Rancho Santa Fe Stories
The spectrum of writing quality in the real estate world, in terms of both quality and density, is, to put it gently, broad. Some agents let the photos in their …
With a median sales price last year of just under $3.4 million, Rancho Santa Fe retained its title as the priciest neighborhood in San Diego, and clocked in as the …
Sequester yourself in the Secret Ranch Welcome to “The Secret Ranch,” a 12-acre estate with more than 12,400 square feet of living space under roof located in the exclusive Covenant …
As regular readers already know, we look at some pretty nice houses here at Unreal. But if you’re wealthy enough to be looking at homes in one of the country’s …
Rancho Santa Fe Stories
Lake Hodges Dam has received the state's worst possible safety rating, leaving the city with another delay in making repairs some say are decades overdue. Last month, the state's Division of Safety of Dams downgraded …
We’ve seen plenty of expensive homes here at Unreal over the years; gawking at the ultra-wealthy is kind of our raison d’etre, after all. But this week, we’re really going over the top with a …
Even longtime San Diegans who consider themselves experts in the city’s geography can be forgiven for overlooking Rancho Pacifica. Perched at the northernmost point of the city’s inland boundaries — past where the coastline has …
Buckle Up Slide into the passenger seat and buckle up: we’re about to take a driving tour down a decidedly rocky road. Yes, California’s second-largest city will always take a backseat to Los Angeles, which …
Anti-cop ice cream What’s for dessert? San Diego politics, judging by a March 30 $1800 contribution by ice cream kingpin Ben Cohen of Williston, Vermont, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s. The out-of-town cash went to …
San Diego certainly boasts more than its fair share of wealthy enclaves. Horseplayers assemble every summer where the turf meets the surf in Olde Del Mar, the city’s old money power brokers cut deals in …
San Diego County is a big place. With a population of nearly 3.3 million people, the head count here is higher than in 21 entire states. But again: it’s a big place, covering 4526 square …
Have you ever dreamed of being wealthy enough to own a nice mansion in the country? You know, a place with some good acreage to stroll through so you can commune with nature and enjoy …
The house at 2719 Chestnut Avenue in northeast Carlsbad sits on a tract of land once used for tomato farming. The tract is a neat, well-kept neighborhood that is home to a mix of young …
I’ve rarely given much thought to where cookies come from, and neither had the kid. But he could tell I hadn’t picked these up at the supermarket. “Where’d you get these?” he asked, a glazed …
In 2020, the median size of a new home was 2261 square feet, according to US Census data. In 1990, when the home at 6573 Primero Izquierdo in Rancho Santa Fe was constructed, that number …
Behold the home billed as “Solace in the Sky,” a newly constructed 8969-square-foot ultramodern glass cube at 15815 Las Planideras. “No expense was spared in this six-bedroom modern construction in the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant,” …
Rancho Santa Fe attorney Paul Jonna maintains that Governor Gavin Newsom and county governments around California favored Black Lives Matter protests over churches when it came to how each of them was allowed to assemble. …
“Rarely does such a spectacular property become available in the exclusive guard gated community of Fairbanks Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe,” boast listing materials for the mansion at 17261 Circa Oriente, as retrieved from Realtor.com. …
“Hollywood glamour finds its home in Rancho Santa Fe,” or so promises the listing description, posted on Realtor.com, of 5516 La Crescenta, a newly-constructed mansion with 8400 square feet of living space, six bedrooms, and …
San Diego Polo Club site developed by Heaven's Gate Exclusiveness breeds itself, so it’s little wonder that when the San Diego Polo Club in Rancho Santa Fe needed a Web page designed, they turned to …
The owner of the nice estate on Via de Santa Fe splurged on his Halloween decorations. Two years ago, in 2017, he bought $15,000 worth of animatronic creatures from a high-end “prop” store. He shared …
The County Board of Supervisors campaign gloves were formally taken off on May 9 when the Rancho Santa Fe Democratic Club hosted the expected three challengers to Supervisor Kristin Gaspar’s 3rd District supervisorial seat. Gasper, …
Denise said she woke that Saturday morning to a brushing sound. It was along the outer wall of her apartment, along the stairwell leading to the front door. She wondered if the man who lived …
Simon and Jose were friends for years, they worked together doing landscape jobs — until they both fell in love with the same woman. Her name is Aurora. On December 12, 1988, both men were …
Kelley’s next stand Former Union-Tribune political cartoonist Steve Kelley, who departed the paper in the aftermath of a 2001 dispute over “butt cracks” he allegedly snuck into print, is back behind the inkwell, this time …
“I was working in my vegetable garden.” Kim Dorey remembered the day she got an unexpected visitor, almost a year earlier. It was a Friday morning, May 26, 2017, overcast and cool, perfect for working …
