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Hidden Valley Lake has grown so rapidly that the gated, golf-course community got its own ZIP code earlier this year. Broker John Larkin said the 3,000-home subdivision, which has its own lake, is a favorite of young married couples looking for a gang-free environment and prices that allow one spouse "to stay home like the old days."
When he gets home from his job as a traveling salesman for Sysco, the food service distributor, Philip Matheson said, he likes to sit on his deck with a glass of Cabernet and enjoy the view.
"The thought of being able to live in a three-bedroom, two-bath house on a half-acre lot right on the fairway of a golf course, being a single guy and 35 years old, is a dream come true," said Matheson.
He bought his home in November after renting a Pacific Heights flat for eight years. His new home would cost "well over $1.2 million" in San Francisco, but "I paid about a third of that to live here."
Matheson predicted Lake County's growing cachet among wine sophisticates will only enhance the county's reputation and keep home prices rising. He envisions the area becoming another resort destination like Calistoga, the Napa County community known for its spas, restaurants and wineries.
Reputation improving
With only 60,000 residents, Lake County is still small. For decades it was known as a cheap refuge for retirees and recreational activities around Clear Lake. Old-timers still talk about the invasion of gnats that chased tourists away from lake resorts back in the mid-1950s. In more recent times, stories about rough-riding bikers and trailer park riffraff didn't help the county's image.
But it is no longer the sleepy, unsophisticated county with a stepchild reputation. "We used to be known as poor, slow and somewhat backward," said Dunk, the Coldwell Banker broker. "We're not known now as a welfare county. Now we're taking middle-income families and executives."
A growing job base, three Indian casinos and a dozen wineries, which toast the county's re-emergence as a premium wine-growing region, all reflect a new optimism.
One of the bubbliest moments came in 2001 when Jim Fetzer, scion of the famed Fetzer wine-growing family, bought 270 acres on the lake between Nice and Lucerne and opened the spectacular Ceago Del Lago Winery.
Even Fetzer has been amazed at the county's revitalization. "One by one, people are coming in and buying these houses and renovating them," he said.
Watching as property appreciation "definitely doubled and sometimes tripled" helped convince Fetzer to buy another 1,200 acres and "I should have bought a lot more."
Builders haven't overlooked the swell of buyers. Developers took out 500 building permits last year, said Richard Coel, principal planner with the county's Community Development Department.
"We're definitely getting more applications than we were a few years ago, and they tend to be from Bay Area developers," he said.
Waiting list for new homes
Jazz Builders of San Rafael is preparing to build nearly 150 homes on a 57-acre vineyard near Middletown. Vice President Bruce Burman said the company already has a waiting list for the Vintage Faire homes, which won't be ready until next spring. Prices will range from the low $300,000s to the mid-$400, 000s.
"We saw a demand," Burman said of the company's first venture into Lake County. "A lot of people are able to work at home, and a lot of people will drive to be able to save hundreds of thousands of dollars."
The county also is proving more attractive for families looking for vacation and second homes, especially on the lake. A house on the waterfront cost a median $520,000 in the first quarter of this year, a nearly 20 percent jump from the $437,500 buyers paid just one year ago.
Hot spot for retirees
Retirees cashing out huge equities in their Bay Area homes are looking for retirement homes in the county. A number of them have stopped by the Kelseyville home of Robert Gomez, located on a pastoral county lane with vineyards and walnut trees interspersed with fields of grazing horses, goats and sheep.
The remodeled hexagon-shaped house sits on a hill and offers mountain views in every direction, a swimming pool and nearly 11 acres, including 8 acres of Merlot grapes.
Gomez, an educator who is retiring in June, is asking $895,000 for the place. After it sells, he and his wife, Debra, are moving to Scottsdale, Ariz.
The property looked like a good deal for Buzz Dereniuk and Terry Antell- Dereniuk, who both work for the Internal Revenue Service and who plan to retire within the next couple of years. They are contracting to sell their Sonoma home of 11 years and want a community with a slower pace.
"Napa County is totally off the chart," said Antell-Dereniuk. "Sonoma County is more affordable, but still out of sight." With buyers willing to pay the price of a rough commute, lack of jobs is probably the last major constraint on housing prices.
"There are plenty of jobs here, so I don't want to sound as if we're struggling," said Whipple, the real estate agent. "But if we had three, four, or five hundred new jobs, this place would really go nuts."
Article courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle.