New owner proposes 75 equine-oriented estates on the horse farm in Creston

By Melanie Cleveland

The Limoneira Co., a large agriculture grower based in Santa Paula, has big plans for Windfall Farms, the 724-acre thoroughbred horse ranch in Creston once owned by Jeopardy game show host Alex Trebek.

It plans to replant hundreds of acres of alfalfa and fodder with vineyards and create 75 10-acre residential estates, a winery and clubhouse with pools and tennis courts that would go side by side with the stables and homes for equine-lovers, said Greg Boyd, general manager of Windfall Farms.

The only catch is some of this has to wait until the end of 2012, when farmland preservation restrictions imposed by the Williamson Act expire.

At that time, parcels as small as 10 acres can be subdivided and resold, creating valuable small agricultural parcels with home-sites, according to Boyd.

In 2005, Limoneira and the Davis family, which also owns Templeton Livestock Market, bought the property from Trebek for $10 million.

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