A nearly 3,300-acre ranch, a hunter’s dream in the Hill Country, is selling for $65 million.
The “Hidden Valley Ranch” near Kerrville, about 70 miles northwest of San Antonio, is listed by Robert Dullnig of Dullnig Ranch Sales at Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty, asking about $19,800 an acre.
Numerous dwellings dot its expanse: a 9,000-square-foot, nine bedroom limestone mansion, a three-story rock lodge with six bedrooms spanning 5,600 square feet, a three-story “villa” measuring 2,600 square feet, and a three-bedroom home that’s over 3,000 square feet. There’s also two 3,000-square-foot foreman’s houses, a horse barn and shop.
There are 20 miles of paved ranch roads and a high fenced perimeter. Deer blinds, corn feeders and protein feeders sustain the ranch’s white tail deer population, a news release said. Turkey and bass are abundant, with the occasional aoudad, fallow deer, axis deer and river otter spotting.
Over 3 miles of flowing water runs through the property, fed by springs and the Bushwhack Creek. Improvements to the water flow created 12 lakes on the property, with multiple waterfalls between rocked walkways and bridges, the release said.
The ranch was developed by Iranian immigrant and petroleum engineer K. K. Amini, who was president, CEO and majority stockholder of San Antonio oil and gas company Sage Energy from 1980 to 1990.
He completed 750 oil wells across the Permian Basin and Gulf Coast, according to a 2003 obituary, which said the amateur architect and builder designed and built several residences, including the Hidden Valley Ranch property. He purchased it in 1981, “in his beloved Texas Hill Country,” it said.
Amini’s son Michael Amini, who served as president and managing director at Sage, is the seller. Michael has since diversified into numerous real estate ventures, primarily in the multifamily sector and several private equity ventures, according to the website for Bexar County Performing Arts Center, where he sits on the board of directors.
Sales of luxury ranches, especially those with varied landscapes, water features and ample opportunity for recreation like fishing and hunting, have flourished in recent years, an effect accelerated by the pandemic and a heightened desire for outdoor spaces and activities.
But several that came on the market in the last year or so have stayed there, incrementally dropping their asking prices.
“The Texas rural land market appears to be in flux and in search of a new direction,” a third-quarter report from Texas A&M University’s Texas Real Estate Research Center said.
Annualized sales volume for rural land slipped 5 percent to 3,453 through the quarter, and sales volume dropped almost 13 percent year-over-year, the report said.
The Hidden Valley Ranch, by far the priciest of Dullnig’s current listings, is one of many multimillion ranch offerings the ranch broker and his team have listed in the last few years. Those include the 1,600-acre River Oaks Ranch between Austin and San Antonio in Blanco County, which asked for $45 million in late 2023 and is now listed for $33.5 million.
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