Sprawling across a mountain-top overlooking the San Juan
Bautista Valley, one of the county’s priciest homes is up for
sale.
And anyone can scoop it up for a mere $10 million.
Sprawling across a mountain-top overlooking the San Juan Bautista Valley, one of the county’s priciest homes is up for sale.
And anyone can scoop it up for a mere $10 million.
Roger Mairose, CEO of San Jose-based construction firm MAI Industries, built the 22,000 square-foot home he calls “Ranchomai,” on San Juan Canyon Road in 1991.
Mairose and his wife, Wendy, had wanted a home in the San Juan Bautista area for 28 years because of the beauty and serenity, but about a year ago decided they are ready to move on and build another one, he said.
The house is the seventh one the couple have built in the past 40 years, Mairose said.
“We just like to do these,” he said.
The home sits on 740 acres, has a 12-stall corral with a barn, miles of horse trails and a driveway that resembles a “speedway,” said Realtor Stefan Walker.
“It’s a gigantic home but it doesn’t feel cavernous – it’s got a very warm feeling to it,” he said. “In San Juan Bautista and the entire Bay Area, it’s one of the truly phenomenal homes.”
While the price isn’t earth-shattering compared to properties of equivalent size and stature, the home would be the most expensive in the area, if it sells at top-bidding price, said Realtor William Rippe, Walker’s partner.
Since the house was put on the market, the property has been shown to 20 or 30 people, Walker said.
Some high-profile athletes, most from the Bay Area, and a few famous actors looked at the property, he said.
“We were also approached by a reality show scouting locations,” he said. “But they wound up going in a different direction.”
So far, only three offers have been made, he said.
“With a house like this, there’s not a whole lot of people who have the money to spend, so it’s a process,” Walker said. “But we’re getting decent activity.”
Mairose isn’t too concerned who buys his latest pad, whether they’re famous or not, he said.
“As long as they’re just like us,” he said. “They have to really like it.”
Mairose designed and decorated the house himself with the help of his family, putting personal touches into every nook and cranny.
From the six individually-themed bedrooms, which include Moroccan, Mediterranean and beach motifs, to the energy-efficient heating and cooling system and the expansive kitchen that can accommodate cooking for over 100 people at one time, the home has a little something for anyone with a lot of money to spend.
It also includes a home theater, which the couple doesn’t spend much time in because they’re “not much into watching movies,” and a widespread recreational room filled with a menagerie of exercise machines.
“This is the air-conditioning in this room,” Mairose said, as he flicked a switch and the colossal dome sky-light in the middle of the ceiling rotated around, opening up to let in the afternoon sunlight.
Mairose is in no hurry to part with his country palace, and may leave it furnished for the new residents so he can start completely fresh when he begins his next “adventure,” he said.
Where that is, he’s not quite sure yet, but has his sights set on the Bay Area somewhere, he said.
After all, it’s not the house or the things in it that matter, he said, as he put his arm around his petite wife.
“It’s the people I live with,” he said.
