A nearly 4-acre Cowan Heights estate in North Tustin that produces Orange County’s only award-winning wine and artisanal extra-virgin olive oil recently sold for $6.75 million.
The April 3 deal marks the highest priced sale in Cowan Heights in 17 years, second only to a 5-acre compound with an 8,219-square-foot main house and a 1,339-square-foot guesthouse that closed for $7.6 million in June 2007. The two estates couldn’t be more different.
A main house, guesthouse and a multifunctional winery building with a working farm anchor the near-record-selling estate. Across its bucolic grounds are an organic 110-tree olive grove and a 1,400-vine vineyard.
Records show the sellers are the husband and wife proprietors of the winery. They bought the property in January 2013 for $2.1 million. Their vineyard estate initially sought $8.88 million in 2022 when it hit the market, but it languished despite the efforts of a few top-producing Orange County listing agents.
“The challenge with the property has been that you’re buying a working farm that has to be kept up and maintained,” said Dean O’Dell of The O’Dell Group at Seven Gables Real Estate, the final listing agent hired to sell the property. “I don’t think people really understand how big 4 acres is until they walk it.”
The property includes the main house, which rests at the end of a long, tree-lined driveway with a limestone fountain motor court.
At just under 5,000 square feet, this two-story Tuscan-style farmhouse, which dates to 1967, is clad in stucco and stone with a clay tile roof. Beamed wood ceilings, parquet wood and inlaid limestone floors, wrought ironwork and fine millwork add to the handcrafted finishes indoors.
There’s a gourmet kitchen with a large island, a walk-in pantry and top-of-the-line appliances. A custom Dutch door opens the kitchen to a shaded patio.
The ground-level primary suite features a large walk-in closet, a steam shower, a soaking tub and dual vanities. A sliding glass door provides direct access outdoors to the saltwater pool and spa.
Across the pool patio is a one-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot guesthouse with one bathroom completed in 2014. It boasts a kitchen, bar and large family room with a fireplace.
The 3,300-square-foot winemaking facility for producing estate-grown Sangiovese has a 30-foot ceiling and a loft. It includes an area for wine storage, a kitchen and a game room.
Glass firehouse bay doors and barn doors open the winery building to the grounds.
A multi-sports court, trail-accessible cabin, hilltop bed gazebo and outdoor kitchen add to the estate offerings.
According to O’Dell, his team received hundreds of inquiries on the property and held 45 showings, for which potential buyers had to be vetted before being allowed through the gates.
“A lot of people think it would be neat to have their own winery, but there’s a lot of moving parts to this,” he said. “If you want to hire it all out, that’s one thing. But my clients actually worked the business from start to finish, on-site.”
Peppertree Canyon is known in North Tustin and throughout Orange County.
According to its website, the winery yielded its first grape harvest in 2016, three years after planting the vines. The Premier Harvest 2017 Estate Grown Sangiovese went on to win a silver medal at the Orange County Fair. In addition to the vineyard, the couple planted 100 olive trees in 2013 and produced almost 20 cases of oil each year.
Production halted only last year while the property sought a buyer.
Within nine months of relisting, it sold for 12% less than its most recent asking price of $7.7 million. California Secretary of State documents show the seller is an Anaheim couple who bought the property through an LLC.
The buyer’s agent did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but O’Dell said the new owner plans to continue the winemaking and olive oil business with outside help. Although the previous owner also listed Peppertree Canyon on Airbnb, with nightly rates listed as high as $5,000, depending on the day of the week and month, that has ended under new ownership.
O’Dell added that the property would be used as a primary residence.
Sarah O’Dell of Seven Gables Real Estate shared the listing with her son. George Geronsin of The Geronsins Real Estate Group at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties represented the buyer.
Source: Orange County Register
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