This 76-acre EDH compound with a gun range below Ahwahnee-style lodge sold for $2 million
A 76-acre El Dorado Hills compound with a custom-built gun range below an Ahwahnee-style lodge on the property has sold for $2 million.
Villa Cielo Ranch, just minutes from Highway 50 and downtown Placerville, quickly garnered interest after listing in late September for $2.6 million.
“It’s a pretty unique property,” listing agent Bruce Renfrew of California Outdoor Properties told the Sacramento Bee in October. “There’s a lot to it. It’s just amazing.”
The property at 2190 Lotus Road in Rescue, California, is entered through an impressive stone and iron front gate. A stone fountain sparkles in the driveway on the way up to a 3,770-square-foot main residence that features two large bedroom suites and three bathrooms. There’s a high-end chef’s kitchen and large spaces for entertainment.
The complex of buildings—the main home, a three-bedroom guest cottage and a rustic lodge—surround a Pebble Tech pool with a rock waterfall, flagstone patios and numerous decks “creating a private country club feel,” according to the official listing.
The lodge was dubbed the “trophy room” by the seller, an avid hunter and nature conservationist. He now lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The lodge boasts a professional kitchen, a bar and two fireplaces. Down a gorgeous wooden spiral staircase is the sound-proof gun range with two firing stations, “making it very convenient to practice marksmanship right on your own property,” Renfrew said.
Other amenities on the property include an indoor spa room and a gymnasium.
Villa Cielo is a working ranch, fenced and cross-fenced, with a year-round cattle lease. Outbuildings include a wooden barn with cement slab floor and tractor overhang. A year-round pond fed by Indian Creek provides water rights to 130 acre-feet, allowing for 40 acres of irrigated pasture. An owned solar array sits next to the large vegetable gardens and fruit-tree orchard.
A group of businessmen from the Bay Area purchased the ranch, closing the deal in late November, Renfrew said.
And the pistol range and trophy room factored into their decision.
“I think in their mind they’re buying a piece of the Old West, even though it was developed in the 1990s, but I think that’s the feeling they have, Renfrew said. “The hunting thing and the gun range, I think that’s all part of the allure to these guys.”
The ranch land was previously part of the Greenstone community development west of Placerville.
“Plan A is to use the property as a country estate where they can all get out of the Bay Area,” Renfrew said about the new owners’ intent. “I think their long-range term is to explore the possibility of development.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 11:03 AM.
