I took some clients to the Santa Lucia Preserve this weekend to look at both lots and finished homes for sale. It is a truly beautiful place. To most folks “The Preserve” brings to mind the award winning Tom Fazio golf course and the exceptional homes that are found behind the Preserve gate. However, for those with homes and lots within the 20,000 acres “The Preserve” describes much more.

A Bit of History

Before the arrival of the Spanish missionaries, the area served as grazing grounds for the Ohlone Indians of the Monterey Bay area. What would become the Santa Lucia Preserve was formed as the San Carlos Ranch through Mexican land grants in the 1830s. The original ranch worked thousands of cattle and was home to hundreds of horses, the vaqueros (cowboys), and Native Americans that herded and tended the cattle.

In the mid 1920s George Gordon became the owner and began its transformation into a destination for the more affluent members of his generation. He constructed polo fields and created a lake for his guest’s enjoyment.

Although prohibition was in full swing, Mr. Gordon felt obliged to provide his guests with only the finest liquor, most extravagant entertainment, and even Russian boars for the hunting inclined. It is said that Mr. Gordon entertained the rich and powerful, and their hangers on, because he loved to do so, and it was an effective way of collecting new investors into his various endeavors, and keeping his current ones happy.

Writing in 1963 to Stuyvesant Fish, proprietor of the neighboring ranch, Mr. Gordon explained the long route by which he introduced Russian Boar to the Monterey Peninsula in the early 1920s. The swine had originally been brought by Mr. Gordon to the United States to be hunted in Graham County, North Carolina before World War I. When he bought the San Carlos Ranch he imported nine sows and three boar to California and established the population that mated with feral pigs and has descendants today that range throughout central California.

As the decade wound down and Moore’s financial dealings faltered he was forced to sell the ranch to Arthur C. Oppenheimer of Salinas. Mr. Oppenheimer returned the property to cattle ranching and owned it until its sale to the Rancho San Carlos Partnership in 1990 and the beginning of its transformation into the Santa Lucia Preserve.

While the Santa Lucia Preserve, known locally as The Preserve, is a place apart from the rest of the
world, it has not escaped the recent downturn in the economy. Unlike many developments across the
country, and the world, The Preserve was well beyond its infancy when global financial uncertainty would have affected its operations and growth. There is over $200,000,000 worth of infrastructure paid for and in place within the 20,000 acres of The Preserve including a nationally ranked golf course, equestrian facilities, trails, and club buildings. The 73 completed homes have a conservative value of $400,000,000 with 20 additional homes under construction and 17 properties moving through the design review process.

Looking Forward

Since January of this year one property in the Preserve has entered escrow, lot 175 (11 Vasquez Trail).

In the same period last year, five parcels and one home sold in the Preserve. My colleagues and I  continue to field inquires from new clients about the Preserve as well as questions from our clients that have been considering the Preserve for some time. We believe that, as with other high end golf and amenities properties, buyers recognize there are value priced properties but are holding off in hopes of selecting the perfect property for their needs, at the near perfect price. In all of these communities, the purchase decision is elective. None of us are lucky enough to have an employer who transfers you to a place as beautiful as the Preserve.