Crook County’s high-end homes

Published 5:00 am Sunday, July 29, 2012

Is anyone looking for a $25 million home in Central Oregon?

For all the attention paid to luxury real estate in Bend, a closer look at the market shows high-end properties scattered across Central Oregon.

Especially in Crook County, homes valued at $800,000 and up offer a variety of properties for high-end buyers — from brand-new homes at Brasada Ranch Resort to sprawling rural properties on enough land to start a small town.

A look at Central Oregon’s Multiple Listing Service shows 13 Crook County properties on the market valued at $1 million or more.

That’s a far cry from the 63 homes just in Bend. But local real estate officials said more affordable land in Crook County can make a comparable home in the Prineville area just as glitzy as its metro neighbor.

There is one noteworthy exception to that affordability rule, however.

Topping the market is the sprawling Three Springs Ranch. Its signature trait is its massive expanse of land stretching from Three Springs Ranch Road, south of U.S. Highway 126, eastward almost to Prineville city limits.

The price tag? An eye-popping $25 million. That’s more than four times as much as the second-highest-priced home in Central Oregon.

“It’s extremely unique, based on its size,” said Kerry O’Neal, a real estate broker with Strategic Realty and the agent listing the property.

Sitting on 7,500 acres of open land, the property doubles as a getaway home and an investment opportunity: Portions of the land could be split up into 160-acre lots for development.

“Because of its size, it’s kind of like having your very own city,” O’Neal said.

Someone less inclined for an investment buy, and with more of an eye for Oregon history, might prefer looking five miles northwest to a 6,000-square-foot home that celebrated its 100th birthday last year.

“This is the property where former (Oregon) governor Tom McCall grew up,” said Pam Mayo-Phillips, principal broker with Desert Valley Realty. The $5.5 million, 6,000-square-foot restored farmhouse “has a deep history, and it’s an amazing, beautiful piece of property.”

McCall was governor from 1967 to 1975. His family sold the home in 1983, Crook County property records show.

A little farther down the price range, the quality of homes remains high. Take the 10,000-square-foot, three- bedroom home on Northeast Wittmer Road in Prineville.

Its $2.6 million price tag includes an indoor swimming pool, custom bar and billiards room, a walk-in cooler and walk-in freezer.

“There’s tons of potential there,” said Rachel Rhoden, a real estate broker with Re/Max Out West Realty, which is listing the property. “It’s always been a great family home. There have been several weddings there. It would make a great bed and breakfast.”

A handful of Crook County homes in the $1 million-and-up club are located at Brasada Ranch Resort in Powell Butte, developed in the early 2000s amid a destination resort boom in Central Oregon.

That includes the $1.7 million custom home on Southwest Hope Vista. It was a speculative home, built during the real estate bubble and completed in 2009, said Sandy Kohlmoos, a real estate broker with Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty.

Just a fraction of the proposed homes at Brasada have been developed, with many hitting the market in 2009, when home prices were crashing and few buyers were shelling out money for high-end property.

“It hasn’t ever been lived in,” Kohlmoos said of the Hope Vista property. “The developers realized the timing was bad.”

Despite its poor timing in going on the market, the property has plenty of modern amenities, including multiple decks, an outdoor kitchen and a wine cellar.

But perhaps the most notable feature is the replica wooden water tower, which serves as a loft extending above the home’s entryway.

“The building is really a piece of art,” Kohlmoos said.

And it isn’t the only high-end piece of real estate on the market at Brasada.

Just up the road on Southwest Hope Vista sits a 4,400-acre ranch home. It includes an outdoor hot tub with views of the Cascade Mountains, four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms.

At $1.35 million, the home is discounted from the $1.68 million price tag when it last sold in 2010, Crook County property records show.

It would be a solid getaway home for a large family, said Annie Montgomery, a real estate broker with Brasada Ranch Real Estate.

“It’s a stunning home and a good deal for the right buyer,” Montgomery said.

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