Developers Peter Stocker and Tom Gray formed the Rancho San Carlos Partnership which purchased the property from Arthur Oppenheimer in 1990 for $70 million.

After resolving disputes and lawsuits with environmentalists and activists, The Preserve Company and the Conservancy submitted a modified design that met their approval.

[2][3][4][5] The remaining 10% (2,000 acres (810 ha)) intended for development is separately owned and operated by The Santa Lucia Preserve Company.

The land features 297 homesites,[6] employee housing, an existing Spanish-style hacienda dating to the 1920s, an equestrian center, a small store, a private 365-acre golf course designed by Tom Fazio,[7] and other recreational facilities.

During Sargent's ownership, author Robert Louis Stevenson fell ill while on a camping trip and was nursed back to health in a cabin on the property,[14] the ruins of which remain today.

George Gordon Moore, born in Ontario, Canada in 1875, became a lawyer and later president of the Michigan United Traction Company.

[17][16] Moore spent more than one million dollars to build a 37-bedroom hacienda featuring a 75 feet (23 m) long main room overlooking his custom polo grounds, a guest house, employee quarters, and to excavate an 18 acres (7.3 ha) lake and stock it with fish.

He had nine Russian sows and three boars sent from his game preserve in North Carolina for sport hunting which have now spread to all but two of California's 58 counties.

[11][16] Moore entertained a who's who of Hollywood celebrities and the social elite, including W. Averell Harriman,[8] Lady Alexandra Metcalfe, Tommy Hitchcock Jr., William Tevis, a colorful character who played polo for over sixty years,[21] and Eric Leader Pedley.

[23][11] Arthur C. Oppenheimer, a businessman from San Francisco who owned the Rosenberg Fruit Company and longed to become a rancher, bought the land.

[27] Co-founder Peter Stocker was killed in a helicopter crash on the property which left completion of the project to his business partner Tom Gray.

The RSCP sought and received approval to rezone approximately 1,135 acres (459 ha) of The Preserve for visitor accommodation and commercial development.

Some locals protested, petitioned, and sued in an effort to stop the project, with legal support from the Ventana Chapter of Sierra Club.

They also hired Jeff Froke, a wildland ecologist who was previously associate director of Sanctuaries for the National Audubon Society, as their Natural Resource Manager.

[27] The main room of the 37-room Spanish Colonial Hacienda built by Moore was converted to a private inn for preserve members, families, and guests.

[16] After nearly a decade of archeological, hydrological, ecological, and topological research, as well as extensive litigation, the RSCP established two organizations to care for the property: The Santa Lucia Preserve Company to manage real estate, club amenities, and infrastructure (dubbed “Homelands” and “Rancholands”), and the non-profit Santa Lucia Conservancy trust to manage the 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of wild natural habitat (dubbed “Preserve Lands”).

[37] The strict style guide for homes and the design of a golf clubhouse and numerous recreational facilities were created by architectural firm Hart Howerton.

[38][39] In 2018, an illustrated volume on the history of Rancho San Carlos was published in collaboration with historian Mark Hugh Miller.

[46][47] Conducting adaptive land management across nearly 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of The Preserve, the Conservancy's programs include conservation grazing,[48] controlled burns and maintenance of firebreaks to build wildfire resilience and adapt to a changing climate, scientific research and monitoring of threatened and endangered species, as well as an environmental education program to both Preserve members and the local community.

A large portion of this land was incorporated into Palo Corona Regional Park, while the Conservancy acquired 5 acres (2.0 ha) to use for offices and operations.

This included conducting bird and nest counts, locating threatened species such as the California red-legged frog, detecting invasive plants and weeds, and assessing overall grassland health.

In 2015 the Conservancy hired 1,400 goats that were used to reduce overgrown grasslands that had during prior decades been grazed by native deer and domestic cattle.

[56] The Conservancy has sought and received federal funding to pay California State University Monterey Bay graduate students as interns who have conducted research on environmental issues.

[67][68][69][70] An annual invitational tournament is held in honor of the late Preserve co-founder, Peter Stocker, who died on the property in the early days of the development.

[71][72] In 2021, The Preserve Golf Club served as a local qualifying location for the US Open in May,[73] and hosted the California State Amateur Championship in June.

[74][75] In 2022, floating solar and evaporation control panels allowed reduction of the golf course's power load on the local grid by 80%, the first of its kind in Monterey County.

On a clear day, rangers had views stretching from Blue Rock Ridge in the south, to Mount Toro in the north, and Carmel Hill to the west.