15,000-Acre California Ranch Asks $38 Million

La Panza, a nearly 15,000-acre cattle and agricultural ranch in Santa Margarita, California, that produces its own brand of award-winning olive oil and that is said to once have been the hideout of the notorious outlaws Jesse and Frank James, is on the market for $38 million.

The property, which is in the ranch-rich land of San Luis Obispo County, was listed Monday by Lance Doré of California Outdoor Properties and Matt and Dylan Marschall of CBRE Capital Markets.

Mr. Doré said the seller built the main hacienda and created the compound, which is comprised of several buildings.

“At 14,750 acres, it’s one of the largest contiguous tracts of lands in the western United States,” Mr. Doré said.

“And particularly in California,” Matt Marschall added.

Although the agents declined to identify the seller, property records list a limited liability corporation whose address in Denver is that of the corporate headquarters of the family-owned company Leprino Foods. Records show that the LLC has owned it since 2019.

According to published reports, Leprino Foods the world’s largest maker of mozzarella cheese.

It supplies cheese to the Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Little Caesars and Domino’s pizza chains and was founded in 1950 by Mike Leprino Sr.

When he died in 1972, his youngest son, James, became chairman and chief executive officer of the company.

Calls to Leprino Foods seeking comment were not returned.According to the official website of La Panza olive oil, one of Mike’s sons, Mike Leprino Jr., and his daughters bought the ranch in 2003 and “set out on a years-long quest to produce the freshest extra virgin olive oil in California, if not the world.”

La Panza did not respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.

Mike Leprino Jr. died in 2018 at age 90, and the property was listed for the first time that year, for $43 million, according to public records.

In addition to the main Spanish-style hacienda, which is 5,500 square feet, the property has a 4,400-square-foot bunkhouse, a 2,000-square-foot guest house, an 1,800-square-foot foreman’s office, a 1,600-square-foot ranch office, a 12,500-square-foot olive mill and several hay barns that total 12,500 square feet.

Ref: barrons