Category — Country Land

View of Healdsburg and Fitch Mountain

This is an unusually good time to be shopping for land and ranches in Dry Creek Valley and other areas around Healdsburg.  Most times in the past three decades you would only have one or two pieces to choose from, and most of those would be the picked over properties that were lacking water, perc, or charm…or all three.  Today’s selections include some rugged hillside property suited for a secluded getaway, but they also include plantable vineyard land, vineyards, estate homes, and wonderful view acreage overlooking Healdsburg.

Will Rogers’ comment about “…not making any more land.” referred to coastal property, but Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley wine country comes close to coastal land in terms of desirability, uniqueness, and limited supply. If you have given any thought to a home in the wine country, this may be the best opportunity in a long time.

Sonoma County Barn

People chase their dreams to Sonoma County. For some it’s an adventurous leap to a new lifestyle in the wine business. For others it’s the coast and redwoods with their timeless beauty and larger than life rhythms. For still others it’s the fertile soils and the summoning call of dawn’s rooster, jealous memories of harvest celebrations as an outsider, and the yearning for calluses and soul-filling work poured into every crop. Flocks of dreamers heading to Sonoma County from every direction. You may be one of them.

5 to 500 acres starting at $500,000

It’s not quite true that everyone wants the same things, but every real estate agent in Napa and Sonoma can tell you about the couple looking for five to ten acres with a little farmhouse and some room for grapes. We’d have sold the wine country out of land ten times over if we had enough of those dream properties that people want. The fact that classic farmhouses with palm trees and redwoods sharing a front yard even exist in this world is amazing in itself. To actually see one on the market from time to time is even more remarkable. For the most part we deal with more prosaic properties, each with idiosyncratic tendencies and charming flaws. Charming, but disclosed in any case.

During the peak of the real estate bubble, land of any kind or size was hard to find.  The easing of the bubble and the slower economy we are now enduring have combined to create one of the best land portfolios we have ever had to offer.  We have vineyards, forests, farms, shacks, Victorians, and maybe even a mansion or two. If you are one of my precious flock of land enthusiasts, let’s start exploring your options.

Rolling hills, ancient oaks, and great views define the eastern slopes of the Alexander Valley which runs from Cloverdale in the north to Healdsburg in the south. This long stretch of land follows the Russian River which has blessed the valley floor with rich, alluvial soils that produce wonderful grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay predominate, but you can plant most varietals here with good results.

We have just listed two estate site properties near the north end of the valley close to Asti. The two separate, but contiguous parcels would be great for small vineyards or horses.

The land is rolling hills with the front of the bigger property beginning right on River Road near the summer crossing of the Russian River at Asti. The land rises gradually through terrain of trees and meadows. There is a knoll crossed by the invisible line that divided two land grant Ranchos.

That knoll is where the natural home sites area and where the two properties are separated. The smaller property dips down the back of the knoll and then climbs again to a high point at the back of the property. I took a screen shot with Google Earth to show the approximate property lines superimposed on the land.

This would be a wonderful estate site for someone who wants to build a family compound. There are two separate parcels, each of which could have an additional guest unit.

Serendipidy can be your friend. In my case, a maps.google.com search for the fastest route to Dillon Beach told me part of my drive should be on Roblar Road. It’s been a while since I drove that stretch of Sonoma County between Petaluma and Sebastopol, so this morning I went for a drive.

Man, it was beautiful.

Part of it was the light, but the magic was part green, part quiet, part animal, and a big dollop of pace. I was lucky that I left an hour early for my appointment. I had hoped to get some pictures on the drive, but the final results were much better than I had hoped for. It wasn’t just that I got some fun pictures, but that my mood got a chance to get mellow by sharing some space and time with a very special place.

The critters that get to hang out all day munching luscious Sonoma County grass may not notice that they live in a great area, but I think the California Cheese commercials on TV actually capture something when they talk about California cows. I haven’t seen any TV for sheep, but they seem to be in on the action as well.