The publication Business Insider currently features snarky jabs at the nation's richest exurbs and suburbs such as Wellesley, Massachusetts; Kenilworth, Illinois, and Los Altos Hills, and Atherton, California. Rancho Santa Fe comes in for a …
The United States Attorney’s office in Santa Ana announced June 14 that several Southern California doctors have been indicted for taking kickbacks in a scheme centered around Pacific Hospital in Long Beach. Thousand of patients …
In the packed federal courtroom of Judge Gonzalo Curiel yesterday (April 5), attorney John Douglass Jennings Jr. was sentenced to 34 months in prison, while his wife Peggy, who worked in real estate, got four …
John Lynch, former chief executive officer of the Union-Tribune and previously a local radio executive, is in financial trouble again. He defaulted on his mortgage in December of 2016, and then woes cascaded in 2017 …
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the complaint of San Diego radio host Ray Lucia, who was slapped by the Securities and Exchange Commission, lost his appeal to that body, and then lost at the …
Timothy Chey, a Harvard business school grad, lawyer, and film producer, writer, and director of faith-based productions (David and Goliath, Suing the Devil) is suing the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation, its executive director Christy Wilson, …
“Del Dios Ranch presents an outstanding opportunity to acquire one of the most expansive tracts in coveted Rancho Santa Fe,” listing materials boast of the sprawling 61-acre estate. Beds: 4 Baths: 9 Current Owner: Sahm …
Carl Ekstrom began surfing in 1948, four years after his brother, Woody, had mastered the sport at Windansea, from where the family was nearly forced to move after their rent was raised from $12 to …
The 919 Gang, a daily online newsletter mainly for former and current Union-Tribune employees, reports today (July 2) that Heaven's Gate, the group that entered into a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe in 1997, …
The Rancho La Costa Preserve, located in the cities of Carlsbad and San Marcos, is a popular destination for both hikers and mountain bikers. Situated between Batiquitos Lagoon and Lake Hodges, the preserve serves as …
Current Owner: unclear Beds: 6 Baths: 7 List Price: $24,995,000 The technological marvel that comprises the estate at 6424 La Valle Plateada in Rancho Santa Fe “excites the senses immediately as one enters the grand …
Current Owner: Sunranch LLC Listing Price: $45,000,000 Beds: 6 Baths: 10 House Size: 20,408 square feet The 22-acre estate at 17111 El Vuelo in Rancho Santa Fe “is located on one of the most coveted …
My husband and I experienced an extravagant dinner more than a decade ago in a tiny village in the French countryside. We are still talking about how delicious and entertaining the food was, and we …
Beds: 7 Baths: 10 Current Owners: Hugh III and Joy Bancroft List Price: $10,800,000 Marketing materials describe the Rancho Santa Fe estate at 6605 La Valle Plateada using the name Il Incanto, Italian for “the …
Beds: 6 Baths: 11 Current Owner: Edward J Wald List Price: $8,750,000 “Set behind gates on a long and private drive in Rancho Del Lago, one of Rancho Santa Fe’s most coveted addresses,” boasts listing …
Beds: 5 Baths: 6 Current Owner: Howard Birndorf List Price: $8,900,000 The estate home situated at 5979 Rancho Digueno in the southern hills of Rancho Santa Fe is described in listing materials as an “Asian …
Depending on who is telling the story, Darryl L. Hronek is either building storage for the business on his property or being harassed by a vindictive neighbor who is using the county's code enforcement unit …
Beds: 8 Baths: 14 Current Owner: Thomas Powell List Price: $15,999,000 The 9.3-acre estate at 18181 Vis Roswitha, situated in Rancho Santa Fe, has spent years looking for its ideal buyer. That buyer would have …
The Most ideal of Provinces Rancho Santa Fe proposed an alternative plan, which called for preserving Del Dios as a two-lane road and, instead, extending and expanding San Dieguito Road (Route 728) such that it …
Classic elegance sprawls out in Rancho Santa Fe
As California prepares to vote in next week’s presidential primary, one of America's richest residential enclaves is embroiled in a big-money political fight that some fear may finally mark the death of its genteel, semi-rural …
Top pro golfer Phil Mickelson was charged with insider trading today (May 19) in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that will be tried in federal court in the Southern District of New York. The …
Current Owners: Gregorio & Vanessa Reyes Beds: 7 Baths: 11 List Price: $8,995,000 The “magnificient” Summerhill Estate is a 15,000-square-foot estate “sited on four all-usable acres atop a private knoll” in the “high end luxury …
Current Owner: Sunwest Builders Development Beds: 7 Baths: 11 List Price: $9,800,000 This week, a visit to “the newest home at Rancho Santa Fe’s intimate gated enclave of Roxbury Estates.” The residence at 14771 Roxbury …
Current Owner: El Secreto LLC (William & Kathryn Scripps) Bedrooms: 8 Baths: 13 Price: $23,000,000 Welcome to “The Secret Ranch,” a 12-acre estate with more than 12,400 square feet of living space under roof located …
Rancho Santa Fe's Gerald Parsky heads a Los Angeles private equity fund, Aurora Capital Group, which got more than $400 million in investment commitments from the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Aurora had …