Rancho Santa Fe Blog

Located at:
15931 Via De Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe CA 92067
(between Fairbanks Ranch and the Village of Rancho Santa Fe)
Feel free to call me for directions and additional information at (858) 342-2773

Rare opportunity to see one of Rancho Santa Fe’s most equisit homes constructed by one of Rancho Santa Fe’s best homebuilders. This magnificent Jim Sylvester designed Tuscan estate features an 18,000 sq.ft. main residence, a 4,000 sq.ft. guest house and a 1,200 sq.ft. detached executive office suite, all sprawling across 2.29 acres. This turnkey home is a true masterpiece (3 years in the making)! Words can’t describe the amazing features and attention to detail so come see for yourself! Price just reduced, seller will now entertain offers between $12,500 and $15,350,000.

More details:
This custom Jim Sylvester designed home comes completely furnished with over 2 million dollars in high end custom furniture, 12 XL plasma TV’s, custom Brunswick pool table, and more. Sylvester Homes is offering creative buyer financing - please ask for details. This entire estate is completely turnkey. Main residence offers over 18,000 sqft and includes 5 bedroom suites, theater, wine grotto, billiard room, formal walnut library, exercise room w/ sauna, hobby room and so much more! This estate, (3 years in the making), has a fully integrated sound system a security/surveillance system, 12 plasma televisions, and 17 fireplaces. The backyard is a tropical island paradise complete with lagoon pool, spa with moat, waterfalls, swim up cave and slide. Steps away from the pool, one can enjoy the outdoor living room a fireplace and barbeque pavilion while capturing views of your own exquisitely landscaped gardens. The sensational master bedroom features its own private outdoor spa sanctuary with fireplace, inviting daybed and 2 outdoor showers as well as an adjoining oversized exercise room with sauna. Situated on an all useable, gated and private site, this home consists of 4 separate compounds created for ultimate family living! The guest villa, with over 4000 square feet of living space in itself, offers 2 Master suites, paneled library, formal dining, great room, complete gourmet kitchen, and a 2 car garage. The office villa offers over 1200 square feet of executive office space and includes a handsome foyer with fireplace and can easily be utilized as additional domestic/staff quarters. A separate service entrance leads to a fourth compound complete with 4 car garage. Dramatic faux finishes are through-out every living area in the home (including garages). There are expansive indoor and outdoor entertainment areas and spectacular living spaces that optimize the enjoyment of this exceptional and truly one of a kind property. Recent $600,000 renovation to front entrance with pedestrian walkways has created even more magnificent curb appeal than ever before! A rare and remarkable offering when only the best will do!!

Don’t miss your opportunity to buy the least expensive condo in Rancho Santa Fe! We just had a major price reduction on our listing in Alcala. The seller will now entertain offers between $750,000 and $825,876 which makes this the best deal in town! This two story unit features a master up, master down and an office! It is a quiet interior location close to the pool. This is also an end unit with only has one shared wall. The condo is light, bright, open and airy and in addition, it is offered fully furnished!

For those of you that are familiar with Alcala, this is the highly sought after “Poppy” model. If you are not familiar with Alcala, it is a gated community in Whispering Palms. Conveniently located on the south west edge of Rancho Santa Fe this area is within minutes of the 5 freeway and the beach. In addition, Whispering Palms is surrounded by the beautiful Morgan Run Golf Course and resort.
For more information please call (858) 342-2773 or email us today.

In October of 2007 a total of 4 homes sold in the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant. The sales prices of the 4 RSF Covenant homes that sold were:

$2,350,000
$5,350,000
$8,000,000
$8,600,000
In addition to the 4 Rancho Santa Fe covenant properties that sold, there are also 4 properties in escrow and 91 active listings. The average list price for the 91 listings that are currently on the market is $6,828,104 with the lowest RSF Covenant list price being $1,575,000 and the highest current RSF Covenant list price being $29,900,000.

If anyone would like more detailed information on any active, pending or sold homes in the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant or the surrounding areas of Rancho Santa Fe (including MLS reports, comparative market analysis, pictures…) please email me and I will get the information to you ASAP!

