There is no property in New Mexico quite like Rancho Alegre. Located 20 to 30 minutes south of downtown Santa Fe, the 178-acre ranch compound reads less like a single residence and more like a private Old West village, a collection of adobe-style structures scattered across rolling high desert with views stretching to the Ortiz Mountains. Its owner for the past 13 years, Jochen Zeitz, former CEO of Harley-Davidson (2020-2025) and former CEO of Puma (1993-2011), built a world here that reflects a lifelong fascination with the American Southwest, one he is now passing along at $16,500,000.
The estate is listed by Neil Lyon and Jake Lyon of Sotheby’s International Realty, Santa Fe Brokerage.
From a German Childhood Dream to 178 Acres of High Desert
Zeitz grew up in Germany watching American Westerns on television. “I would watch every Western on television, and I just had that longing to one day live in the West,” he told Realtor.com. That longing materialized in 2013 when he acquired the property for approximately $7 million and subsequently invested a further $5 million in expansion, restoration, and redesign. Together with his wife, film producer Kate Garwood, whose credits include ‘Race’ (2016) and ‘Seberg’ (2019), Zeitz made Santa Fe the family’s primary residence in 2021 so their two children could take full advantage of the outdoor life.
Garwood’s industry connections brought an additional dimension to the property. Rancho Alegre served as a filming location for HBO’s ‘Succession,’ AMC’s ‘Dark Winds,’ ‘Roswell,’ and Adam Sandler’s ‘The Ridiculous 6,’ embedding the estate in a growing catalog of screen credits that amplify its cultural profile beyond the real estate transaction itself.
The family is now spending more time at Segera Retreat, their safari lodge in Kenya, and has decided to downsize.
William F. Tull and the Architecture of the Southwest
The Main Hacienda was originally designed by William F. Tull, a specialist in Southwestern adobe architecture whose work is defined by an intimate understanding of the region’s building traditions. Zeitz subsequently commissioned Olivia Williams Design Studio of Los Angeles and internationally recognized architecture firm Fearon Hay to expand and reimagine the residence, an effort the listing describes as honoring Native American and Hispanic craftsmanship and the region’s architectural heritage.
The result is a six-bedroom main residence that is impressive in scale yet maintains a quality of balance and warmth. Hand-carved beams, a project that required two specialist carvers working from scaffolding for six months on the 20-foot ceilings, define the great room. Rare bóveda ceilings, flagstone and granite surfaces, copper-clad windows, vigas, and stacked Anasazi stone compose a material palette that is both luxurious and deeply rooted in place. Antique wooden doors imported from Spain punctuate the interiors, while Edward Curtis photographs hang in the kitchen.
Designed for both intimate daily living and grand-scale entertaining, the Hacienda encompasses a majestic living room, a solarium, a saloon modeled after cowboy cantinas and outfitted in custom leather and ironwork, an intimate dining room anchored by a wine cellar and bar, a custom-appointed kitchen, a movie and entertainment room, two offices, a spacious primary suite, and guest suites. Tall glass windows throughout frame views of rolling desert landscapes anchored by mountain peaks.
The Plaza: A Private Village Within the Estate
Beyond the Main Hacienda, Rancho Alegre’s Plaza creates a self-contained world around a grand courtyard. The listing describes it as a place that “creates a world unto itself,” and the characterization is not exaggeration.
Guests can spend the night in a torreón, an Old West jail cell configured as a guest suite, or one of several additional private suites scattered around the central outdoor room. A chapel topped with towering bells has been adapted to house a screening theater, which Zeitz used as both a cinema and a museum displaying his collection of Old West-themed maps, photographs, manuscripts, and books.
The Plaza also includes a recording studio, a quintessential Old West “general store” stocked with antique necessities from the frontier era, an outdoor cantina finished in custom leather and ironwork, a rose garden, and a traditional carriage house that stores Zeitz’s collection of historic coaches, wagons, and motorcycles. The carriage house can alternatively serve as an auxiliary entertaining space or accommodate an owner’s car collection.
Equestrian Facilities and the Ranch House
Set apart from the hub of the Main Hacienda and Plaza is a separate four-bedroom ranch or caretaker’s house dating to the 1800s, providing independent accommodations away from the compound’s primary gathering zones.
The equestrian component is substantial: multiple pastures, 12 stalls with paddocks, a 140-by-300-foot fenced arena, a hot walker, a round pen, and an adjacent barn with equipment storage and a tack room. While Zeitz acknowledged that he mostly did not use the equestrian facilities himself, the infrastructure is fully intact and represents a significant asset for a buyer with equestrian interests.
The property is fully fenced across its 178 acres and includes an infinity-edge pool that Zeitz doubled in size, a detached private gym, broad terraces, and multiple outdoor gathering spaces oriented toward the surrounding desert landscape.
Santa Fe and the Trophy Market
Santa Fe’s luxury market operates at a different rhythm from coastal California or the Eastern Seaboard. Median sales prices reached $625,000 in the first quarter of 2026, down 3% year over year, while trophy-tier transactions remain rare and highly individual. In 2020, a Santa Fe ranch listed at $48 million sold for an undisclosed amount.
At $16,500,000, Rancho Alegre offers a scope and character with no direct analogue in the New Mexico market: 178 acres, over 21,000 square feet across multiple structures, verified screen credits, full equestrian facilities, and a compound that functions equally as a private residence and an events-capable destination. It is the product of decades of vision, investment, and a deeply personal relationship with the landscape of the American Southwest.
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