Spanning approximately 29+/- acres of pristine Sonoma County terrain in the heart of Franz Valley, this extraordinary estate parcel carries nearly a century of family stewardship within its redwood groves, stream corridors, and sun-dappled clearings. Offered for the first time in 90 years, this is not simply land, it is a living chapter of California history, now ready for its next. Set north of Franz Valley School Road in unincorporated Sonoma County, the property is a masterwork of natural California landscape, redwoods, seasonal streams, and rich woodland canopy that rewards the patient observer at every turn. The terrain is varied and compelling, offering both serene, sheltered pockets and elevated vantage points that survey the broader valley. A functioning water well, hen house, and three bridges are among the improvements on the property, complemented by decades of thoughtful land care by the owning family. In 1936, a German immigrant family purchased this Franz Valley parcel, then 85 acres, for $800 at the height of the Great Depression. They saw in this land what they had loved in their native Odenwald forest of Germany: a place that could shelter, sustain, and restore. What followed was not development in the conventional sense, but devotion three generations of a family that camped, cleared, and cultivated here across nearly a century. The second generation carried that same passion into the 1960s and beyond, eventually making the property a full-time home, living quietly beside its streams and redwoods for over three decades. Now, with no heirs to pass it to, the family has made the thoughtful decision to offer it forward with the sincere hope that its next stewards will love it as deeply and perhaps write another 90-year chapter of their own. Properties like this do not come to market. Nearly a century of single-family ownership has preserved this land in a way that no conventional transaction could replicate, its integrity is in the soil, the trees, the streams, and the story. Whether as a private retreat, a legacy holding, a vineyard development opportunity, or a sanctuary for the land-minded buyer, 9501 Franz Valley School Road offers something genuinely rare: acreage with a soul. The property has a functioning and recently test well producing 9GPM.
Property Details
- View
- Forest,Mountain(s)
- Lot Features
- Dead End
- Lot Description
- Dead End
- Acres
- 28.96
- Property Type
- Purchase
- Utility Source
- Private Well
- County
- Sonoma
- Region
- Calistoga
- Zoning
- RRD30
- MLS #
- 326044530
- Property Subtype
- Residential Acreage
- Parcel Number
- 120170016000
- MLS #
- 326044530
- Date Listed
- May 29, 2026
- Address
- 9501 Franz Valley School Road
Location
Legal
Notice: This listing provided courtesy of BAREIS MLS (BAREISMLS). The information contained in this listings has not been verified by us or the MLS and should be verified by the parties interested.
Copyright 2026. Bay Area Real Estate Information Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Provided By
Listed by Arthur D Goodrich (#E408078)
Listing Office: Sotheby's International Realty (#7B2347)
