Would possibly 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 Inns made in partnership with farming firm Simpatica, Newport Seashore-based funding supervisor Anthony Curci, and Santa Barbara–based mostly builders Jason Jaeger and Sep Wolf — units in movement plans to construct 60 farm-stay cottages on the property whereas enhancing visitor-serving alternatives resembling expanded meals service, horseback using, and stargazing.
“The entire goal of that is so as to add resort items that mix in properly with the prevailing property,” mentioned Jaeger on Friday. “The concept is small, farm-stay cottages which might be distributed all through the property, utilizing photo voltaic and making the smallest quantity of influence as doable, 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 might be 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 practically three years. Public hearings are anticipated to renew this fall.
“It’s actually an thrilling path,” mentioned Jaeger, who plans to submit Buttonwood’s utility for 60 rooms within the subsequent few months, however realizes the approval course of could take two to 3 years. “It is going to assist a number of wineries and ranches to activate their properties.” He believes Buttonwood may very well be a well-liked possibility for guests already coming to the Drift Resort on State Avenue, which opened within the former Scientology constructing earlier this yr.
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 workforce.
That is the second time the property offered in lower than two years, because the Gleason household — who additionally personal Refugio Ranch and Roblar wineries and vineyards — bought the property from its unique homeowners in December 2021. They introduced bold plans for upgrading the property, bringing on substantial meals service, and pursuing hospitality choices below the brand new ordinance. Although they made important 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,” mentioned Kevin Gleason, who mentioned that they “made infrastructural enhancements, upgraded the vineyards, and modernized the winemaking course of” below their temporary 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 an alternative and shortly decided that the TMC/Simpatica group was a “appropriate purchaser” that “would offer 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 aim.”
The mixture of hospitality, farming, actual property, and native authorities experience of Buttonwood’s new homeowners actually present a robust footing for attaining their expanded desires. “You actually have professionals in all their numerous fields coupled collectively,” mentioned Jaeger. “Buttonwood is a really refined challenge. We really feel like we now have the precise workforce to implement and execute what we need to do.”
