Rainbow dumplings
Silence at our table as we ate dessert
Barbarella Fokos 4:16 p.m., May 21
Rancho Santa Fe Stories
Douglass Jennings, disbarred tax lawyer, gets 34 months
His wife Peggy, real estate operator, gets 4 months
In the packed federal courtroom of Judge Gonzalo Curiel yesterday (April 5), attorney John Douglass Jennings Jr. was sentenced to 34 months in prison, while his wife Peggy, who worked in real estate, got four ...
Radio and newspaper man and vultures
John Lynch in money troubles again
John Lynch, former chief executive officer of the Union-Tribune and previously a local radio executive, is in financial trouble again. He defaulted on his mortgage in December of 2016, and then woes cascaded in 2017 ...
Ray Lucia goes to Washington
Supreme Court accepts case of embattled investor
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the complaint of San Diego radio host Ray Lucia, who was slapped by the Securities and Exchange Commission, lost his appeal to that body, and then lost at the ...
Do you really aspire to live in Rancho Santa Fe?
Director and wife said they were told to leave
Timothy Chey, a Harvard business school grad, lawyer, and film producer, writer, and director of faith-based productions (David and Goliath, Suing the Devil) is suing the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation, its executive director Christy Wilson, ...
Owned by philanthropists and racehorse owners
This one used to have the highest asking price in San Diego County
“Del Dios Ranch presents an outstanding opportunity to acquire one of the most expansive tracts in coveted Rancho Santa Fe,” listing materials boast of the sprawling 61-acre estate. Beds: 4 Baths: 9 Current Owner: Sahm ...
Another surfer-turned-manufacturer
Asymmetry in 1999, finless boards now
Carl Ekstrom began surfing in 1948, four years after his brother, Woody, had mastered the sport at Windansea, from where the family was nearly forced to move after their rent was raised from $12 to ...
Heaven's Gate still has website
But suicide now a no-no
The 919 Gang, a daily online newsletter mainly for former and current Union-Tribune employees, reports today (July 2) that Heaven's Gate, the group that entered into a mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe in 1997, ...
Rancho La Costa Preserve was full of mines
Between Batiquitos Lagoon and Lake Hodges
The Rancho La Costa Preserve, located in the cities of Carlsbad and San Marcos, is a popular destination for both hikers and mountain bikers. Situated between Batiquitos Lagoon and Lake Hodges, the preserve serves as ...
This Rancho Santa Fe house doesn’t need you
Twenty-eight completely automated audio zones, HVAC, lighting, pool systems, surveillance...
Current Owner: unclear Beds: 6 Baths: 7 List Price: $24,995,000 The technological marvel that comprises the estate at 6424 La Valle Plateada in Rancho Santa Fe “excites the senses immediately as one enters the grand ...
$45 mil gets you in Rancho Santa Fe
Third-highest asking price in San Diego County
Current Owner: Sunranch LLC Listing Price: $45,000,000 Beds: 6 Baths: 10 House Size: 20,408 square feet The 22-acre estate at 17111 El Vuelo in Rancho Santa Fe “is located on one of the most coveted ...
Trust her, she’s been to Paris
Fancy Ponsaty’s doesn’t intimidate this writer
My husband and I experienced an extravagant dinner more than a decade ago in a tiny village in the French countryside. We are still talking about how delicious and entertaining the food was, and we ...
Yo-yo price on Rancho Santa Fe estate
A property so special that it gets its own name
Beds: 7 Baths: 10 Current Owners: Hugh III and Joy Bancroft List Price: $10,800,000 Marketing materials describe the Rancho Santa Fe estate at 6605 La Valle Plateada using the name Il Incanto, Italian for “the ...
Warning: annual tax bill of $86,679
But, hey, it has a bocce court
Beds: 6 Baths: 11 Current Owner: Edward J Wald List Price: $8,750,000 “Set behind gates on a long and private drive in Rancho Del Lago, one of Rancho Santa Fe’s most coveted addresses,” boasts listing ...
A house that biotech built
Asian-inspired beauty
Beds: 5 Baths: 6 Current Owner: Howard Birndorf List Price: $8,900,000 The estate home situated at 5979 Rancho Digueno in the southern hills of Rancho Santa Fe is described in listing materials as an “Asian ...
Too close to Rancho Santa Fe
What kind of business can you run on Artesian Road?
Depending on who is telling the story, Darryl L. Hronek is either building storage for the business on his property or being harassed by a vindictive neighbor who is using the county's code enforcement unit ...
Over 15,000 square feet of living space
This Rancho Santa Fe estate has been sitting for a while
Beds: 8 Baths: 14 Current Owner: Thomas Powell List Price: $15,999,000 The 9.3-acre estate at 18181 Vis Roswitha, situated in Rancho Santa Fe, has spent years looking for its ideal buyer. That buyer would have ...
