Land Report October 2012 Newsletter

A conservation easement leads to our country’s newest conservation area.

Productive ag land sets a new auction high.

A major bump in U.S. hunting and fishing numbers.

These are a few of the featured items in our October 2012 newsletter, which is now available HERE.

From coast to coast, interest in land and land-based assets continues to rise. See so for yourself as we present new listings, new sales data, and auction updates.

For up-to-the minute reports on listings, auctions, sales, and breaking news pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

For Sale: Florida’s Hobe Sound Polo Club

More than $20 million has been invested in developing this strategically located facility, which sits north of Palm Beach off I-95. The polo club’s centerpiece is a 120-acre equestrian complex that includes five regulation polo fields, two stick and ball fields, barns, and outbuildings. Numerous development scenarios present themselves, ranging from an equestrian community to a wildlife sanctuary. This equestrian property is listed for $47.25 million. Ken Meierling at Engel & Volkers in Jupiter has the listing.

Read more here.

Click here to download a copy of the August 2012 newsletter.

On the Block: Wyoming’s Y Cross Ranch

Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates reports that the Y Cross Ranch has come on the market for the first time since it was assembled by Courtenay Davis in 1941. Located northwest of Cheyenne, the 60,000+ acre swath of Wyoming cattle country will be sold via sealed bid. The ranch totals 60,782 acres and consists of 50,333 deeded acres, a 3,949-acre State of Wyoming lease, and a 6,500-acre Forest Service lease acres for a total of 60,782 acres.

The Y Cross Ranch has traditionally operated as a cow/calf ranch and averages 650 to 850 pairs along with 650 to 800 yearling cattle. The ranch’s water rights, some of which date back to the days of the Wyoming Territory, support the production of more than 1,000 tons of grass hay. In addition to its cattle operation, the ranch supports a significant big game population, including elk, mule deer, antelope, black bear, and the occasional moose or mountain lion. Yearly hunting revenues range from $40,000 to $60,000.

In 1997, the ranch was donated by the Courtenay Davis Foundation to the Colorado State University Research Foundation and the University of Wyoming Foundation as joint beneficiaries. Since then, the Y Cross has served as a working laboratory for observation and study of plant and animal systems in a natural environment along with scholarship and/or internship support for Colorado State University and University of Wyoming students majoring in agriculture and natural resources.

The Y Cross Ranch is being offered for sale in its entirety and includes all real estate, improvements and water rights, through a sealed bid process. Broker cooperation is invited. Contact Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates for details at (970) 535-0881 or ron@rmabrokers.com.

Read more HERE.

The Land Report Spring 2012

Enjoy the Spring issue of The Land Report!

Learn the stories of America’s Best Brokerages in our second annual survey. More than 70 are profiled from coast to coast. Read how Bernie Uechtritz pulled off 2011′s Deal of the Year by selling Camp Cooley Ranch in just 45 days. Find out why George Clooney has such strong ties to the land in the Academy Award-winning movie The Descendants.

For more up to the minute reports on listings, auctions, sales, and breaking news pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter. Better yet, Land Report is now on Pinterest.

P.S. Our award-winning quarterly magazine is available in a print version via subscription.

Land Report March 2012 Newsletter

The Spring issue of The Land Report has arrived!

Right now it’s en route to bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and subscribers’ offices around the world, but thanks to the miracles of modern technology you can read right now right HERE.

Learn the stories of America’s Best Brokerages in our second annual survey. More than 70 are profiled from coast to coast. Read how Bernie Uechtritz pulled off 2011′s Deal of the Year by selling Camp Cooley Ranch in just 45 days. Find out why George Clooney has such strong ties to the land in the Academy Award-winning movie The Descendants.

For more up to the minute reports on listings, auctions, sales, and breaking news pertaining to land and landowners, be sure to follow The Magazine of the American Landowner on Facebook and Twitter. Better yet, Land Report is now on Pinterest.

P.S. Our award-winning quarterly magazine is available in a print version via subscription.

Land Report Top Ten: November 2011

From Hawaii to the Lone Star State, here are America’s priciest properties, led by $175 million Jackson Land and Cattle Ranch, pictured here, which is listed by Hall and Hall.

1. Jackson Land and Cattle: $175 million

These 1,750 acres are simply the most phenomenal property to come to the market in the Teton Valley in decades. Jackson Land and Cattle is one-of-a-kind in every respect: world-class improvements, including an equestrian center designed by Jonathan Foote, AIA; lack of any development restrictions; and don’t forget the stunning Teton views. Hall and Hall’s John Pierce has the listing.

2. Walton Ranch: $100 million

This 1,848-acre working cattle ranch was pieced together by the Walton family beginning in 1958. The family placed the ranch under conservation easement in 1983. Billy Long and Ron Morris of Ranch Marketing Associates have the listing.

