One of Montecito’s largest and most unique properties — the 237-acre Rancho San Carlos — sold recently after being on the market for six years, Noozhawk has learned.
The sprawling estate on the 2500 block of East Valley Road, north of the intersection of Ortega Ridge Road east of Romero Canyon, had been in the same ownership, by the Jackson family, for nearly 100 years.
The Monterey Colonial-style main house, designed by famed Pasadena architect Reginald Johnson, reportedly has more than 30,000 square feet of space, with 12 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, according to the property listing.
There are another 10 cottages scattered around the property, which actually is composed of more than two dozen separate parcels.
It boasts mountain and ocean views, expansive equestrian facilities, a small office building, and some 100 acres of avocados and citrus groves. It has been described as “essentially its own small town.”
An internet search for “Rancho San Carlos” returns a link, among others, to the website of Suzanne Perkins, a high-end Montecito Realtor with Compass.
But clicking on the link indicates “nothing can be found at this location.”
Contacted by phone Monday, Perkins, who has been marketing Rancho San Carlos along with Harry Kolb of Sotheby’s International Realty, said she could not comment on the property or its status.
The estate was acquired by Charles H. Jackson Jr. and his wife, Ann, in the 1920s, and was developed during the following decade.
Jackson was a rancher and investor, who at one time owned the Alisal Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley.
An avid polo player, he pursued equestrian interests locally along side such Santa Barbara luminaries as Harold S. Chase, Dwight Murphy, George Knapp and F.W. Leadbetter.
Jackson died in 1978, and Ann in 1990.
The ranch was passed on to a family partnership comprised of the couple’s many descendants, according to their grandson, Jim Jackson, who told Noozhawk he is general manager of the partnership.
He put the property up for sale in 2014 for $125 million.
By this year, the asking price had dropped to $75 million, according to the property listing, which has since been removed from the Internet.
Jim Jackson told The Wall Street Journal in 2014 that he was selling the property because it had become too much of a burden for the family to maintain.
“It’s hard for us to let it go, but it’s too hard to keep,” he told The Journal. “Everyone would like to have somebody buy it and keep it together.”
Noozhawk has been told that the buyer is Riley P. Bechtel, a billionaire businessman who is the retired chairman of Bechtel, the giant international construction company that was founded more than 100 years ago by his forebears, but that could not be confirmed.
Bechtel reportedly has been active in the Montecito real estate scene over the years, buying and selling several high-end properties, including a residential compound near the San Ysidro Ranch. He also owns a spacious residential compound in Woodside near Palo Alto.
Confirming the buyer could be difficult, as it’s likely the purchase of Rancho San Carlos was made through a noneponymous trust or limited-liability corporation, and the parties involved presumably would have been required to sign nondisclosure agreements.
Lisa Rivas told Noozhawk she is the spokeswoman for all inquiries regarding Rancho San Carlos, and provided the following statement:
“The ownership of Rancho San Carlos transferred from one family to another with the sale of the 237-acre property. The current owner purchased the ranch as a family home, and is looking forward to enjoying the beautiful and private setting for many years.
“The new owners intend to use the ranch as a personal residence for their family in a manner consistent with the historical uses of the ranch, and have no intention of selling off portions of the ranch.
“The new owners value their privacy and security and will be releasing no further information.”
Similarly, no information was available about the sales price for the property, although it might eventually come out through tax records filed with Santa Barbara County.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.