{"id":230155,"date":"2026-03-21T13:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230155\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T13:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:57:13","slug":"private-safari-sanctuary-and-luxury-estate-in-ione-ca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/230155\/","title":{"rendered":"Private safari sanctuary and luxury estate in Ione CA"},"content":{"rendered":"

A luxury estate and private safari sanctuary \u2014 complete with zebras, tortoises and long views over the Sacramento Valley \u2014 has quietly taken shape over the last two decades in the rolling hills near Ione.<\/p>\n

For the first time in 18 years, the 137-acre property 40 miles southeast of Sacramento is on the market. The spectacular compound at 7270 Sutter Ione Road<\/a>, known as Oak Hill Preserve, is listed for $5.1 million.<\/p>\n

The preserve includes a 4,200-square-foot lodge , multiple guest accommodations and a private collection of animals \u2014 east African plains zebras, 75-year-old sulcata tortoises, African Watusi cattle, ostriches and more \u2014 that are available to transfer with the sale.<\/p>\n

For owner Brian Kraft, a Sacramento commercial real estate broker and investor, the starting point wasn\u2019t a desire to build a luxury retreat so much as wanting to recreate a feeling he and his family found halfway around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love animals, I\u2019ve always loved animals,\u201d he said. \u201cMy wife and I were married in Nairobi, Kenya, and went on safari, and we fell in love with Africa. You can\u2019t not. They say your heart never leaves once you\u2019ve gone to Africa, and that\u2019s kind of true.\u201d<\/p>\n

A later trip with their children \u2014 and the grueling journey home \u2014 pushed him from daydream to blueprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cA few years ago, we took our three boys down to South Africa and on safari,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cWe came back, and it took 42 hours to get from Victoria Falls to our front door in Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The Ione property\u2019s sight lines stretch to Mount Diablo and the coastal range, and at night include \u201cthe blinking red lights of the high-rises in Sacramento,\u201d according to owner Brian Kraft. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

The idea that followed, he said, became the guiding concept of the preserve.<\/p>\n

\u201cThus began the process of making this thing look like you\u2019re literally out of Africa,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cI love the movie \u2018Out of Africa.\u2019 I love the theme song; it brings tears to my eyes. So I kind of recreated our mini \u2018Out of Africa.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Oak Hill Preserve was designed for a \u201chigh-security family legacy,\u201d functioning as a private wildlife conservatory built to blend into the landscape rather than dominate it, according to the listing company.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing in Northern California right now is a deliberate move by the most disciplined buyers toward sovereignty,\u201d listing agent Tim Allen of Coldwell Banker Realty said in an email. \u201cAt a property like Oak Hill Preserve, you aren\u2019t just buying a residence; you\u2019re acquiring 137 acres of absolute environmental control. In today\u2019s market, that scale of privacy is a finite asset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The preserve is packed with recreational opportunities, including:<\/p>\n

Golf driving range with a 100-yard pond and island green.Shooting range and archery range.Outdoor half-court lit basketball court.Full-size lit shuffleboard court.18-hole disc golf course.Two bocce courts and a horseshoe pit.Five ponds across the property.<\/p>\n

When Kraft bought the land, he said, there was nothing remotely safari-like about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing there. It was a cattle ranch,\u201d he said. \u201cThousands and thousands of acres of rolling hills and oak trees all the way around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oak Oak Hill Preserve, a 137-acre estate near Ione, is listed for $5.1 million and includes a 6,500-square-foot lodge, plus guest bunkhouses and other overnight spaces designed for group getaways. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

That setting \u2014 still largely unchanged beyond the gates \u2014 was the entire point.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the beauty of the place: You\u2019re 35 minutes from Sacramento \u2014 but on the property, you don\u2019t see any housing. You don\u2019t see any subdivisions,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s really what drew me to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kraft said he searched for years across Northern California counties, passing on properties that failed a list of personal deal-breakers. Some were practical: He wanted paved-road frontage and the ability to build a \u201cnice stone gate, big tall iron gate entry,\u201d rather than relying on easements or dirt roads.<\/p>\n

Other requirements were about silence and immersion.<\/p>\n

\"The The property\u2019s private animal collection includes east African plains zebras, African Watusi cattle and sulcata tortoises \u2014 and the animals are included in the sale. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

The property is marketed as having \u201czero light pollution\u201d with naked-eye views of planets and the distant Sacramento skyline. The landscape also drops to Sutter Creek along the southern border, where a spring waterfall is located.<\/p>\n

