Monterra® - The Pinnacle of the Monterey Peninsula

Monterra®…in the News

Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal
November 10, 2006

Monterra® came at end of long, winding road

BY MARY DUAN

It's fortunate for a pair of self-effacing, Midwestern-born farmers and their friend Clint Eastwood that a group of investors from Australia didn't know exactly what they were getting into. If they had, Mr. Eastwood might never have built his invitation-only Tehama Golf Club, and the brothers never would have developed what has become one of the most expensive estate communities in Monterey County.

Monterra® offers houses for sale on plots of two to 20 acres, with views of the surrounding valley, Carmel and Monterey Bay. The homes are constructed to buyer specification within a variety of architectural styles.

And the dirt alone - for a two-acre site - begins at $1.8 million.

"We have rolling hills and deer and wild turkeys; an occasional bobcat comes through," says Roger Mills, who along with his brother, Basil, owns the Monterra® development. They also own Mills Family Farms, the produce company Basil started in 1958 and which now ships 10 million cartons of produce grown on 12,000 acres annually.

"In 10 minutes, you can be in Monterey or Carmel and you're in the center of everything, but once you're there, it's tranquil. It's a peaceful place to live."

The story of the 1,700-acre Monterra® begins with those Australians in the 1980s. The investment group had purchased 2,700 acres of rolling hills, wildflower meadows and ridiculously breathtaking views high above the Monterey Peninsula, and obtained the entitlements to develop 283 home sites.

But in Monterey County, nothing happens fast; during the eight years it took the group to get entitlements, the Australians didn't thoroughly check out the water supply.

"Because the Peninsula is short of water, the development had to be self-sufficient," Roger Mills says. "They drilled 13 wells on the property. It had salt in it and, as for a reverse osmosis system in the 1980s? Well, they figured out the cost and how long it took them to get those entitlement and what they could sell each of the lots for, and they promptly put it on the market."

The property sat for five more years before getting Roger and Basil Mills' interest, at which point reverse osmosis to remove the salt from the water had become more economically feasible. The brothers made their offer on the land in 1995 and closed the deal for an unspecified price in 1996. And that's when Clint Eastwood, who the brothers knew from various charity events around town, came into the picture.

The actor/director and former mayor owned 1,000 acres adjacent to the Mills property, but it wasn't enough to build both the Jay Moorish-designed golf course he had in mind and the custom homesites as well.

"He wanted to buy 1,000 acres from us, and he threw in a couple of golf club memberships for my brother and I to sweeten the deal," Roger Mills says. (A Tehama membership is almost as rare as a fresh water supply for Monterey. There are only 300 members allowed on Tehama's rolls at any given time; when one leaves, another is allowed to join only at Mr. Eastwood's personal invitation.)

With a total of168 lots for sale, thus far 83 lots have been sold, 24 homes built, 10 are under construction and 12 are going through Monterra's® architectural review process. The smallest home the review board allows to be built is 3,500 square feet.

Monterra® also has entered into joint ventures with several contractors to build homes for sale.

"Probably only 1 percent of the population can afford this type of property. Obviously the masses are not going to be able to afford it," Mr. Mills says. To market the property, then, Monterra® holds functions in conjunction with several classic car enthusiast events - the Concours D'Elegance and the related Tour D'Elegance, which takes cars through Monterra® and Tehama.

While the masses might not be able to afford a Monterra® home, those who are buying are not necessarily the people Mr. Mills expected. He thought at least 50 percent of the buyers would live out of the area and buy a second, vacation home at Monterra®.

"We have more primary residences here than we thought we would, and some people are moving here and commuting to their businesses in Fresno and San Jose. These started out as second home buyers, but in the process of doing it, they've made Monterra® their primary residence," Mr. Mills says. "We also have more families with children than we thought we would. It's become a true community."

One of those families belongs to Al Saroyan. An architect and master builder with offices in Sand City, Mr. Saroyan has six Monterra® homes on the drawing board and one due to start construction within 45 days.

One of those homes on the drawing board will be for his family; he's giving up his place in Carmel Valley.

"I believe it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move there. Once those lots are gone, there will never be anymore. And there are no· two sites that are closely alike - they are completely unique," Mr. Saroyan says.

"What really attracted me is that it's a pristine and natural environment. You have a great interaction with nature in a much more relaxed setting than Pebble Beach with cars and congestion," he says. "You have the wonderful daytime views but you have the added value of the nighttime views. Most of the sites are high enough that you can see the lights of the city and the lights along the coast, and it's just spectacular."

MARY DUAN is a freelance writer based in Salinas.

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