Historic 250-acre Chico ranch, where Robin Hood star stayed, for sale for $2.95 million
A historic 250-acre ranch in Chico where actor Errol Flynn stayed while filming “The Adventures of Robin Hood” has hit the market for $2.95 million.
Resting among kiwi vines and centuries-old sycamore and oak trees, the North Chico Ranch touches Rock Creek and Keefer Road. The property features a beautiful 3,400-square-foot Spanish-style home with an incredible pool and an original windmill on the roof.
The three-bedroom, three-bath home “has the historic old-world feel yet all the modern amenities,” according to the official listing. It features bedrooms with French doors that open to a private patio, white oak-hardwood floors trimmed in mahogany, a formal dining room and a breakfast room.
The estate at 3746 Keefer Road, Butte County, was at one time part of the original Keefer Ranch, which consisted of thousands of acres.
Todd Renfrew of California Outdoor Properties holds the listing.
In the early 1920s, C.W. Keene, his wife Nadine and daughter Clarine moved to Chico from San Francisco and purchased the property, according to a fact sheet from California Outdoor Properties on the history of the ranch. Nadine Keene was the great grand-niece of pioneer settler John Sutter.
In 1937, actor Errol Flynn came to Chico to film “The Adventures of Robin Hood.”
“Flynn became friends with the Keene family, and stayed at the Keefer Road property, hunting deer during the day, and enjoying dinner parties, which included singing and playing the piano in the arched-ceiling living room, in the evenings,” the fact sheet reads.
The Errol Flynn version of “Robin Hood,” one of several movies that have been filmed in Chico, featured the city’s old Hooker Oak Tree, considered at one time to be the largest valley oak in the world. Bidwell Park is the go-to filming location in the city.
In 1969, Dr. Marvin Klein, an obstetrician from Carmichael, bought the 250-acre property to plant kiwi, using live cuttings from a trip to New Zealand. The ranch has 15 acres of kiwi vineyards planted.
One of the Klein children is the actress and former Playboy Playmate Barbi Benton. Benton has used her celebrity status to promote the new kiwi industry in the Chico area, according to the fact sheet.
The ranch also grows 15 acres of seven-year Chandler walnuts and six acres of varietal grapes —sauvignon blanc, symphony, syrah, zinfandel, tempranillo and petit verdot — which are sold to local wineries.
The Klein family owned the ranch for 35 years. In 2005, the property was sold to a local home developer who extensively updated the original 1931 home, adding modern wiring and fixtures, plumbing, energy-efficient windows and central heating and air. He also built the oversized swimming pool and put in the landscaping. The wine grape vineyards went into the ground in 2008, and the walnut trees were planted around 2012.
Boasting rich farmland and equipped with multiple water rights, there’s room to grow with opportunities to establish a crop or cattle operation, according to the listing.
“The feel of the North Chico Ranch is truly special with spectacular views of the foothills, magnificent oak and sycamore trees, abundant wildlife, and gorgeous creek way,” the listing states.
Additional improvements to the property include “a comfy and stylish mobile home,”barn, and 160 feet of functional storage and shop buildings.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
