Category — Vineyards

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.

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.

One of my favorite pastimes is planning dream homes on the great Sonoma County properties I get to look at. Real estate is something everybody gets to have opinions about and our Healdsburg Sotheby’s International Realty office is no different than any place else. Some people talk about living a country lifestyle. Others are choosing to build urban refuges with minimal landscaping chores and an easy walk to restaurants. For me, the best places are either exceptional fixers with great potential that I can restore to their original glory or completely raw pieces of property in need of an environmentally sensitive and artistic approach to landscape and construction. This Alexander Valley vineyard listing from Yvonne Horton in my office is a perfect fit for the second type of project.

First of all, the Alexander Valley is a naturally beautiful place. There’s a reason Cyrus Alexander chose it more than 150 years ago for his home and ranch. The Mayacamas mountains on the east provide a dramatic backdrop to the valley floor and the Russian River which winds it’s way south from Cloverale to Healdsburg. The 25 acres of vineyards on the property are on the valley floor which is flat enough to provide easy cultivation on the fertile alluvial soils. Last year production was 105 tons, primarily Chardonnay.

Closer to the river the land turns to a riparian flavor with plenty of willows and other bank holding plants. There was a quarry here at one time and the sand and gravel bars that front the river show ample evidence of the Russian River’s rock moving capability. It’s here, nearer the river, that I would envision a big family compound. A big main house with a country kitchen and party sized great room for friends and family together. There’s plenty of room for kitchen gardens, orchards, chickens and ducks and geese, and all the other small farm livestock that’s fun to have around. There’s room for a pool or a pond, and there’s always the long and private stretches along the Russian River where you can enjoy a naturalist’s holiday.

Sigh…I can’t buy it today. Maybe you can. Here’s some more details