A 117-acre estate near Placerville that doubles as a working vineyard, a wedding venue and one of the more elaborate equestrian complexes in the Sierra foothills has hit the market for $9 million. Saureel Vineyards sits at 1100 Cold Springs Road, about 40 miles east of Sacramento, and its current owner says he is selling simply because he no longer has the time to be there.
According to the Sacramento Bee, owner Tim Sauer bought the property for about $3.8 million in 2015, according to public records cited by the paper, after running a communications contracting firm that maintained networks for AT&T and Verizon. Sauer added grape vineyards and a wedding facility to what had been a working ranch, and he sells the grapes rather than producing wine under his own label. “It should be in somebody's hands who wants to spend time,” Sauer told the outlet.
Before Sauer took over, the land was previously owned and developed by Kenneth Hill, a builder and, per the same account, a prominent owner and breeder of National Cutting Horse Association Hall of Fame champions. That equestrian pedigree still defines much of the property today, from its show barn to its miles of steel fencing.
An Equestrian Complex Built for Champions
The listing agent, Andrea Lembach of the Lembach Group at Keller Williams Realty, called it the most impressive equestrian facility she has ever seen, per the same account. The complex includes a 21,600-square-foot covered arena with retractable side doors, a 7,560-square-foot show barn, a mare motel with large stalls, a feed barn, an outdoor arena and more than 20,000 linear feet of steel pipe fencing.
The vineyard itself sits at roughly 1,600 feet elevation within the El Dorado American Viticultural Area, an appellation established in 1983 with 2,000 acres of vines, 50 to 60 wineries and elevations between 1,200 and 3,500 feet, according to Discover California Wines. That high elevation creates strong diurnal temperature swings that sharpen acidity and flavor in the grapes grown there. Sauer added vineyards at Saureel, which include Rhône and Italian varietals such as malbec, mourvèdre, petit manseng, sauvignon blanc and syrah, the report notes.
Four Homes, a Nine-Acre Lake and a Wine Cellar for Thousands of Bottles
The estate includes a 7,814-square-foot main house with four bedrooms and six bathrooms, an attached guest house with its own entrance and kitchen, a temperature-controlled wine cellar that can hold thousands of bottles, a six-car garage and a fitness room. The kitchen alone features two islands, two sinks, a built-in refrigerator, a chef's pantry, a warming drawer, double ovens and a pot filler, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Beyond the main residence, the property carries three additional homes: a restored 3,300-square-foot residence originally built around 1906 and rebuilt in 1990, a lake house, and a separate residence overlooking the vineyard. Those buildings accommodate extended family, guests, caretakers, honeymooning couples and VRBO vacation renters, according to the listing agent's account. A private nine-acre lake anchors the property, with a lakeside lawn used as a wedding ceremony area and a separate building for receptions and other gatherings; wedding parties use the lake house to get ready, and newlyweds often stay there afterward.
A Business Model Built on Weddings, Concerts and County Rule Changes
Saureel hosts roughly 20 to 28 events a year, including weddings, fundraisers and private celebrations, and it has also been used for corporate retreats, private parties and outdoor concerts. Two full-time employees maintain the property, a wedding coordinator oversees events, and a separate vineyard company handles the agricultural work. Sauer told the Sacramento Bee that the income has covered operating expenses in recent years.
That short-term rental income stream could get a regulatory boost. In August 2026, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to direct staff to draft new ordinance language easing vacation rental restrictions on the rural west slope, as Hoodline reported. The proposed change would allow detached guest houses to be used as short-term rentals; on parcels larger than five acres, it would also remove the 500-foot buffer between rental properties. The proposal was aimed partly at helping rural foothill landowners generate income to offset rising property costs, potentially benefiting multi-residence estates like Saureel.
Rising Insurance Risk and a Historic Neighbor
It also sits within a corridor facing steep insurance pressure. Placerville ranked third among California ZIP codes in state FAIR Plan exposure, with $6.8 billion in high-risk coverage across 28,000 countywide policies, as escalating wildfire risk has pushed commercial insurers to non-renew rural foothill policies, per Hoodline's earlier reporting. Along the same Cold Springs Road corridor sits Wakamatsu Farm, established in 1869 as the first Japanese settlement in North America and founded by 22 samurai and their families who built a silk and tea colony there, according to Visit California. The road has also drawn recent commercial wine interest, with regional winemaker Crystal Basin Cellars submitting an application on January 22, 2026, to open a warehouse-style tasting outpost at 2850 Cold Springs Road, aimed at capturing tourism traffic headed toward downtown Placerville and Apple Hill, Hoodline previously reported in its piece on the Crystal Basin tasting outpost plans.
As the property's own marketing puts it, some estates are built; others are created over generations. For Sauer, after more than a decade shaping Saureel into its current form, the next chapter belongs to whoever buys it.