The one bee buzzing around the picnic was an issue that I hadn’t been aware of until my drive today. There are efforts to open a quarry on Roblar Road. I don’t know enough to take sides on this, but I feel strongly that a neighborhood as peaceful and rural as Roblar Road deserves a chance to opt out of the path of progress if they choose to. You can read more details of the issues in this Sonoma West Times and News article

There are a lot of unique neighborhoods in Sonoma County. Tucked in between Santa Rosa and Windsor and bounded by Old Redwood Highway, Fulton Road, and Highway 101 is a small enclave of about 80 homes. They’re on Mark West Station Road, Donna Road, and Kay Avenue. The streets are laid out in the shape of an H with Kay as the crossbar.

The west end of the area is bordered by vineyards running all the way to Highway 101 and an ecological reserve that is an excellent example of the woodlands and plains that once covered most of the Santa Rosa area.

There’s a big range of home sizes here, from tiny cottages to elaborate, modern houses.
The lots tend to be big with one acre parcels as the most common size.One of the things I like most is the tree lined character of the area with some really terrific oaks. One of the reasons for the health of the vegetation here vegetation health is the high water table. It will flood in the winter when rains are heavy and the ground is saturated. Houses that are at grade level are vulnerable.

I think this is an area poised for improvement and growth. This is a superb location where you could bicycle to work anywhere in the Airport Blvd area of Santa Rosa. The current large lots combined with the modest existing homes represent excellent land values capable of supporting much more highly valued homes. A combination of owners remodeling their homes along with newcomers starting from scratch is likely to change the character of this charming neighborhood.

I just hope that in the rush to build new and better homes we don’t forget to allow for entry level housing for our young population. I was remembering today about the fun I had at age ten working with my dad to build a tree house. It wasn’t as nice as this one, but it inspired me to enjoy the building process.

We all do visual double takes. Is that a Llama or goat or what? For all of us it’s a familiar experience, particularly since life is zooming by and we usually don’t have time to see things carefully the first time. When I looked at this property the first time I certainly made a bunch of assumptions that didn’t turn out to be true. I got one right, but I’ll tell you about that after I confess my mistakes.

By the way, the mistakes I made are why I ended up liking this Watertrough Road four acre parcel in Sebastopol so much. It fooled me several times as I would first label it and then have to change my mind once I got to know a little more about it. The learning process helped me understand all the great things about this place that the quick glance and premature labeling would have made me miss. So not only do I come out liking the property a lot, but it reminded me to wait before passing judgment. That’s almost always a good idea.

The first thing to hit you when you arrive is there’s no place to park. There is a modest driveway, but even one parked van can block access for a second vehicle. So you park down the road or in a neighbor’s driveway and think “inaccessible”. At least, that’s what my labeling mind did. The reality that I missed is that not only is there a long driveway with plenty of room beyond the gate, but there’s a completely separate access along the edge of the property that could lead to a new estate home site. Fortunately, Cory Maguire, the listing agent, was able to straighten me out. Oops.

My second thought was dryness and sparseness. The area around the house doesn’t have much grass and there’s not a lot of underbrush. As you probably guessed by now, wrong again.

Cory led me on a tour down the length of this gently eastward sloping land, and she pointed out both the ample dry grass underfoot and the hardy fruit trees that have endured irrigation-free summers and still managed to put out bumper crops of apples and pears. The grass free areas are a result of the owner’s alpaca herd doing what animals do the world over. Eat grass. Or pears. Oops.

This is fertile land, Goldridge sandy loam, that would support grapes, organic gardens, horses, or any other commercial or family 4-H activity you can think of. It’s zoned DA which is Sonoma County’s most flexible designation. If you’re thinking of a 4-H place the other thing you should know is that the school here, Twin Hills, is a very fine place to send your children. Great parents and teachers working together to make sure all the kids get a good education.

