Country duo adds city home

Robert Petersen, the publishing magnate behind such popular magazines as Hot Rod and Motor Trend and the namesake benefactor of the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, has put his San Luis Obispo County ranch back on the market, this time at $19.5 million.

The ranch had been in escrow with a land conservation group, but the deal fell apart. "That held us up for more than a year," Petersen said. The property, one of the largest privately owned ranches in California, was initially listed in September 2001 at $27.5 million. The ranch is nearly 15,000 acres, plus 3,000 acres that are leased.

Petersen wants to sell because he has an 8,000-acre ranch closer to his Beverly Hills home of 40 years.

"We raise quarter horses, go skeet shooting and ride motorcycles at the smaller ranch," he said. The larger ranch, once a hide-out for outlaws Jesse and Frank James, can support 2,500 head of cattle and has 260 acres of vineyards. It is also rich in wildlife: elk, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, turkeys and quail.

Duncan Lemmon and John Battle of Lee & Associates, Sherman Oaks, have the listing.

To see previous columns on celebrity transactions visit www.latimes.com/hotproperty.