Thank you,
Julien Brandt REALTOR
Prudential Rancho Santa Fe Properties

I have a list of about 50 homes that were damaged or destroyed in the Rancho Santa Fe fire. This list was just updated (at 10:00am on October 29th). This is a comprehensive list from the RSF Fire Protection District and other web sites, as well as RSF Association sources. In addition, the list includes owner names and addresses. It is seperated into 3 sections (Covenant, Fairbanks Ranch, and Rancho Del Rio and East). The list will be continually updated, and for this reason along with the fact that we would like to protect everybody’s privacy, I will not publish the list on this site. However, if you are a RSF resident, or if you have friends and family in the area and you need to see the list, please send me an email and I will forward it along to you. You can contact me at julien@prusd.com

If you or anyone you know was displaced by the fires I would be happy to help them find a rental. I can also send you a few helpful links to get you back on your feet and get you started on your search…

You can also check my previous post which includes detailed RSF fire information and a Google map that pinpoints many of the address’s…
View Larger Map

I wanted to post some information and important links so everyone can stay up to date on the Witch Creek fire that has swept across the county and into parts of Rancho Santa Fe. (In addition to reading this information I suggest clicking on the links below to make sure you get the most accurate and up to date RSF fire information). This is a difficult time for everyone and if there is anything we can do to help don’t hesitate to ask. In addition, if you have more information, questions, or needs that the Rancho Santa Fe community might be able to help out with, please leave information in the comment section below. If you have information that you would like to see on this website please also email me and I will post the information right away (you can email me at julien@prusd.com) I have had over 1,000 hits a day from people searching for RSF fire information so I would like to offer this as an information portal for anyone that has news about the RSF fires…

UPDATE: On October 24th at @ 4:30 The Rancho Santa Fe Fire District released the following information on their website: “Mass mandatory evacuations are still underway for the entire Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District, including the Bridges, Del Dios, The Crosby Estates, Cielo, the Covenant, Fairbanks Ranch, and 4S Ranch. Although you are not seeing any visible smoke from the area, other public safety concerns must be addressed before the District is repopulated are the downed power lines, debris and trees in the roadways, water pressure and electricity. We are working on resolving these issues and developing a plan to allow residents back into their homes. Your continued patience is requested, the Fire District will continue to expedite the recovery process as quickly as possible…” Read more at the RSF Fire District website.

You can also visit the Rancho Santa Fe Fire District website for the RSF Fire Departments up to date list of properties that have been damaged.

Please click on the blue icons within the Google map below for information on each specific incident:
View Larger Map
As of October 23rd at about 5:00pm the local news stations are saying that roughly 40 homes in the Rancho Santa Fe area have been burned. So far there have been reports of houses burned in The Covenant, The Bridges, The Crosby, and The Summit. (If you are aware of any other areas please let us know).

On Tuesday afternoon SoCal fires stated that: “The fire swept down through Rancho Santa Fe overnight. About 35 structures were damaged, mostly homes. Now the fire is jumping the San Dieguito River, headed into Fairbanks Ranch. Officials are concerned the fire will soon jump San Dieguito Road. Winds are very gusty. Overnight, the fire burned through the Las Colinas neighborhood of Rancho Santa Fe, and several houses were destroyed. The area is littered with burnt cars. Two tanker planes are dumping retardant material on the fire line, trying to stop the flames from jumping San Dieguito Road. Several fire strike teams worked in the area last night as the fire moved through. Fire crews here have been working since Sunday night and show exhaustion. One firefighter said the temperature never cooled down last night, and while the winds settled down after dark, they kicked back up after 2 a.m. One resident, who lives on Zumaque Street, said he returned to his street last night to check on his house. “I came up and there was a wall of smoke. Everything around my house burned.” On a typical street, because of the whimsy of the winds, one house is untouched and the next is a pile of ash. In some houses that burned, water pipes burst and water is bubbling up on the property. At one destroyed house, garden hoses on the front lawn suggest that the owners tried to do something to save the house before leaving.”

Please also check our local news channel websites for updated information: NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. You may also click this link to view the most up to date and current list of homes throughout san diego that have been destroyed during this tragic event.

