Couple or individuals wanted for farm/ranch outdoor life - Lake Hughes, CA

Hello and thank you for reading this post!

I am looking for a couple (or a couple of couples!)  who enjoys the outdoors, has some experience in ranching/farming/gardening and who loves living away from cities.  Do your friends describe you as self-motivated, creative and a Mr. or Mrs. Fix-it-all?  Like to put your energy into DIY projects? Know how to glue PVC together, prune trees and possibly dive into some remodeling?

My property is 50 acres total. About 40 are flat or very mildly sloped, the other 10 are up in the hills with access to some nice hikes with a little bushwhacking (the trails grew over after a fire years ago). The back portion has been allowed to go fallow.  

This is truly a peaceful and remarkable, stress-free environment to live.  Friendly neighbors are nearby, but you won’t hear them sneeze unless they drive over to visit you. We generally re-supply in Santa Clarita, which is about 45 minutes one-way.  

The perfect couple would enjoy the many projects the ranch has in progress such as:

Weed control

Tree care and pruning

Irrigation repair/improvement

Pest control (ground squirrels and gophers, mostly)

Harvesting fruit and/or flowers

Construction

Painting

Tractor or Bobcat work

Landscaping

In addition to a great place to call home, you would be able to earn a good amount of cash from going to Farmer’s markets.  Our family has become involved in careers and raising children, and and we do not attend the markets any more so the bulk of the fruit would be yours to sell, with a negotiable portion taken out to cover the expenses of the ranch (water, fuel, materials, taxes, electricity to run the wells, etc).

There is also further potential for earning by managing the apartment rentals - a  negotiable percentage of the rents would be yours.

In the back of the property there is a large, fenced area (where a heard of deer were kept) that has a large shelter inside the fence. The fence needs some minor repair and a gate reinstalled, and the shelter needs some construction and repairs and then it’s goat/sheep/horse ready. In years past we kept a herd of 22 domestic deer there; more could be housed if they were allowed to roam (lots of weeds to eat) and penned at night. 

Behind that there is a pen that was used for chickens and/or pigs, however it is overgrown with weeds, and houses a nest of some feral honeybees; the actual structure stability hasn’t been checked (feral bees have been given a wide berth for many, many years).

The front of the ranch has a structure that houses a tool room, outdoor laundry room (for the really filthy things you don’t want to bring inside) mechanics shop, and a large cooling room to store fruit, etc.  (the cool room is about 20’X20’X7’.)

There are 2 separate houses and three connected apartments. 2 apartments are fully furnished and ready to go - those are cottages and have 1bd, 1ba each.  The 2 bd/1ba apartment is being remodeled (close to finished) as is one of the houses (2+ bd/1ba - we just finished the demo part).  The main house is pretty enormous - around 3,000 sq ft and is where we live part time (moved into it to complete the recent remodel). This house used to be a barn and it is beautifully redone and luxuriously appointed, but lacks central hear and air conditioning.  

There are 2 fenced areas near the houses/apts for gardens or housing chickens (hens would need a little barn/roost). A veggie garden outside of these fenced areas would be subject to heartbreak as the rabbits, wild deer and squirrels would feast on the goodies.  

The property has 3 wells with outstanding pressure/flow, an irrigation system and septic for all the houses/apartments.  Internet landline phone and Dish TV are all possible.  Heat source is generally Propane. Limited cell service depending on your provider is possible.

NOTE: There is ample opportunity for more than one couple so if only some of this strikes your fancy, let's chat!