Location: Santa Barbara, California

Price: $84,000,000

The Rancho dos Pueblos, today a 2,175-acre parcel, is allegedly the site where Native Americans first spotted Spanish explorers on the West Coast in 1542. The land later fell under the control of the Santa Barbara Mission before being granted to a Mexican of Irish extraction named Nicholas Den in 1842. After passing through the hands of various industrialists, it was acquired by a German watchmaker turned medical equipment manufacturer, Rudi Schulte, in 1977. The magnificent waterfront acreage is now being offered by his heirs for $84,000,000. The existing five-bedroom estate home lies awfully close to the 101 highway, but with all this space and the investment required by this property, building a new, better-located estate shouldn't be a problem. Also, according to Realtor.com, this parcel has been price chopped down from a $155,000,000 list price last year.

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