Encinitas before yuppies, the proposal to divide Fairbanks Ranch
Oceanside's secret French village and the University City bridge fight
The Most ideal of Provinces Rancho Santa Fe proposed an alternative plan, which called for preserving Del Dios as a two-lane road and, instead, extending and expanding San Dieguito Road (Route 728) such that it ...
Relaxed livability for the discerning buyer
$9.2 million gets you in the door
Classic elegance sprawls out in Rancho Santa Fe
Rancho Santa Fe’s devilish covenant with John Moores
Enclave for the super-rich embroiled in battle over McMansions and high-speed internet
As California prepares to vote in next week’s presidential primary, one of America's richest residential enclaves is embroiled in a big-money political fight that some fear may finally mark the death of its genteel, semi-rural ...
Phil Mickelson faces gambling-related charges
Did pro golfer profit from inside information?
Top pro golfer Phil Mickelson was charged with insider trading today (May 19) in a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that will be tried in federal court in the Southern District of New York. The ...
Four all-usable acres
Prepare to be stunned in Rancho Del Lago
Current Owners: Gregorio & Vanessa Reyes Beds: 7 Baths: 11 List Price: $8,995,000 The “magnificient” Summerhill Estate is a 15,000-square-foot estate “sited on four all-usable acres atop a private knoll” in the “high end luxury ...
Still intimate under 12,000 square feet of roof in Roxbury Terrace
East Coast flair + West Coast ambience
Current Owner: Sunwest Builders Development Beds: 7 Baths: 11 List Price: $9,800,000 This week, a visit to “the newest home at Rancho Santa Fe’s intimate gated enclave of Roxbury Estates.” The residence at 14771 Roxbury ...
Sequester yourself in the Secret Ranch
This one is worth the $23 million asking price
Current Owner: El Secreto LLC (William & Kathryn Scripps) Bedrooms: 8 Baths: 13 Price: $23,000,000 Welcome to “The Secret Ranch,” a 12-acre estate with more than 12,400 square feet of living space under roof located ...
Fee for a dead man
Gerald Parsky's group pays Villalobos estate
Rancho Santa Fe's Gerald Parsky heads a Los Angeles private equity fund, Aurora Capital Group, which got more than $400 million in investment commitments from the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS). Aurora had ...
That Democrat-Republican split may help
Ray Lucia taking SEC's decision to DC appeals court
National radio personality Ray Lucia Sr. is taking his banishment from the securities industry to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals, according to the publication Investment News. On September 3, the board of ...
La Osita, the teddy bear of Rancho Santa Fe
This is what L.A. car dealership money will buy
Beds: 6 Baths: 7 Current Owner: Coberly Family Asking Price: $10,495,000 This week we visit “La Osita,” a property billed as having “one of the most magnificent hilltop ocean view locations in all of Rancho ...
SEC kicks Ray Lucia's "Buckets of Money" ploy
Business talk-radio personality banned from investment industry
San Diego radio host Ray Lucia Sr. has lost his appeal of the action by the Securities and Exchange Commission to ban him from the investment business. The appeal was heard August 6 by the ...
Divorce of a billionaire (cont'd)
Charles Brandes goes back to court, contests $450K per month for ex-wife
In a decision that was issued August 31, the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, has sent the well-publicized divorce of Charles and Linda Brandes, who separated in 2004, back to the trial court. In ...
An irreplaceable French Chateau
Rancho Santa Fe estate comes with two caves
Beds: 7 Baths: 10 Current Owner: James Kidrick Asking Price: $11,880,000 This week, an “irreplaceable French Chateau offering every amenity you could imagine.” The 2002-built Rancho Santa Fe estate located at 6397 Clubhouse Drive, within ...
The onetime estate of Pete Rozelle
Beds: 5 Baths: 9 Current Owner: Duyane and Michelle Weinger Asking Price: $14,995,000 This week we visit the onetime estate of Pete Rozelle, credited by the property’s listing agent as being “the Commissioner known for ...
Golfers left, nature right
Golfers provide the surreality on the Santa Fe Valley Trail.
A hike along a river and golf course for an overview of the San Dieguito River.
Desert rats got a thing for Rancho Santa Fe
Gas station one of the few in county that sells 100-octane racing fuel
The highest priced regular gas in San Diego County on June17 was found at the 76 station in Coronado, at $4.59 a gallon — wait, one station in Rancho Santa Fe posts a much higher ...
Asking $15,900,000 (we did renovations)
A virtually hidden horse pasture, lagoon, and vineyard
Beds: 6 Baths: 8 Current Owners: James & Melanie Burkhart List Price: $15,900,000 The tony enclave of Rancho Santa Fe is well established as one of San Diego’s priciest neighborhoods. Homes in the area sold ...
Eh, keep the brass knuckles
Parents of Jack Henry Doshay ask for their computers back
An attorney for Glenn and Karen Doshay is asking a judge to order return of certain items that were seized by deputies while investigating their son as a suspect in a kidnapping case. The property ...
