Explore Sacramento River Victorian whose owner fostered Rush Limbaugh’s career

Sacramento lawyer and legal talk show host Chris Lee helped foster the late Rush Limbaugh’s career at radio station KFBK and traveled with the national conservative broadcaster to many countries and on many cruises, according to Lee’s family and friends.

When Lee and his wife Phyllis weren’t working or traveling, they enjoyed entertaining and tending to the rose garden at their charming 1906 Queen Anne Victorian home, which sits on 2.7 waterfront acres on the Delta in Walnut Grove.

Their historic home — a distinctive three-bedroom, three-bathroom residence spanning 4,000 square feet with a sweeping river view — is on the market for $1.65 million.

Chris Lee passed away Jan. 17, and Phyllis Lee died in 2012.

The house, which comes with a private boat dock and direct river access, is characterized by original architectural details from the period, a steep, pitched roof with cross gables, expansive dormer windows, intricate decorative wood trim and a wrap-around porch.

‘I loved the view’

Jonathan Lee spent a lot of time at his brother’s house beginning in the summer when he turned 23 in 1977, he said in an email. Chris Lee was an experienced lawyer and “wanted to show me the ropes of law practice,” Jonathan said. He had just finished his first year of law school at the time.

“I loved the view of the Sacramento River from the second floor,” he recalled. “The trees surrounding the property are beautiful, especially the elms at the back of the house. I enjoyed sitting on the porch with my brother.”

Walnut Grove is about 30 miles south of downtown Sacramento on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“(The house) has a really calm energy, and it’s just such a beautiful relic,” associate real estate agent Jen Payne Pierson said. “I love this house. I hope somebody buys it who really appreciates it.”

Listing agent Gary McEnerney of Game Realty is one of those who appreciates it.

“I like the view from the upstairs bedrooms, for sure,” he said. “And in that round area (on the porch) there’s a table they had custom-made.” The table’s inlay design honors the region’s agricultural heritage, showcasing the fruit crops historically grown on the ranch.

“They raised cherries and pears,” McEnerney said.

‘It is river life’

For Ken Hubbard, Lee’s stepson who lived in the house in the 1980s, the property wasn’t just a home but a window into the historic California Delta region’s unique way of life. Water activities defined much of growing up there., he said.

“There was water skiing off the dock,” Hubbard said in a telephone interview, recalling some of this fondest memories. “As a kid, to just go down to the river and get on the boat and water ski. When Jet Skis were invented, we Jet Skied a lot down to Pittsburgh. We’d go that far on them, finding little islands in the Delta and just stop (and spend time there).

“Seeing ships go by — you would see big ships go by, and you’d see paddle boats go by,” he added. “I mean, it is river life.”

Hubbard also remembered spending pleasant hours out on the porch as the river rolled by.

“I read so many books sitting on that porch,” he said. “It was designed to protect you from the wind, so it could be a windy day, you could have the Delta brazes blowing, and you could sit on that porch because of the way the house was angled, and it was specifically designed where you weren’t in the wind. You could sit on that porch and just be so comfortable.”

By the mid-1980s, Rush Limbaugh had launched his talk show at KFBK, replacing Morton Downey Jr. on air. Lee “helped get his show going,” Hubbard said. “And then, of course, the rest is history.”

Hubbard recalled Limbaugh visiting at the house.

Intense political discussions

“I can tell you, dinner parties with Rush, you just don’t get a word in edgewise,” he said. “You’re never supposed to talk politics at the table, and that’s all they were talking about. I just couldn’t wait to get out of there.”

He would end up sitting by the living room fireplace to escape the intense political discussions.

When Lee and his mother painted the Victorian house, based on the color of Disney’s Grand Floridian in Orlando, the property became “the talk of the town,” he said.

“Everybody had to stop and ask, ‘What color is that?’” Hubbard recalled. The house has since been repainted.

The home’s visual appeal extended beyond its unique paint job. Lee planted cherry trees on the property that created a breathtaking springtime display.

“When you drive in, you’d see the white blossoms in the springtime, all around the house, because they were 270 degrees around the house (and) the orchard,” Hubbard said.

Albert Thomas James Reynolds came to California from Kentucky and purchased 300 acres on Grand Island up the river from Walnut Grove, according to a historical account of the property. He built the original house on the lot in 1880s. The Sacramento Bee called it “one of the finest mansions on Grand Island and the farm one of the best kept,” the account states.

The original house burned to the ground at the turn of the century. The present home was built in 1906. Back then, the front lawn sloped all the way down to the river. In 1907, Grand Island levees were raised after a flood.

“I loved to photograph the house when I came to visit, as few homes have that wrap-around porch in such a setting,” Jonathan Lee said.

The next chapter for the Reynolds House awaits.

“Inside, the home’s warm and welcoming atmosphere makes it an ideal candidate for a Bed & Breakfast Inn or a serene private retreat.

The house, which is also equipped with an elevator, is located at 13760 Highway 160.

This story was originally published September 20, 2025 at 6:00 AM.