For Sale: Northern California Recreational Ranches

World Class Hunting and Ranching in Mendocino County, California

Located at the southern end of the scenic Round Valley, the historical Hop and Barley Ranch (pictured above) features fertile farm land on the valley floor, beautiful lush forests and meadows in a mountain-like setting, with rolling grasslands and a mile-and-a-half river frontage.

At 6,420± acres, this legacy ranch is teaming with an array of wildlife, from trophy blacktail deer, Tule elk, and cougars to pigs, bears, quail, turkey and dove.

Well-rounded improvements complement the ranch built of redwood siding with corrugated metal roofing for the classic rustic ranch look, reminiscent of a John Wayne movie. A ranch of this size and diversity is a rare find and only a four-hour drive from the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Available for $14 million, this property is listed with The Chickering Company. For more information, contact Terry Hundemer at (503) 265-5774 or at ranches@chickeringco.com.

Spring Creek Ranch in Fall River Mills, California

Located near the Fall River Valley in California, Spring Creek Ranch is one of America’s finest trophy trout ranches.

At 1,346± acres, this ranch is one of the best fly-fishing ranches with private fishing water on the headwaters of the most prolific spring creek wild rainbow trout fishery in the country, with the average catch in the 3-6 pound range. This ranch also fronts a second spring creek, Lava Creek, as well as frontage on the world renowned Fall River and is home to abundant migratory waterfowl including ducks, geese, pelicans, egrets, herons and swans.

Spring Creek Ranch is a true wildlife refuge in a beautiful mountain area featuring stunning views of Mount Shasta to the north.

This property is listed for $12 million. For more information, contact Terry Hundemer at (503) 265-5774 or at ranches@chickeringco.com.

South Battle Creek Ranches in Mt. Lassen Foothills, California

The Oasis Springs Lodge and the Rocky Springs Ranch, collectively known as the South Battle Creek Ranches, are a quintessential sportsman’s paradise.

Oasis Springs Lodge
Situated near the small foothill community of Payne Creek, the Oasis Springs Lodge overlooks a private crystal clear trophy-trout stream on the lower flanks of Mount Lassen.

Encompassing over 1,100 acres of range-land and meadows interspersed with blue oak woodlands, this ranch is punctuated by fresh water springs, ferns, alders and willows along the South Fork of Battle Creek. A true fly-fisherman’s oasis, the Oasis Springs Lodge boasts some of the most productive fly-fishing streams in California.

Surrounded by some of the richest wildlife habitat in the Western states, it’s common to observe one of the state’s largest migratory deer herds traveling through the area. Other wildlife includes bears, mountain lions, eagles, hawks, quail, dove and wild turkey.

Rocky Springs Ranch
Located in the Mount Lassen foothills of northern California, Rocky Springs Ranch features world-class deer, dove and quail hunting, plus amazing trout fishing.

With nearly 3,000 acres of rolling meadows and blue oak woodlands, this ranch is home to one of the largest migratory deer herds in the state and also provides prime habitat for dove, quail, and wild turkey.

Panoramic views of Mount Lassen to the east and the adjoining ranches and the Sacramento River Valley below can be enjoyed from most areas of the ranch.

Totaling 4,137± acres, these two ranches can be purchased together for $9.39 million (The ranches are each owned by separate entities and are also available separately for $4.895 million and $4.495 million, respectively). Contact Terry Hundemer with The Chickering Company at (503) 265-5774 or at ranches@chickeringco.com for more information.

Land Report Top 10: Ranch Dos Pueblos

Located in Santa Barbara, California, Ranch Dos Pueblos is one of the largest remaining ranches along the Gaviota Coast – stretching from the Santa Ynez Mountains down to a sandy beach on the Pacific Ocean.

At 2,175 acres, the ranch includes a lovely private sandy beach compound, which offers breathtaking views of passing ships, soaring gulls, frolicking dolphins, and the occasional spouts of migrating whales. The property also features abundant agriculture with numerous native and specimen plantings, trees, and orchards.

Surrounded by large ranches and the Los Padres National Forest, Ranch Dos Pueblos offers an array of recreational opportunities, including hiking, camping, and fresh water recreation at nearby Lake Cachuma.

For sale for the first time in over 30 years, Ranch Dos Pueblos is listed with Kerry Mormann & Associates.

Click here to see the full list of Land Report’s Top Ten priciest properties.

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.

Coppola Completes Resurrection

The award-winning filmmaker acquires fabled trademark, hires Chateau Margaux estate director.

In a July 2007 interview with The Land Report, Francis Ford Coppola spoke of his quest to return Gustave Niebaum’s renowned estate to its former glory. Founded in 1879, the Inglenook Winery was christened “the Queen of the Napa Valley” due in large measure to its renowned Cabernet Sauvignon. But beginning in the 1960s, Inglenook was parceled off in bits and pieces. “There are great old things that are broken apart and sold off … like the movie studios, for example. And that’s what happened to Inglenook,” Coppola said.

Coppola’s quest first took shape in 1975 when he acquired 1,560 acres of vineyards formerly on the estate as well as the home that once belonged to Niebaum (pictured right). Two decades later, Coppola acquired the remaining portions of the Niebaum Estate, including the stately chateau, which required two years to renovate.

This April, Coppola completed his quest when he acquired the iconic Inglenook trademark from The Wine Group. At the same time, he announced that renowned Bordeaux winemaker Philippe Bascaules, who has served as estate director at Chateau Margaux for the past 11 years, will become Inglenook’s estate manager and winemaker.

“There’s an interesting idea that the owner of a wine estate is part of the terroir, and it’s in this spirit that I’ve spent the last year assessing Inglenook’s future needs, including recruiting Philippe Bascaules, invigorating the vineyards, planning a new state-of-the-art winemaking facility, and focusing on what it would take to achieve my goal of restoring this property into America’s greatest wine estate,” Coppola said.

No financial terms were disclosed.

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.

 

The Land Report Spring 2011

NFL Hall of Famer Joe Montana headlines the Spring 2011 issue of the Magazine of the American Landowner with an exclusive interview. Travel to Sonoma County for a behind-the-scenes look at Villa Montana, the stunning 503-acre estate that has been the Montana family’s wine country getaway since Joe’s retirement from the NFL.

Also in the spring issue, a Special Report on America’s Top 30 Auction Houses. This annual rundown features the nation’s leading auctioneers and is an indispensable resource for anyone thinking of investing in land.

Each issue of The Land Report can be accessed via your laptop, on your iPad or iPhone, with your Blackberry, as well as on your Android.

Click HERE or just type in the following URL: http://read.dmtmag.com/issue/27294.

 

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.

Tom Barrack Takes Control of Neverland

Earlier this month, AP reported a development that every real estate professional in Santa Barbara County fully anticipated: Neverland no longer belongs to Michael Jackson. The new owner of the 2,500-acre trophy property? That was even less of a surprise: Sycamore Valley Ranch Co., an affiliate of Tom Barrack’s Colony Capital. Read more

68,000-acre Onyx Ranch in California Sells for $48 million

The Wall Street Journal reports this morning on a huge transaction in California: the 68,000-acre Onyx Ranch in the Sierra Nevada Mountains just outside of Bakersfield sold for $48 million ($705 per acre) to a joint partnership of the CIM Group, a leading urban development group, and Los Angeles-based Renewable Resources Group. Given present credit markets, the acquisition was funded by equity. Read more

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