I think you might be holding a rather narrow view of the situation. And I'd love to see some data supporting your contention that the wine industry is struggling. Boutique wineries are popping up all over my area and the eastern half of the state is filled with vineyards (and orchards) that support a thriving wine and cider industry. We are the second largest provider of wine in the US and grossed 9.5 billion in sales for 2023!!

Also, I'm not sure how faddish a wine cellar actually is. My niece and nephew purchased their home more than 10 years ago and it already had a wine cellar. And also a wine frig. And they would have no trouble selling the place in a heartbeat should they care to, however it goes for a bit more than 600-800K. More like 6-8 million!!

Horse property under $800k? Must be a low COL area. Where the heck is this?

How is this different from a property that has a lot of fruit trees? If you don't want to keep the property as a vineyard, remove the grape vines and tear down the supports. Problem solved.

I don't think wine cellars are a fad, I've seen homes for sale in my area that are just regular, albeit large, homes with wine cellars. As long as it's not over-sized in relation to the sq footage of the house, not a problem.

" Vineyards take expertise and hard work to get anything out of them "

So do horses.

You just like to spend money on different things than other people like to spend money on. Why presume that the wine cellars aren't used and enjoyed by the owners, and only put in for financial gain? You're thinking the worse of those home owners because they're not offering for sale what you want to buy, but your derision is misplaced. Thank God we all like different things in life, and they don't deserve your scorn for their choices. You will either have to renovate what's available (turn those vineyards into pastures), or look in a different area that has what you want. Just like every other real estate shopper.

Because they like to drink good wine. Their wine cellar is your horse barn.

It all depends upon what you personally feel is important - your post isn't objective, it's based upon your subjective thoughts/feelings/likes/dislikes.

Do you have actual research to support your statements? While marijuana has been legalized in many jurisdictions, based upon my experience with my daughters' generation (they are in their mid to late 20s), they still enjoy drinking wine.

When I was house hunting, I focused on what I really needed, like space for my pets and a good layout for my work. Those flashy features often don’t hold value long-term and can turn into a headache. It’s all about finding what fits your lifestyle, not just following trends.

Non-drinkers, so maybe we're prejudiced.

But our new build threshold luxury home under way lacks both a wine cellar and a vineyard. And a home theatre and a central vac and a swimming pool. Peons here. But it'll have to do.

@sushipup2 The home prices start at 800k is what I said, You can't get anything under 800K but Houz and many bloggers are telling people if they own a home over 800K it would be a good investment to add a wine cellar. For my horse property I am expecting to pay more like 2.5-5.5 million. My frustration is so many of these houses have wine cellars which seem to be adding to the price of the homes. Yet the kitchens and bathrooms have to be completely remodeled.

@dani_m08 just google it. The wine California wine market is moving away from the US to Europe and their sales are going down. They are whining about sales all the time. Just because more people are jumping into that market doesn't mean that the market is good.

My frustration is that vineyards sell for more than horse properties. Therefore buying a vineyard that is making or losing money and tearing it out is expensive on two sides of the coin. To get a great horse property in Northern California you are paying upwards of 2.5 million. Sellers are being told if they add that wine cellar, that their property is worth more money, but they are adding the wine cellar and the kitchens and bathrooms still have to be completely upgraded. The flooring is still often carpet or some hideous obnoxious flooring, and I will have to pay someone to remove all their hideous wallpaper. But I am supposed to be excited about a wine cellar. I am not going to be because I don't drink, but my frustration is being charged more for a property that needs a lot of upgrading because it has a wine cellar, and God forbid a damn vineyard. The vineyard is even worse because of the chemicals they have been spraying on the ground and the vines. Getting the native grasses to come back takes a lot of time and the land is toxic now.

It isn't that just a few of the properties have these, but over half of the properties have them and they want premium dollars for them.

Get the heck out of CA. There are many states where you can get a smallish but decent house, a little barn, and 5-10 acres for $800,000.🙂

but my frustration is being charged more for a property that needs a lot of upgrading because it has a wine cellar

You're being charged more because what you want is in short supply. Period. It's like that all the time in real estate - when you don't want something that is common for that area, then the price is higher, if you can find it at all. My want was a small but modernized house in a rural area, but I generally could only find large houses of 2500+ square feet, unless it was a totally unmaintained tear down. So, when I found this 1600 sq ft house, I paid proportionally more because demand exceeded supply. Had I been looking a year earlier or later, things might have been different.

I don’t want a horse barn on my property. Why do people want one? They are just ruining the property and driving up the price of a house if they put a horse barn and a round pen and an indoor and frost-proof waterers….. This has to be a joke. And I do know a lot of horse people and most of them have wine.

"Their wine cellar is your horse barn."

This quote is a gem and kind of sums up Houzz in a nutshell.

I presume most average people who have vineyards are trying get some kind of tax break off of their land for a business they never intend to be profitable.

In N. California, in the price range you are looking at, a wine cellar is not making or breaking the property. People in N. California like wine and everyone everywhere likes being trendy and doing stupid stuff to their homes.

I honestly hate most things people do to homes and think most bells and whistles are ridiculous. If you are like me it will take a while to find what you want and you may be looking at a fixer upper.

We have a horse farm. I think we would have had trouble finding what we wanted and needed (very similar to your requirements) in California. We moved from NY where we had a 4.5 acre farm in a very horse friendly area about 45 miles outside of Manhattan. A similar sized house, the same distance from downtown Nashville, and 50 acres (with much, much lower property taxes), had the same value. Your budget would probably get you 16-20 acres here.

Are there any horse groups you can join to try and get more information on possible horse properties coming up for sale? My realtor owned a horse and her knowledge of horse properties was superior for that reason.

It is hard to know anything without knowing the geography. It may be that the area you are moving to is well suited to growing grapes.

Only a small percentage of home owners would want to grow grapes and make their own wine. Then again only a small percentage of home owners want to own and care for horses.

1.3% of households in the US own one or more horses. 1/3rd or more board their horses. So owning a property that is set up for horses leaves you with less than 1% of households needing what you have created.

If you want to make money from your property you may be better off growing grapes than trying to produce income from boarding or training horses. The insurance is certainly less expensive for grapes than horses.

I cant imagine a non wine drinker putting in a cellar just to increase value of the house. I would put one in as i like wine. I would not have horses as that is not my thing. I would grow roses as i like them. A future potential buyer may compain about my roses being high maintainance or about how they hate the thorns. People are free to add things to their houses and the vast majority will add things they enjoy. I dont get this complaining.