Rancho Santa Fe lawyer suspended from practice
Donald William McVay left hanging last year and in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2008, and 2006
The State Bar of California has suspended Donald William McVay of Rancho Santa Fe Law Group from the practice of law. McVay accepted a client when he was not eligible to practice law, collected an ...
House poor, data rich
Numbers indicate San Diegans pay more for shelter than all metro areas
In the fourth quarter of last year, the median home price in San Diego hit $430,000 — 59 percent higher than the 2009 bottom but still below the $500,000 peak of 2005. Kelly Cunningham, economist ...
Big-idea Todd
Rancho Santa Fe attorney admits forgery, put up clients' cases as collateral
Todd Macaluso, a Rancho Santa Fe attorney, pleaded guilty today (April 14) to forging signatures of clients and notaries as part of a scheme to put personal-injury clients' cases up as collateral to investors without ...
Hey, Doshay, they got your DNA
Alleged would-be kidnapper's father is not cooperating, says prosecutor
Jack Henry Doshay, 22, is accused of kidnapping a child at a Solana Beach elementary school two weeks ago. “The sheriff’s crime lab was able to confirm that the defendant’s DNA was in fact on ...
Mainly Mozart starts its engine
Two chamber concerts and a big ol' symphony this weekend.
Mainly Mozart is giving two Spotlight Series concerts this weekend in two enticing locations. The music is a transcription of Bach's Goldberg Variations for string trio. The concert is at the Scripps Research Institute on ...
Wake the f*** up. We’re in a drought.
Rancho Santa Fe residents among biggest water users
A new study on water consumption in the San Diego region has conservationists renewing a call for mandatory restrictions on residential water use, including ramping up enforcement efforts and considering implementation of currently temporary measures ...
Might need a ridable vacuum cleaner for this one
Current Owner: B. Edward Ewing Beds: 12 Baths: 13 List Price: $36,500,000 “No event is too large for this grand residence built to impress,” promise listing materials for Casa del Sol, a six-building “master-planned compound ...
Developer vs. developer, continued
La Jolla real estate guy reputedly writing book to expose Lennar Corp.
Nicolas Marsch, onetime La Jolla socialite and wealthy real estate developer, is apparently writing a book about his nemesis, Florida-based big builder Lennar Corp. Up until recently, Marsch had a website touting his purported book, ...
Moores kin dead in Rancho Santa Fe Atom crash
Collision in reputedly fastest street-legal car ends life of mogul's nephew
The nephew of Texas-bred mega-millionaire John Moores has died after a crashing his rare British-made Ariel Atom into an SUV on a curvy Rancho Santa Fe road on Christmas Eve. Barry Alexander Moores, 21, the ...
Championship living
Your personal link has a view of the Fairbanks Ranch links.
An elegant solution for those who enjoy entertaining formally.
Liquid assets
Thirsty Rancho Santa Fe joins in County's water conservation efforts
Guest editorial by The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe groundskeeper-in-chief, Arturo Mendes. Recently, a story in these pages took note of a New York Times article that took note of water use in the community ...
Dolphin water fountains and balustrade walls in Rancho Santa Fe
“One of Fairbanks Ranch’s finest creations”
Current Owner: Exploron Corp. Bedrooms: 10 Baths: 14 Price: $11,500,000 Come home to “one of Fairbanks Ranch’s finest creations,” boasts the opening in marketing material for the estate at 16715 Camino Sierra Del Sur, a ...
Gulp! Rancho Santa Fe is how thirsty?
Article says residents use five times the average of coastal area
The New York Times today (November 30) has a long story on the huge water usage of Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego County's most upscale community. According to state data, the tony town's residents used ...
Appeal to "illegal tax" every year
Hope lives to overturn Cal Fire's semi-rural "Fire Prevention Fee"
This month, property owners in the county’s semi-rural areas are receiving their annual $150 bill for the state’s “Fire Prevention Fee.” Since the per-parcel fee was enacted in 2011, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association has ...
Manchester golf-course deal collapses
Publisher, Mickelson had planned to buy Fairbanks
According to the publication Golf Digest, the plan by U-T publisher Douglas Manchester and pro golfer Phil Mickelson to buy Fairbanks Ranch Country Club has collapsed. The facility, which includes tennis courts and a clubhouse, ...
Six sprawling acres in Rancho Santa Fe
Current Owners: Richard & Christine Nicholas Bedrooms: 8 Baths: 14 Price: $17,900,000 Casa de las Palmas, a sprawling, six-acre estate at 16270 Via de la Valle is located “within the most exclusive Covenant area of ...
Homosexual detester says what?
College board candidate "would make many people feel uncomfortable.”
“Satan is attacking our family by perverting the concept of marriage, which God created to be between one man and one woman only.” This is not a rant from a fundamentalist church in Alabama; it ...
Aw, you'll never get caught
Rancho Santa Fe "liar loan" promoter gets 30 months
Donald Totten, who sold "liar loans" and other mortgage swindles from his home in Rancho Santa Fe, today (October 24) was sentenced to 30 months in prison. During the years of the mortgage craze that ...
