search

The Real Deal Logo

Trending

Matt Damon picks up luxury condo in West Hollywood for $8.6M Matt Damon picks up luxury condo in West Hollywood for $8.6M Lawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aLawmakers reach sweeping housing deal with “good cause eviction,” new 421aGlossier founder is buyer of $22M Brooklyn townhouseGlossier founder is buyer of $22M Brooklyn townhouseAlta launches sales of short-term rental condo project in Coral GablesAlta launches sales of short-term rental condo project in Coral Gables
Residential
Texas

Historic San Antonio ranch linked to Spanish King hits market

After a few price reductions, the 130-year-old ranch is asking $1.8 million

King Ferdinand VII of Spain and 9716 Menchaca Road in Helotes, TX (Zillow, Vicent López Portaña, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
King Ferdinand VII of Spain and 9716 Menchaca Road in Helotes, TX (Zillow, Vicent López Portaña, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

A ranch outside San Antonio, adjacent to the 1,000-acre Rancho Diana Natural Area with a “fire pit large enough to roast a pig” had its price cut to $1.8 million.

It’s no ordinary Texas hideaway. The 18-acre ranch on 9716 Menchaca road is 130 years old and, depending on who you ask, might technically belong to the Spanish government, according to San Antonio Current.

In the late 1800s, the Maverick family — the one from which the word “maverick” originates — faced a legal battle over whether their assets actually belonged to the King of Spain. The short version: A Mexican descendent of a Spanish officer whose land was confiscated by King Ferdinand in 1814, when south Texas was under Spanish law, sued the Maverick family.

The suit went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and involved lawyers from Mexico and Spain. The court ruled in favor of the Mavericks in 1888, and the family gave the property that makes up the ranch to its attorney as a reward.

The lawyer was the only local landowner wealthy enough to build a well, Julie Alexander, the listing agent, said in an interview. “So he built a well and put up a windmill. The neighbors piped the water to their property, built a rock cistern around the well and maintained the well and windmill in return. The property is still on the well system to date.”

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

The asking price has been cut twice since it first hit the market last summer for $2.2 million, first to just shy of $2 million and then to $1.8 million before being taken off the market. It came back onto the market at that price on Jan. 22. The ranch’s future owner will have “tax benefits of a wildlife exemption,” according to the listing.

(Zillow)

The three-bedroom, two-bath home has been updated. The property has 550 feet of game fence and 750 feet of cross fencing for livestock pens.

The housing market in south Texas is one of the fastest-growing in the nation. Though the region has attracted many ambitious building projects, luxury ranches like George Strait’s seem to have trouble finding buyers.

Read more