Placerville’s Saureel Vineyards Listed for $9 Million
PLACERVILLE, Calif. — One of El Dorado County’s more unusual private estates has hit the market, combining the ingredients of a luxury ranch, working vineyard, equestrian center and private retreat.
Saureel Vineyards, located on Cold Springs Road in the Gold Hill area between Placerville and Coloma, is being offered for $9 million.
The current listing identifies the property at 116.86 acres, with the gated entrance located at 1140 Cold Springs Road. The estate itself is listed at 1100 Cold Springs Road.
At the center of the property is a private nine-acre lake, surrounded by vineyards, oak woodland, residences and ranch facilities.
The main residence contains approximately 7,814 square feet, with four bedrooms and six bathrooms, according to the current MLS listing. Three additional residences — including a historic home, lake house and separate rental residence — are also part of the property.
Built for horses
For longtime El Dorado County residents who remember the property primarily as a horse ranch, the equestrian facilities remain one of Saureel’s defining features.
The current estate includes a 21,600-square-foot covered riding arena, a 7,560-square-foot show barn, a 6,750-square-foot mare motel, a 6,400-square-foot feed barn and an outdoor arena. More than 20,000 linear feet of steel pipe fencing surrounds the horse facilities and pastures.
The property’s cutting-horse history is more than a footnote.
According to reporting on the current listing, the estate was previously owned and developed by builder Kenneth Hill, a prominent owner and breeder of National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame champions. The equestrian complex was designed around that cutting-horse legacy rather than assembled piecemeal over time.
Listing agent Andrea Lembach described the equestrian operation in unusually strong terms.
“This is the most impressive equestrian facility I’ve ever seen,” Lembach said.
She said the facility’s design reflects an operation intended for generations of cutting horses, with the barns, arena, hay storage and other components deliberately integrated into one system.
From pasture to vineyard
The property’s identity changed substantially after 2015, when current owner Tim Sauer acquired it and began transforming portions of the former pastureland into vineyards and developing the property for weddings and other events.
The vineyard is located within the El Dorado American Viticultural Area, at roughly 1,600 to 1,650 feet in elevation.
The El Dorado Wine Grape Growers Association reports that the vineyard occupies roughly 35 to 40 acres and includes a collection of Rhône and other varieties, including Mourvèdre, Grenache, Malbec, Petit Manseng, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Tempranillo, Vermentino and Picpoul Blanc.
The growers association also notes that the property has a much older agricultural history. The site was a vineyard in the 1870s before later being converted to cherries in the 1920s and pears in the 1970s. The modern vineyard was planted in 2016 and 2017.
That history puts the current Saureel operation into a distinctly El Dorado County context: Gold Rush-era agriculture, ranching, horses and foothill viticulture occupying the same piece of Gold Hill country.
More than a private residence
Saureel has also operated as a wedding and event venue.
The estate’s current business operation advertises weddings, corporate gatherings and private events, with a restored barn, lakeside ceremony areas and access to the property’s equestrian facilities. The venue website describes the property as a 148-acre ranch, while the current real estate listing and assessor-based listing data identify the property being sold as 116.86 acres.
That discrepancy is worth noting rather than glossing over.
The current real estate listing is the more relevant figure for the property being offered for sale, identifying the parcel at 116.86 acres. The Saureel event operation continues to describe its broader ranch and venue footprint as 148 acres.
The estate also includes a lake house that has operated as a vacation rental, along with event facilities and agricultural infrastructure. The listing says the property is currently used for a vineyard and vacation rental operation.
A Gold Hill property with a remarkable second life
Saureel’s location adds another layer to the story.
Cold Springs Road runs through the Gold Hill area, not far from Coloma and the site associated with James Marshall’s 1848 discovery of gold. Saureel’s own history describes the property as being near the former mining community of Cold Springs.
The ranch has also had a role beyond its private and commercial uses.
During the 2021 Caldor Fire, the property served as an official large-animal evacuation site and housed more than 500 animals, according to the current property materials.
Today, the property represents a very different kind of El Dorado County real estate proposition.
A prospective buyer is not simply purchasing a large country house. The $9 million listing combines residential property, vineyards, equestrian infrastructure, agricultural land, event facilities, a private lake and multiple additional residences.
The current listing says the property could continue as a private family compound, working vineyard, equestrian ranch, event venue or combination of those uses.
For a county where gold, agriculture, horses and vineyards have repeatedly reshaped the landscape, Saureel may be one of the more striking examples of all four histories occupying the same ground.
And now, for the first time in years, the next chapter belongs to whoever can write a $9 million check.