3. Ranch Dos Pueblos: $84 million

This oceanfront parcel is on the market for the first time in three decades. Spanning 2,175 acres just west of Santa Barbara, it’s one of the largest remaining ranches along the breathtaking Gaviota Coast. Kerry Mormann & Associates has the listing.

4. Tranquility Estate: $75 million

These 210 acres on Lake Tahoe are crowned by a 20,000 square-foot mansion. Owned by Tommy Hilfiger co-founder Joel Horowitz, it was originally priced at $100 million in 2006. Listed by Shari Chase and Sue Lowe of Chase International.

5. Aspen Valley Ranch: $59 million

Billed as the largest ranch near Aspen in the Roaring Fork Valley, this ranch boasts senior water rights as well as over 800 acres and is located just 10 minutes from the Aspen airport. Joshua Saslove of Joshua & Co. has the listing.

6. Robert Taylor Ranch: $56 million

112 acres in Los Angeles’s tony Brentwood enclave. The roomy ranch house, which was designed by Robert Byrd, features 17 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms. Joyce Rey of Coldwell Banker Previews International has the listing.

7. Hana Ranch: $55 million
This 4,500-acre working ranch on eastern Maui surrounds the town of Hana. The property boasts two miles of Pacific oceanfront and rises over 2,200 feet up the slopes of Haleakala. Dan Omer of Island Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

8. Rockpile Ranch: $54 million

For only the third time in over a century, this 55,374-acre cattle ranch in the Davis Mountains of Far West Texas is on the market. Since 1992, the Rockpile has been owned by McCoy Remme Ranches (No. 41 on the 2011 Land Report 100). James King of King Land and Water is the listing agent.

9. Dana Ranch: $45 million

With only two distinguished owners in nearly 100 years and an unmatched record of profitability, the Dana is considered by many to be the finest operating and recreational ranch in the Rocky Mountain West. Supporting 3,000 animal units on 59,000± acres, it boasts over 13 miles of superb fisheries and an incredible diversity of wildlife resources from elk to waterfowl to upland birds. Listed by Dave Johnson with Hall and Hall.

10. Flying Dog Ranch: $40 million

This 245-acre Aspen landmark features nearly a mile of Collins Creek and Woody Creek and borders the White River National Forest. Morris & Fyrwald Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.

Click here to download a copy of the November 2011 newsletter.

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.

 

Bank of America Buys Kluge’s Virginia Estate

Bank of America paid $15+ million for Patricia Kluge’s legendary Virginia horse country estate at a foreclosure auction on the steps of the Albemarle Circuit Court House in February. The lender filed a foreclosure lawsuit last month after Kluge defaulted on $23 million in loans.

Among the bidders were representatives of Donald Trump from the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Trump has already acquired 200 acres abutting the 100-acre estate and is rumored to be negotiating for Kluge’s 900-acre winery.

Completed in 1985, Albemarle is an eight-bedroom, thirteen-bath manor and was originally listed with Sotheby’s International Realty for $100 million in 2009. The price subsequently dropped to $24 million.

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.

Madeleine Pickens Presents Eco-Sanctuary Plan to BLM

Madeleine Pickens is no ordinary horsewoman. A lifelong equestrian, she has led numerous champions into the winner’s circle, including the Hall of Fame Thoroughbred Cigar, winner of 16 consecutive races. Now she is championing a new cause: America’s wild horses.

“Wild horses are a living symbol of the pioneering spirit of Americans and the America West,” she says. Her goal is to establish a 501(c)(3) eco-sanctuary for all horses currently in holding facilities on BLM lands. Similar to a national park, it would be a tourist attraction as well as a refuge. To that end she has submitted a proposal to the Bureau of Land Management to create a public/private partnership that would not only locate appropriate land with sufficient forage and water sources but allow wild horses and burros to be free‐roaming and able to form natural bands.

“While the primary objective of the project is to care for these wonderful creatures, we will also be stewards of the land,” she says.

In March during hearings on H.R. 1018, Restoring Our American Mustangs (the ROAM Act), Pickens testified before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Committee on Natural Resources. She has also submitted a plan to initially alleviate conditions for 10,000 wild horses currently being penned in BLM short-term holding facilities.

“My view is for a wild horse sanctuary that will be a tourist destination similar to our national parks where Americans and tourists from around the world can come, observe and be a part of this great part of American history. We can use this treasure to promote ecotourism and at the same time provide for permanent retirement and management of these American icons to which we owe so much,” she says.

To that end, she is urging those who cherish the wild mustang and support her initiative to contact Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to stop the slaughter and confinement America’s wild horses and burros.

To join the thousands who have already petitioned Secretary Salazar as well as read more about her plan, The Land Report encourages you to visit her website.

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