Before you think I was a complete loon about this property I have to say that I got one label correct. The first thought I had on seeing the buildings and fences was “fixer”. I was right about that. However, don’t let the general air of structural decrepitude mask the true character of this four acre gem from your sight. Keep in mind that the 1920’s farmhouse can keep it’s claim in Sebatopol history as a granny and a main dwelling further down the property can be built. Give me a call or send me an email and I’ll arrange a tour for you and we can talk about the field of dreams you would build here. Dave Roberts 707-869-1884.  – SORRY, THIS GREAT PROPERTY IS SOLD

And in case you missed the clues, those are alpacas in the top picture.

The Potter Schoolhouse in Bodega is one of the few remaining buildings from Alfred Hitchcock’s filming of “The Birds”. It’s been a schoolhouse, bed and breakfast, and private residence. I’m a fan of the simple symmetry of the building with the round-top windows, corner columns, and octagonal tower. It’s a timeless building without the gingerbread of a Queen Anne or the stripped down plainness of the Craftsman style. There are a couple of other buildings in Bodega that I really like.

This simple residence features dramatic yellow painted quoins which are elements that were traditionally used to imitate how stone walls meet at corners. These wooden quoins are common in buildings of the late 1800’s and appear in everything from a Italianate to a Queen Anne to this plainer example. One of my favorite fixers on North St in Healdsburg shares this detail.

The final gem on my trip was this attractive two story, two porch farmhouse behind a white picket fence. The eaves, porches, and windows all have nice detailing that is highlighted by the simple horizonal siding. The relatively steep, hipped roof and arched windows make this a good example of an Italianate style building. Just outside the picket fence is this old weathered sign which probably proclaimed this as an inn or commercial establishment. Now it’s a great example of the forces of nature on human construction.

I’ve bemoaned the loss of stone and brick as building materials due to earthquakes. We end up with a lot of faux walls where a thin stone veneer is glued to concrete block or even wood framing. This Freestone property has always had one of the most beautiful wooden fences in Sonoma County. They are in the process of adding a stone entrance to the property and we can see the solution for an earthquake resistant stone wall.

If you look carefully at the large image you get from clicking on the thumbnail, you’ll see that the stone being used here is real, and almost half a foot thick. You’ll see the reinforcing steel emerging from the earthquake resistant reinforced concrete block wall that becomes the bond that ties the rock and concrete block together. It’s not cheap to build this way, but it’s the only way to get an authentic stone wall that will pass building codes and remain standing when the next big one rumbles by. I tip my hat to the V bar C folks for doing it right, and for keeping that beautiful fence intact.

One other facet of the changing face of Sonoma County emerged when I was taking a picture of the wooden fence. If you look carefully at the upper right corner of the image (click to enlarge), just past the stump-sliced V bar C sign, you’ll see some of the most westerly grapevines in Sonoma County marching down the hillside. Ten years ago this would have been considered outside the range of grape growing climate. Now it’s home to the lovely Pinot Noir.

Twin Valley, home of the Macmurray Ranch used to have the most wonderful trimmed redwoods. The underside of the trees along the fence line of their western pasture used to be groomed as crisply as a golf course green…just upside down. It was the cows, of course, reaching as high as they could to nibble on the emerging green redwood needles. I’m embarassed to say it, but it took me longer than it should have to see the cause and effect relationship. As I was driving through Freestone today I noticed this willow tree with an equally crisp bottom trim job. Alert observers will see not just the standing cow, but her partner in inverted mowing laying down on the job.

Freestone is a charming hamlet. Osmosis Spa, an inn, a great bakery, a rhododendron nursery across the road, and a classic general store are a few of the businesses here where the road to Occidental intercepts the Bodega Highway. There’s also the world’s most over-built foundation. I’m not sure how this came to be, but I’ve never seen a water tank with such a forest of massive timbers holding it up. It would make an interesting challenge at Berkeley’s school of engineering to see if they could figure out just how much this foundation could hold.