During a small road trip in the early 1990s, Bill and Patti Schiff discovered it by chance. It cost $400,000 at the time, more than they could afford. But the location was ideal, so they traded their remodeled home plus $100,000 to acquire the 6.44 acre property.
“I wasn’t really worried about what the house itself looked like. It was comfortable, but it was on this great hill with tremendous views,” Bill told The Epoch Times. “I’ve got 360-degree views. I’ve got a dam, water out in front. I’ve got mountains and I’m above everything.”
Bill is a third generation urologist, who joined his father’s practice in the ‘80s. He also has a background in security, so the property’s surrounding cement and wrought iron with cameras everywhere made it an ideal place to keep his family safe.
After two years living there, the Schiffs wanted to remodel but knew nothing about architecture. So they hired a young architect.
“I am very low key, like kind of Mexican rustic, anything that smells of tequila. And my wife likes Italian,” said Bill. “And so he [the architect] basically said, you want something called Southwestern. We had no clue what that was.”
They took a road trip to Phoenix and New Mexico to take photos of roof lines, doors, windows, furniture, and even trees for landscaping. The architect took all the prints and spent four years developing, designing, and building their dream home.
“We met a very eclectic, kind of cool guy who was a general contractor, who’s really a craftsman. If he couldn’t find it, he'd make it. And it’s someone that we’re still friendly with and still does some work up in our houses [when] we want to change something. So he’s been around for 30 years with us,” Bill said.
Unfortunately, their architect said it would be too difficult to remodel the home, so they would have to tear it down and rebuild from scratch. Bill knew it meant spending even more money for the demolition, which he didn’t have.
After a year looking to sell the south part of the property without success, he donated it to the local SWAT team and fire department for training exercises over several days.
“They [SWAT] were going use all of their equipment to break through the second floor, catapult down to the first floor, rescue hostages, all this stuff. And I'd actually canceled two days from my office, which is a big deal because I was still on short money,” he recalled. “And my wife calls me, ‘There are people in the pasture behind us, crawling under cows, and they’re all in black, basic dress uniforms with weapons.’ I go … I’m missing this.”
They reserved burning the building down for the fire department. What would have been a costly demolition turned out to be a few thousand dollars and lots of permits.
“I thought I had dotted my i’s and crossed all my t’s. The only thing I didn’t do was inform my neighbors,” Bill said. “My dad was well known in town … so people call him, ‘Hey, I can’t get ahold of your son, your house. Their house is on fire.’ And my parents are saying, ‘OK, I’ll let them know' … I never lived that down.”
During the four years their home was getting built, they lived in an isolated, 400-square-foot outbuilding on the property.
Bill and his wife would visit the property every day to watch the development. He said it has been a tremendous experience.
They have family in San Francisco and Los Angeles, so Fresno is a good center point for all kinds of holiday celebrations.
“We had seven acres for pickleball and tennis and basketball courts and putting areas and pools and all sorts of stuff. And so it was a place that they could come in. I didn’t have to worry about them. They would enjoy themselves,” he said.
The home’s floors are made of Saltillo tile and the walls of hand-troweled plaster with high ceilings. The kitchen, which Patti loved, has a wolf range, three ovens, Sub Zero fridge, and two pantries. There is an underground wine cellar and tasting room with elevator access. In addition, the 3,000-square-foot underground garage can fit up to 14 cars. Outside are solar infrastructure, backup generators, a 5,000-gallon water tank, reinforced fencing, and helipad.
Bill says they are selling the home because they want to be closer to their children in Southern California.
When they move, he said they have three requirements for their new home: “I need to kind of smell seawater, and my wife needs a kitchen that allows her to cook for anyone she wants to, and a dog-friendly area.”