I will update RSFblog.com (same as RanchoSantaFeBlog.com) as often as possible so please check back often.

PANCAKES AT THE FIREHOUSE!

Join the Rancho Santa Fe Firefighters Association for a Pancake Breakfast and Open House on Sunday, October 14, 2007. The RSF Pancake Breakfast will be from 7:30am to 11:30am. Everyone is welcome to come out and support the local fire department of Rancho Santa fe. There will be fire engine rides, a bounce house, and fire engine and equipment displays (among other things)! The event will be held at Station 1 which is located at 16936 El Fuego, Rancho Santa Fe 92067.

For a larger version of the brochure click here!
Station One / 16936 El Fuego
(858) 756-6011

I asked Sean Barry from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (here in the Village of Rancho Santa Fe) to give us an update on the recent Fed rate cut:

“We had some good news this last Tuesday compliments of the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”). The Fed dropped the Fed Funds Rate and the Discount Rate by .500%. The drop in the Federal Funds Rate will directly effect consumer debt that is directly tied to the Prime Rate Index. Prime Rate moves in step with the Federal Funds Rate; therefore, Prime Rate moved from 8.25% to 7.75%. This is especially good news to homeowners that have 2nd liens that have floating interest rates - e.g. home equity lines of credit. The Fed’s move does not directly impact mortgage rates, but the rate reduction sends a positive message to the markets since it eases some of the credit tensions that have plagued the mortgage industry for the past month or so. Mortgage Rates are still historically low, and with home prices easing up it may quietly be a great time for home buyers to purchase a home.”

If you have any questions on mortgages, please feel free to contact Sean Barry of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage at (858) 759-2300.

Sean A. Barry
President’s Club 2006
Home Mortgage Consultant
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage
16079 San Dieguito Road, Suite A-1
(Mail Only: P.O. Box 3511)
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
858.759.2300 Direct
877.858.SEAN (7326) Toll-free
858.630.4217 Fax
sean.a.barry@wellsfargo.com
www.seanabarry.com

The Country Friends will be hosting the 52nd annual “Art of Fashion” fashion show this Thursday September 20th 2007 at 11:00am on the lawn in front of The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The Rancho Santa Fe Fashion show has always been a very popular event and is one of the largest outdoor fashion shows in the United States. The event will feature boutique shopping, the “Art of Lunch”, wine tasting and of course, the “Art of Fashion” runway show, featuring Gucci, Saks 5th Ave, Fendi, Christian Dior… and many more! For more information and ticket sales please visit The Country Friends website! You can also view the online invitation to the Rancho Santa Fe fashion Show by clicking here: RSF Fashion Show invitation

In addition, you may Use this order form to purchase tickets for any of the “Art of Fashion” events. If you are unable to attend, but you would still like to donate, you can do so at the bottom of the order form. All proceeds from the Fashion show will benefit the Boys and Girls Club of San Dieguito!

The 7th Annual Rancho Santa Fe Art Fair is this Sunday September 9th in the Village of Rancho Santa Fe. The RSF art fair will feature over 150 Artist’s booths and give everyone a change to meet some of San Diego’s finest Artists and see some live demonstrations. In addition you will be able to purchase original fine artwork while enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon in Rancho Santa Fe. The event will also have live music and a silent auction! The Rancho Santa Fe Art Fair is free to the public and it will be held accross from the “Rancho Santa Fe Properties” office at the Corner of Paseo Delicias and Avenida de Acacias in the middle of town!

I would like to invite everyone to our open house this Saturday 8/18/07 from 1:00 to 4:00pm in the Rancho Santa Fe Covenant. The property is located just north of the village at 6060 Lago Lindo in the covenant. It is a charming single level ranch style home on 2.27 parklike acres. The property also includes a 2 horse barn and coral, private pool, and sand trap. Enjoy over 40 miles of Covenant horseback riding and hiking trails!

This covenant property is within walking distance to the village of rancho santa fe, and the Rancho Santa Fe golf and tennis club. Attractively offered at $3,200,000

For more information please contact Julien at (858) 342-2773.