in all of the above. Although he’s in his mid-50s now, his boundless energy is readily apparent. The natural athlete makes time to work out four or five times a week.

Building Villa Montana was an epic undertaking, a monumental, three-year labor of love for Joe and Jennifer. Joe’s mother was born in Italy. He treasures these strong ties, and during his playing days the couple brought back only memories from their trips overseas. “Actually, the truth is on every trip I always brought back a few extra pounds. Jen is one of the lucky few who can eat anything she wants and actually lose weight. Different story with me,” he says.

The couple built a home in Atherton, a Bay area community south of San Francisco, and they infused it with their shared love of all things Italian. By the time they decided to embark on Villa Montana, they were old pros in the Tuscan tradition. When their Atherton builder got a call about a villa that was being torn down, he and Jennifer were on the first flight out of San Francisco. Not long afterwards, hand-hewn beams, Baroque wood portals, and artifact Italian fireplaces were en route to Northern California.

By the time the Montanas broke ground on their new country home, it was clear that a masterpiece was in the works. Although the house itself is almost 10,000 square feet, its three bedrooms and the adjacent studio where Jennifer likes to paint offer an intimacy that personalizes it in a family-friendly way. That’s especially obvious in the kitchen, which may well be the busiest intersection on the property.

Throughout the main residence, a fascinating array of old and new presents itself: hand-worked iron elements and flat-screen TVs, ancient stone floors, and a state-of-the-art outdoor grill. In the massive great room, the 22-foot-tall ceiling compels your gaze upward and outside to stunning views of Mount Saint Helena, the tallest point in the Mayacamas. Beneath the imposing massif, a tapestry of vineyards and pastures unfolds across Knights Valley, one of Sonoma’s original American Viticultural Areas.

Despite its artistic feel, Villa Montana is user-friendly, built with an active, energetic family in mind. An endless array of patios, terraces, and courtyards encircle the villa and give it a great indoor-outdoor feel. A bocce court, a swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi can all be found in close proximity to one another just a few steps from the kitchen. Drain spouts emerge from hand-plastered walls. Potted plants and crawling vines bring color to pale stone. It’s wonderfully relaxing, which is ultimately the most inviting—and appealing—aspect to Villa Montana. It’s definitely made for entertaining: two people, 20, or 200.

Unfortunately, Villa Montana sits in silent splendor much of the time these days. No longer can Nate and Nick be found playing on its hills. Nate has just moved to Bozeman where he will play ball for Montana, and Nick is a Washington Husky. With Alexandra and Elizabeth in San Francisco and Los Angeles, their papa admits that his days on the ranch have dwindled to a shadow of their former number. “Jennifer and I are too busy chasing our kids to give this property the time it deserves,” he says.

With that in mind, the Montanas have listed Villa Montana with Avram Goldman and Tim Hayden at Pacific Union International’s Sonoma and St. Helena offices for $35 million.

“It’s a Picasso,” Goldman says. “A rare jewel. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The antiquities and artwork make you feel like you’ve come upon a 500-year-old Tuscan villa. Yet it has every convenience and amenity imaginable. I’ve been in real estate more than three decades, and I promise you that you would be hard-pressed to find a home like this anywhere, Italy included.”

In addition to the 9,700-square-foot villa, the ranch includes a pool and spa, a guest house, a caretaker’s residence, a gym, an equestrian center, a basketball court, a bocce court, the skeet shooting range, and an olive farm. As Joe puts it, “It’s time someone else started making memories here.”

Learn more about Villa Montana HERE.

 

For Sale: Oregon’s Wild Billy Lake

Wild Billy Lake operates as a fly-fishing lodge with a long list of repeat clients who use drift boats, prams, canoes, belly boats, and motor boats. Located in Klamath County, the property sits at the confluence of the Sprague and the Sycan Rivers in the heart of Oregon’s best fly-fishing country. The 1,020-acre property completely surrounds its namesake, 200-acre natural lake.

$4.105 million
(866) 734-6100
Live Water Properties

For Sale: Lonesome Duck Ranch & Resort

Oregon’s Williamson River, one of the finest wild trout rivers in the Lower 48, winds through two and a half miles of the Lonesome Duck Ranch and Resort, and over the next decade, the steelhead and salmon may be equally prolific. The majestic river, along with mountains views, rocky cliffs, blue skies, and green pastures adjacent to 100,000 acres of national forest, combine to make the Lonesome Duck the Land Report’s property showcase of the month.

Hunting opportunities abound. “The Klamath basin is directly in the Pacific flyway and is the nesting area for all the migratory waterfowl,” says owner Steve Hilbert. “So it’s huge for ducks and geese. Other native species include elk, deer, and any other critter that you can hunt with a license.”

Or you may just want to sit back and enjoy the wide spectrum of wildlife from your river front patio. “It’s an outdoor extravaganza,” say Hilbert, who purchased the Chiloquin property 15 years ago and built numerous improvements from scratch. “Anything and everything you’d want to do related to outdoor activities is there.”

All five houses are included on the 195-acre tract, which is priced in its entirety at $4.115 million. Hilbert is also marketing the ranch as three separate parcels. The north property, at 98.71 acres, includes 1.25 miles of river frontage, three 1,500-square-foot log homes, plus an 800-square-foot ranch cottage, for $1.6 million. The middle acreage totals 66.41 acres with .75 miles of river frontage, a 4,500-square-foot main residence plus irrigation, a barn, riding arena, and multiple fenced pastures, for $2.25 million. The 30.5-acre south property features .5 miles of river frontage for $265,000.

