May extra guests to Santa Barbara County wine nation lastly be capable of keep on an precise winery, like occurs in so many different areas of the world?
That’s what TMC Hospitality is betting on with the current buy of Buttonwood Farm & Vineyard, the historic 106-acre property positioned within the coronary heart of the Santa Ynez Valley on Alamo Pintado Street.
The deal — which the guardian firm of Drift Lodges made in partnership with farming firm Simpatica and Santa Barbara–based mostly builders Jason Jaeger, Sep Wolf, and Anthony Curci — units in movement plans to construct 60 farm-stay cottages on the property whereas enhancing visitor-serving alternatives like expanded meals service, horseback using, and stargazing.
“The entire goal of that is so as to add lodge models that mix in nicely with the prevailing property,” stated Jaeger on Friday. “The concept is small, farm-stay cottages which are distributed all through the property, utilizing photo voltaic and making the smallest quantity of affect as attainable, to permit friends to have experiences with farm-to-table meals, with the vineyard, and find out about the entire course of.”
That proposal — and, presumably, many others which are quietly within the works — are awaiting the County of Santa Barbara’s adoption of the Agricultural Enterprise Ordinance, which is able to add farm stays, campgrounds, instructional experiences, and small-scale occasions as accepted makes use of on unincorporated ag properties of acceptable dimension. Aiming to “help and encourage the continuation of farming and ranching on agricultural lands countywide,” the county planning division is finalizing an environmental report on the ordinance, which has been within the works for almost three years. Public hearings are anticipated to renew this fall.
“It’s actually an thrilling path,” stated Jaeger, who plans to submit Buttonwood’s software for 60 rooms within the subsequent few months, however realizes the approval course of might take two to 3 years. “It can assist plenty of wineries and ranches to activate their properties.” He believes Buttonwood could possibly be a well-liked choice for guests already coming to the Drift Resort on State Road, which opened within the former Scientology constructing earlier this 12 months.
The brand new homeowners plan to proceed the Buttonwood model, and farming is now being dealt with by Simpatica. The fourth-generation agricultural administration and funding firm owns avocado groves in Ventura, Riverside, and Santa Barbara counties — together with the inland orchards of Dos Pueblos Ranch on the Gaviota Coast — in addition to in Brazil. There was no phrase but on the winemaking staff.
That is the second time the property bought in lower than two years, because the Gleason household — who additionally personal Refugio Ranch and Roblar wineries and vineyards — bought the property from its authentic homeowners in December 2021. They introduced bold plans for upgrading the property, bringing on substantial meals service, and pursuing hospitality choices underneath the brand new ordinance. Although they made vital motion on a few of these fronts, they finally determined to return their focus to Refugio and Roblar.
“We bought the Buttonwood property due to its distinctive magnificence and historic sense of place,” stated Kevin Gleason, who stated that they “made infrastructural enhancements, upgraded the vineyards, and modernized the winemaking course of” underneath their transient tenure. “As a household, we determined that the required effort and time required to create our imaginative and prescient for Buttonwood was too distracting, taking precious time and assets away from our core properties, Refugio Ranch and Roblar.”
They determined to check the market as a substitute, and rapidly decided that the TMC/Simpatica group was a “appropriate purchaser” that “would supply this property the eye it deserves.” Mentioned Gleason, “Our curiosity has at all times been to create unparalleled meals and wine experiences within the Santa Ynez Valley. The sale of Buttonwood now offers us the bandwidth to extra single-mindedly focus our power on Roblar and Refugio in our pursuit of this objective.”
The mix of hospitality, farming, actual property, and native authorities experience of Buttonwood’s new homeowners actually present a robust footing for attaining their expanded goals. “You actually have professionals in all their varied fields coupled collectively,” stated Jaeger. “Buttonwood is a really refined mission. We really feel like we’ve got the fitting staff to implement and execute what we need to do.”