Comes a time in every man’s life when he starts thinking about land. About a house, rather than a condo. About square-footage costs that are less than literally just about every other place in the country. So we ask: How far are you willing to go to get a piece of land?
We found the houses — from a $39M, 20-acre spread to a $189K fixer-upper — to match. See below for details about how to spend your weekends when you’re officially living out of town.
Place: Pollock Pines (El Dorado County)
Price: $189,950
Acreage: 4.52 acres
Distance to S.F.: 141 miles
Basics: 3 beds, 2 baths
Notable feature: Grab your hammer (or tiny home)
What’s going on in town: You’re right next to Sly Park Recreation Area — and an hour from Tahoe, through El Dorado National Forest.
Place: Sutter Creek (Amador County)
Price: $439,000
Acreage: 40.55 acres
Distance to S.F.: 127 miles
Basics: 2 beds, 2 baths
Notable feature: Floor-to-ceiling windows for those 40+ acres. (That’s $1,000 an acre.)
What’s going on in town: Sutter Creek (unsurprisingly) has its own, impressive yet less expensive wineries relative to Napa and Sonoma.
Place: Hidden Valley Lake (Lake County)
Price: $618,000
Acreage: 5.04 acres
Distance to S.F.: 97 miles
Basics: 3 beds, 3 baths
Notable feature: Totally separate in-law space for guests, mothers-in-law, etc. Also just dropped $12K in price, today.
What’s going on town: You’ve got your own lake (the aforementioned Hidden Valley) while being just 20 miles north of Calistoga if you feel like hitting the town.
Place: Saratoga, CA (Santa Clara County)
Price: $1,588,000
Acreage: 10.35 acres
Distance to S.F.: 47 miles
Basics: 5 beds, 3.5 baths
Notable feature: 50 feet of patio overlooking pasture land (“for possible vineyard or fruit tree orchard”)
What’s going on in town: Just head up — into the Santa Cruz Mountains, like into nearby Castle Rock State Park
Place: Livermore (Contra Costa County)
Price: $1,595,000
Acreage: 4 acres
Distance to S.F.: 43 miles
Basics: 4 beds, 3 baths
Notable feature: Check out that legitimately terrific landscaping.
What’s going on in town: BART access!
Place: Alamo, CA (Contra Costa County)
Price: $39,000,000
Acreage: 21.48 acres
Distance to S.F.: 27 miles
Basics: 10 beds, 13 full baths, 9 half baths
Notable feature: This English Manor-style estate is so estate-y that it has its own name: Fieldstone.
What’s going on in town: If it’s good enough for Stephen Curry, it is perhaps good enough for you? For waterfall hikes, try Las Trampas Regional Wilderness.
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