Foreign Property News | Posted by Si Thu Aung
A California ranch actor John Wayne owned during the decade when he made some of his most famous westerns, from 1939’s “Stagecoach” to 1948’s “Red River,” has sold for $11.25 million.
Caretakers who have lived on the property known as Rancho Pavoreal, Spanish for “Peacock Ranch,” and locals in Hemet, California, recall that The Duke, as Wayne was called, liked to ride his horse at a fast clip around the very flat ranch, said Tatiana Novick of Coldwell Banker Realty, who listed it early this year. She spoke to Mansion Global before it sold at the end of May. “He used it as a scenic getaway.”
(The front gate at Rancho Pavoreal looks like a scene from a John Wayne Western. StunningPhotography.com)
The movie-star cachet aside, she said that Rancho Pavoreal is a prime property.
The 3,000-square-foot main house, which was built in the 1950s after Wayne sold the property, has three bedrooms and three bathrooms and sits on more than 2,000 acres.
(John Wayne, seen here on the set of “El Dorado” lived on the ranch in the ’30s and ’40s. Getty Images)
“It’s rare to find such a large property in this area,” she said, adding that most of the neighboring properties are only about one-tenth of its size. “It’s one of a kind; I haven’t seen one like it in Riverside County—it’s gold.”
Surrounded by acres of wildlife habitat, desert plateaus, river gorges and mountains, Rancho Pavoreal “is private—it’s tucked away from everything,” she said. “And it’s beautiful in all seasons; in winter, there’s snow on the mountains.”
Long after Wayne’s last ride, the property came into the hands of an East Coast couple, who used it as a dude ranch that included several houses for half a century. The seller, who bought the ranch in 2015, converted it back to a family retreat. “He loved it, but he’s 99—he feels it is time to sell,” she said. He declined to comment.
(An old-fashioned tree swing creates a relaxing outdoor seat. StunningPhotography.com)
In addition to the adobe house, with its terracotta tile roof, and the old barn, there are three wells and horse trails. The property is fenced and cross-fenced for cattle and horses, and it has electricity and propane.
Ref: John Wayne’s California Ranch Sells (mansionglobal)