\u201cCriteria number two, I didn\u2019t want to be anywhere near a flyover, where you\u2019ve got airplanes leaving from Sac airport or other airports around that fly overhead. That would be terrible,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be near any railroad tracks. Didn\u2019t want to be near any freeway noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lodge, he said, also had to face west to catch sunsets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to face west so I could build a lodge and get incredible sunsets,\u201d Kraft said. \u201c(Facing east) is great if you want a sunrise. But who sits around and enjoys cocktails at sunrise? So I wanted to face west.\u201d<\/p>\n

From a hilltop he calls \u201clookout,\u201d Kraft said the sight lines can feel improbably expansive for a property within commuter range of the capital.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what we call \u2018lookout,\u2019 the highest hill we have, you can see Mount Diablo. You can see the coastal mountain range,\u201d he said. \u201cAt night, you can see the blinking red lights of the high-rises in Sacramento. You can see the Antioch bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The lodge\u2019s great room \u2014 a 1,600-square-foot gathering space \u2014 combines kitchen, dining and living areas. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

To get from ranchland to retreat, Kraft said he had to create the basic infrastructure before anything else. There was no well and no electrical connection when he bought it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to do wells, and I had to bring power from across the street over to me,\u201d Kraft said.<\/p>\n

The property now includes solar power plus PG&E service, a backup generator and three wells, along with about a mile of buried water lines and one-third mile of buried power to avoid visible utility poles and stay true to the look of Africa. The preserve has \u201cthree miles of no-climb fence,\u201d Kraft said.<\/p>\n

Kraft remembers the early days as intentionally rough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we started going out \u2014 there was no power \u2014 and we would hang out at \u2018tabletop\u2019 where it looks like a pavilion (with) that round stone table \u2026 and literally stay up with kerosene lanterns,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Over time, he said, the structures evolved to support longer stays and more guests. The compound includes a guest bunkhouse, which sleeps six; a luxury guest bunkhouse, sleeping two; a separate cigar bar with power and a wood-burning fireplace; and a covered 1974 Silver Streak vintage mobile home that is electric-powered and sleeps three to four.<\/p>\n

\"At At the tabletop pavilion, property owner Brian Kraft said friends once stayed up under kerosene lanterns around the round stone table, using the outdoor setup for barbecues before the property had power. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

The Silver Streak, he said, has become a favorite for overnight guests \u2014 in part because of who lives outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go out the door of the Silver Streak, there\u2019s a nice little enclosure where there are two huge sulcata tortoises. They\u2019re about 120 pounds each,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cIt\u2019s retro. It\u2019s 1974 vintage \u2014 lime green and lemon on the interior, perfect condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The animals are not a side note in the marketing; they are a selling point. Kraft chose species he believed could thrive on their own, without constant human management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all self-sustaining,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we picked these species.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also framed the collection as falling on the more manageable side of \u201cexotic,\u201d at least compared with animals that might require heavier oversight.<\/p>\n

Design choices were meant to keep the property from reading as a standard American ranch with wildlife added on. Kraft said he avoided right angles and straight lines in many of the structures.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the buildings are in the round, because in Africa there are not a lot of right angles in their barns and in their houses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Inside the main lodge is what Kraft calls the great room, a large, multipurpose space designed for groups.<\/p>\n

\"The The property has plenty of spaces to hang out, including the lodge\u2019s game-and-gathering area, with a pool table set at the north end of the 1,600-square-foot great room, and a separate cigar bar. Andrea Gunn <\/p>\n

He described a kitchen, dining area, living space and pool table arranged around views and a fireplace, with corrugated metal overhead and massive trusses that required on-site fabrication.<\/p>\n

Kraft\u2019s helipad \u2014 another unusual detail in the foothills \u2014 sits about 10 minutes from Westover Field Airport for private aviation. Kraft said he built it with two scenarios in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you needed medical assistance, a helicopter could land there and take you to the hospital,\u201d he said. \u201cSecond, I always thought in terms of someday when I go to sell, perhaps the buyer is going to be a very Santa Clara\u2013based venture capitalist who\u2019s got a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n

The property is co-listed by Cheryl Nightingale of House Real Estate.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

David Caraccio<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

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.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A luxury estate and private safari sanctuary \u2014 complete with zebras, tortoises and long views over the Sacramento…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[104500,104501,121,104502,104499,123,122],"class_list":["post-230155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-oak-hill-preserve","tag-private-safari-sanctuary","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-area-ranch","tag-sacramento-ca-luxury-estate","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}