Tim O’Neil at Oregon Land and Wildlife has the listing and can be reached at (866) 559-3478.

Better yet, book one of the beautiful two-story log cabins and take a tour of the property firsthand.

For Sale: Santa Barbara’s Majestic Royal Rancho

In a day and age when private beachfront property is virtually non-existent in California, one of the state’s most historic ranches is on the market for the first time in decades. One of the last large tracts along the Gaviota Coast, the Royal Rancho descends from the Santa Ynez Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. On its 2,200 acres can be found 15 homes, including the elegant five-bedroom Casa Grande.

The rancho’s storied past dates back to 1542 when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo captained two ships to the shores of Rancho Dos Pueblos just 50 years after Columbus discovered the New World. Ranch owners include financier John H. Williams, oil baron Herbert G. Wylie, and Samuel Mosher of the Signal Oil and Gas Company, a meticulous steward who transformed the ranch into a world-class showpiece and welcomed President Harry Truman as well as Hollywood luminaries such as Hal Roach and Walter Pidgeon.

After Mosher’s death, the property sold to German-born Rudolf “Rudi” Schulte, who converted Rancho Dos Pueblos into a private family compound, planting groves of avocado, cherimoya, and macadamia trees among the ranch’s rolling hills, grassy meadows, and trout-filled streams.

“This is more like selling art than real estate,” said Kerry Mormann, the Santa Barbara broker who has the listing. Mormann has brokered numerous trophy properties in Santa Barbara County, including the historic Cojo/Jalama Ranch in 2006, which listed for $155 million and ranks as the largest non-commercial real estate transaction in California history. Says Mormann, “We are looking for a lifestyle buyer, someone who understands the magnificence of the property and how rare coastal real estate like this is.” - Lindsay Taub

See more about Rancho Dos Pueblos HERE.

The luxury and great service of the Top beachfront hotels in San Diego are definitely the stuff of anyone’s vacation dreams.

Interior Department Investigates Renewable Energy Speculators

Remember the Interior Department’s ongoing investigation into possible abuses of the Royalty-in-Kind program? Now the department’s Inspector General has started to look into possible abuses by companies seeking to develop renewable energies on BLM land.

Three years ago, BLM received six applications for solar energy projects. In the last year? 130, including one for 300,000 acres from Cogentrix Solar Investments.

The focus of the investigation is renewable energy companies as well as speculators that have applications pending for BLM leases and are seeking to be acquired based on the value of those applications.

According to the LA Times:

Officials said last week that the inspector general’s office of the Department of the Interior was investigating Tempe, Ariz.-based First Solar Inc.’s recent acquisition of Hayward, Calif.-based OptiSolar, and its unfinished renewable energy projects, for $400 million.The deal gave First Solar control of what the company described as OptiSolar’s “strategic land rights” to 136,000 acres of public land in San Bernardino, Riverside and Kern counties.

In acquiring OptiSolar, First Solar acquired the lease applications, not the land itself. Those applications are no guarantee according to Greg Miller of the BLM.

“There is no value associated with a mere application, which could be rejected by us for a variety of reasons,” Miller told the Times.

As a result, application approvals for solar energy projects have been suspended while officials sort out what’s going on.

Read more at:
“Renewable Energy Sparks a Probe of a Modern-Day Land Rush,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2009.

For Sale: 30-Acre Napa Valley Vineyard

Tired of some sommelier always offering overpriced vino? Think you could churn out a choice wine using your own grapes? Then what’s stopping you?

This 30-acre Napa Valley vineyard is all about the dirt . Jocelyne Monello of Heritage Sotheby’s International Realty has it listed for $6.9 million.

Almost all of the property is dedicated to grape growing. It also has a 2,400-square-foot aging building, a 5,200-square-foot outdoor work pad, and a 1,000-square-foot residence on the premises. Better yet, it already has an approved permit for a 100,000-gallon winery.

At $6.9 million, the property is a solid investment in itself. The current owner has a triple net lease that brings in $300,000 a year.

Remember, you  may not be able to direct films like Francis Ford Coppola, but at least you could try to make wine like him.

Supreme Court Rules 9-0 Against Hawaiians’ Land Claims

Last week the nation’s highest court ruled that Native Hawaiians do not have a legal claim to state lands totaling more than 1.2 million acres. Native Hawaiians as well as the state’s Office of Hawaiian Affairs had asserted that a 1993 Congressional Apology Resolution by the federal government for the illegal overthrow of Hawaii’s monarchy in 1893 had recognized the “inherent sovereignty of the native Hawaiian people.”

Read more at:
“Court Rules Against Claim to Hawaiian Lands,” L.A. Times, March 31, 2009.

Bidding to Start at $22 Million for 69-Acre Napa Winery

Bidding on Kirkland Ranch Winery closed yesterday at noon. The sealed bid auction started at $22 million for the 69-acre Southern Napa County winery, which includes 45 acres of vineyards. Bidders also had the option to purchase an additional 186 acres of land of which 110 are under vine. The opening bid for the combined properties was $26 million. Read more

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