Steven Hanson bought a showplace in one of the most coveted neighborhoods in Lincoln, 30 miles north of Sacramento, in 2008. He then transformed it into a flowing hub for entertaining — starting with taking down a wall.
“It was a formal living room, which nobody ever uses anymore,” the founder of Hanson Truss Components said. “We incorporated that into the pool table room so it all flows.”
The payoff was immediate and unmistakable.
“That great room will hold 100 people,” he said. “For the Super Bowl, I’d have 200 people there.”
Listing agent Sean Work of EXP Realty lives nearby and knows the property well.
“At one point he had his truss guys build a deck to go over the pool, had a band there, had about 300 people from the neighborhood rolling through,” Work said.
That kind of entertaining-at-scale energy fits the setting: a single-story estate on Rua Esperanza, a gated cul-de-sac inside Lincoln’s Verdera community, positioned along the first hole at Catta Verdera Country Club. Rua Esperanza is at the top of the neighborhood’s custom-home pecking order, Work said.
“If you ask people in the (custom homes area), ‘What’s the best street?’ everybody says it’s Rua Esperanza — a street of dreams … flat lot, located close to the clubhouse with easy access to the golf course,” he said.
The resort-style backyard overlooks Catta Verdera golf course. A single-level, 6,300-square-foot residence in Lincoln, California, the estate has a bocce court, pool and a 750-bottle wine room. Nick Miller Photography
The street’s reputation comes from more than size. It’s a collection of legacy builds from an era when owners weren’t trying to value-engineer luxury — they were building to a vision: bigger lots, heavier craftsmanship, and resort-caliber outdoor living that’s costly to duplicate today, according to EXP Realty. At the end of the cul-de-sac sits a sprawling 8,400-square-foot estate listed for $4.9 million, which The Sacramento Bee wrote about in 2025.
Hanson’s 6,300-square-foot, five-bedroom, six-bath residence at 211 Rua Esperanza is for sale for $3.58 million.
The backyard is the closer, built around an oak tree that predates the house. He describes it as a multi-zone setup that keeps gatherings moving.
There’s a bocce ball court overlooking the golf course, a fully equipped outdoor kitchen, a spa above the pool, and a water feature that is seen as soon as you walk out.
Work frames the resort-style backyard as a true tournament-day hangout:
The first hole at Catta Verdera Country Club golf course can be seen from the backyard. Nick Miller Photography
“Down here, we’ve got the decking, pool, infinity edge, outdoor kitchen and bocce ball,” he said. “When they have tournaments, (Steve) will blast some music, set some ice chests down here, and everybody rolls up. It really is the party pad.”
Catta Verdera Country Club’s website says the golf course enjoys a reputation as the only four and a half star private course in Northern California, according to a Golf Digest article from 2004. Hanson’s home is a quick golf-ride to the clubhouse and overlooks the driving range, as well as the first hole.
“I golf to have fun,” he said. “ I play two to three times a week. We call it ‘on-campus living’ because you’re so close to the clubhouse.”
Yet the golf course location doesn’t mean living on display.
“What I like is you’re on the golf course, but you have privacy. You look down on the golf course, and people out there aren’t looking directly into your backyard,” Hanson said.
A remodel opened up the flow into the great room, adjacent to the kitchen, of the Rua Esperanza home on the market for $3.6 million. Nick Miller
The house has seen only one live-in owner.
Inside, the seller’s renovations weren’t cosmetic only — they were aimed at making the house function like a modern host’s floor plan, Work said.
“They’re going for that Santa Barbara look a little bit with real wood beams and refreshed colors,” Work said. “Repainting it and refreshing the flooring made a huge difference. It’s real wood casings. If you’re familiar with Savage Cabinetry, there are custom cabinets throughout.”
The home’s wine feature is another tell: It was redesigned to be seen the moment guests arrive.
“The wine room used to be only a closet,” Hanson said. “That whole glass area where you can see the wine when you walk in the entry there used to be a little butler’s area where you’d store your china. We took that out and moved it over against the wall in the dining room,” Hanson said.
Capacity-wise, it’s a real cellar: The wine room holds about 750 bottles.
Out front, the home’s first impression comes from mature olives that make a statement by real provenance — from twisted trunks to branches of green leaves and fruit — not from landscaping-in-a-box.
“All the old-growth olive trees out front came from an operating farm up in Corning,” Hanson said.
For buyers in this tier, livability matters as much as spectacle — especially when they want space without stairs.
The 6,300-square-foot, five-bedroom, six-bath residence at 211 Rua Esperanza is for sale for $3.58 million. Nick Miller Photography
“I hate stairs; it’s just preference,” Hanson said. “And it’s a big flat lot, except for where it terraces down in the backyard.”
Work calls that combination rare in Verdera.
“Single-story plus golf course lot — there are only a handful of homes here that are on the golf course, single story and larger than 4,000 square feet,” he said.
The garage, too, reads like a lifestyle decision, not an afterthought. A car enthusiast will pick up on that vibe.
“The garage has car lifts,” Hanson said. “I have a ’63 Lincoln that’s been fully restomoded and three Porsches.”
In the end, the selling point isn’t just that the estate is on a premier street beside a private club. It’s that the house was designed around one goal: make it effortless to host, and big enough to do it loud when the calendar calls for it.
The single-story layout extends throughout the home. The primary suite is no exception. Nick Miller
This story was originally published April 11, 2026 at 5:00 AM.
The Sacramento Bee
David Caraccio is a video producer for The Sacramento Bee who was born and raised in Sacramento. He is a graduate of San Diego State University and a longtime journalist who has worked for newspapers as a reporter, editor, page designer and digital content producer.