‘Trophy property’: 4,700-acre ranch heads to auction after listing as high as $45 million
A colossal horse ranch spanning 4,700 acres in the rolling hills of the Santa Ynez Valley heads to auction next month after listing for $45 million in 2017.
The price for Rancho Latigo was reduced to $24.5 million earlier in the summer before Hall and Hall got the listing and decided to take it to auction October 20, 2020. The seller is only the fourth owner of the ranch since 1868.
The property, which is located just 13 miles from Michael Jackson’s former Neverland Valley Ranch, offers a custom, 14,000-square-foot Spanish colonial-inspired main residence with six bedrooms and 11 baths, a guest house, helipad, oversized swimming pool with a 25-yard lap lane, 10,000-square-foot barn, equestrian arena, horse trails and lots of solitude, if one wishes.
There’s also a 10,000 bottle wine cellar and a movie theater.
Architectural elements of the residence are impressive, too: soaring ceilings, imported and hand-carved materials, hardwood floors and reclaimed wood beams and French doors throughout allowing seamless indoor-outdoor living.
The house was designed by David L. Leavengood, a renowned ranch architect.
“This trophy property is a family legacy waiting to happen,” according to the official listing.
Rancho Latigo was originally part of a Spanish land grant, dating back to the 1800s. Today, the land includes independent water sourcing, arable land and tax-incentive conservation opportunities, according to the listing.
The ranch is owned by Fred Steck, a retired Goldman Sachs partner who purchased the land in 1999 and transformed it into “an equestrian paradise,” according to a representative of Hall and Hall.. The property was previously owned by Jean Claude Brouillet, a French freedom fighter who founded National Airways in the west Africa nation of Gabon.
Santa Ynez, one of only two east-west running valleys in California, is only a short drive to the beaches of Santa Barbara, and two hours from Los Angeles.
The auction, offered in conjunction with Compass, will be held on site.
This story was originally published September 3, 2020 at 10:40 AM.
