RANCHO MURIETA, CA (MPG) - The historic Anderson Ranch west of the Rancho Murieta airport has been sold, but it’s staying in the family.

Carol Anderson Ward confirmed outside a recent Rancho Murieta Community Services District meeting that she had sold the majority of the Anderson Ranch to her niece, Bri Tsakopoulos.

“Bri just bought my ranch,” Ward said, gesturing to her niece. “Except for the equestrian center. I’m keeping that part.”

Bri Tsakopoulos, the daughter of Ward’s younger brother John Anderson, spent a significant part of her childhood in Rancho Murieta.

“I grew up here,” she said. “I rode horses at the equestrian center for years. It’s a legacy, and now I get to be the third generation.”

Another attraction was the Rancho Murieta Airport.

“My husband has an airplane. He would really like to be connected to Brad,” she said. Brad Beer owns the private airstrip.

Bri Tsakopoulos is married to Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, the CEO and president of AKT Development. He’s the son of real estate magnate Angelo Tsakopoulos.

The Sacramento Business Journal first reported the sale. The June 16 article said that AKT Development had purchased more than 200 acres in Rancho Murieta for $9.7 million.

While Business Journal coverage raised the possibility of future development on the land, Bri Tsakopoulos downplayed that idea.

“That’s news to me. I haven’t read the article,” she said. “Actually, I was just informed about it. I have no comment. “

Tsakopoulos and Ward estimated the sale included about 600 acres of the ranch. Beer, who attended the meeting and is familiar with the land, estimated that the entire ranch totals around 800 acres, including the equestrian center, which comprises 104 acres.

Tsakopoulos and her family have already moved into the house on Jackson Road with a vineyard out front and a greenhouse.  

“We are just getting situated, getting back in the community, and learning the operations of the ranch,” she said.

As part of her early improvements, Tsakopoulos has begun remodeling the old barn, which Ward noted will turn 100 years old in 2027. She is also accommodating her larger horses.

“Her horses are bigger than mine—I have cutters—so she’s expanding the pens,” Ward explained. “She also is going to make an event center, with gardens and an educational center for kids. It’s going to be pretty cool.

“I think Bri and Kyriakos will be a great addition to Rancho Murieta,” Ward added.

The Anderson Ranch has been in the family since the early 1980s, when Fred Anderson, Carol’s father, purchased land from two ranching families. Initially, he planned to use it as a training site for his football team, housing players at the nearby facilities of Operating Engineers Local 3. He eventually sold what became the Anderson Ranch to Ward.

Ward also became the sole owner of the equestrian center.

“My mom and I were partners on it for a long time,” she said. “When she passed, I got her half.”

The ranch has long supported the cultivation of alfalfa and seasonal crops. Leland Schneider, who has managed farming operations for years, will continue his role.

“Leland’s been in charge for years and years,” Ward said. “And he’s still maintaining the CIA ditch, too.”

“It would have been really hard to sell it to someone outside the family,” Anderson added. “There’s too much history here.”