Part of Reagan’s Legend Goes Up for Sale

Ronald Reagan’s secluded Santa Barbara-area ranch, where the former president often retreated from the pressures of the White House, has been put up for sale, his office announced Monday.

In a brief statement confirming sale rumors, the office said that Reagan, who has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in Bel-Air, no longer visits the 680-acre spread that doubled as a Western White House during his administration.

“President and Mrs. Reagan have announced that the Reagan ranch in Santa Barbara has been listed for sale,” stated the release. “Sadly, since President Reagan’s illness, it hasn’t been used.”

Known as Rancho del Cielo (ranch in the sky), the ranch 29 miles north of Santa Barbara was a familiar backdrop during Reagan’s White House years, particularly when the attention of the world centered on the vacationing, jeans-clad president.

Reagan, who owned several ranches before purchasing the property in the 1970s, savored his time at the remote, hilltop retreat in the Santa Ynez Mountains, indulging a long-standing passion for horses and riding.

“When I think of Ronald Reagan, I think of him on the ranch,” his son, Michael Reagan, said. “I think of him on a horse.”

Michael Reagan, a radio talk show host, said he and his siblings were not consulted about the decision to sell the property.

“It’s their ranch and even though we go visit--I go up a couple times a year--it’s still their decision to make,” he said. “I’d just hope whoever does purchase it will keep his name very visible with it.”

Sotheby’s International Realty, which is handling the listing and will market the property worldwide, declined to disclose the sales price or otherwise comment on the property. Michael Reagan said he had heard the asking price was in the $5.95-million range.

While expressing some disappointment at the sale, he said he could understand why Nancy Reagan would part with the property. “You’ve got a 700-acre ranch. You’re paying for the upkeep and you’re not able to use it. You do something about it.

“It’s also quite costly to care for someone with a disease,” he said. “You have to understand, Ronald Reagan hasn’t been able to make a living for the last couple of years. They had an income when he could make speeches.

“Now, they don’t have any income except investments made in the blind trust when he was the president,” Michael Reagan said. “For so long, people said Ronald Reagan was so rich, but people forget when he was governor, he made $48,000 a year. They’ve never been as rich as people thought they’d be.”

Bought by the Reagans for a reported $527,000, the ranch includes a five-room house and a three-room guest house.

During his administration, Reagan countered his status as the nation’s oldest president with images of physical vigor at the ranch. He was routinely photographed atop a horse or splitting wood. In retirement, he and Nancy Reagan continued to spend time at the ranch, which Reagan once lovingly described as close to heaven.

In 1992, when he hosted Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Reagan took the former Soviet leader for a tour of the ranch in a Jeep sporting the license plate GIPPER.

Despite such stately visits, Rancho del Cielo remained a rustic spot with a pond, meadow and oak trees.

Kerry Mormann, who owns a Santa Barbara agency that specializes in ranch and large-acreage properties, said that aside from its association with the Reagans, the place is “really a pretty basic property.”

It is not a working ranch and has not been lavishly developed. Although the land does have ocean views, the house does not, he said. “We’re really talking secluded retreat.”

Citing one of his listings--1,200 mountain acres overlooking Santa Barbara for $2.95 million--Mormann said a $5-million to $6-million sales tag for the Reagan ranch sounded high. The big question, he said, was “how much” the Reagan name was worth.

Renee Grubb, manager for Village Properties in Montecito, said the market for big ranch properties has been soft for years. “I think basically people are trying to simplify their lives and not have so much to care for.”

Still, she said, “I’m sure because it’s [Reagan’s], there’s going to be some interested parties.”

Though Santa Barbara is ho-hum about celebrities, Grubb allowed that “it will be a little sad” when the Reagans no longer have a local address.

Times staff writers Rich Connell and Mack Reed contributed to this story.