Costa Rica Farm for sale

This sale is a turn-key operation. It comes with a furnished home, guest house, concrete storage shed, nursery, and producing farm. You can literally get on airplane and the next day be the owner-operator of a Costa Rican farm in the center of paradise. One warning: I am very rural and if you are use to hopping in the car and buzzing off to the grocery store, movies or the mall, you should think twice about this. Often I only use the car once a week! The history is detailed on the home page, the house and the farm below, and the guest house on the "Mountain guest house" page. Happy reading!       The house and surrounding area   A rancho inspired house in the round with exposed almond beams and spectacular views. The house itself is unique and dramatic in design. It is round with the elevated center of the roof coming to a point like a rancho. The interior floors are Italian tile resembling granite and the windows and French doors are cedar. There are two bedrooms, one with a king and one with a queen. Both have air conditioning and French doors to the verandah. The American kitchen boasts a modern gas range, granite counters, and teak cupboards. The great room has satellite television and looks out towards the Gulf of Nicoya. The bathroom has attractive rock walls and has both a shower and tub. There is a laundry room with washer and dryer. The roof at the highest point is over 20 feet with clerestory windows giving the house a feeling of space and openness. A 12 foot wide verandah encircles the house and affords the most spectacular views. The wooden roof is supported by venerable old tree trunks and circles the house so you can take advantage of the great outdoors and the magnificent valley views to the Gulf of Nicoya and to the Pacific. A six person hot tub on the verandah is a pleasure when the sun sets and the stars are brilliant. Hike the lush countryside where you might encounter monkeys, coadis, armadillos, wild pigs, and an abundance of beautiful birds including parrots and toucans. Bella Vista a very safe rural area in proximity to language schools, canopy and rainforest tours, volcanoes, butterfly farms, beaches and national parks. I am 30 minutes from the quiet little town of Carmona that has a bank, grocery stores, bakery, restaurants, sodas, video store, and internet. Up here in the mountains we have towns five minutes away with pulperias for staples, and colorful local bars. Every community has a church, an elementary school and a community hall where you can dance the cumbia, salsa, meringue, or disco. Rodeos, soccer games, and cabalgatas are frequent events. The nearby beaches, (e.g. Coyote) 45 minutes away, are pristine with white sand, palm trees, and are noticeably lacking tourists. The northern or southern tourist beaches, (e.g. Tamarindo, Coco, Nosara, Tambor, Montezuma, Malpais etc.) are a day trip away. I personally think it is an advantage to be able to spend the day at the beach and then return to the refreshing mountain air where you don’t need air conditioning. We rarely have mosquitoes or flies so sitting out, eating out or even sleeping out on the verandah are delightful. Living here is more like taking a deep breath and exhaling rather than breathing hard. If you are looking suburban living where you can buzz out to the grocery store you wouldn’t be happy here. If you want to get in touch with nature, decompress, and enjoy peace and quiet in a true paradise, this is the place for you.   We basically have two seasons, rainy season (June through October) and dry season (November through May. During the dry season, sunshine is always prevalent and the hillsides turn brown. closely resembling southern California. During rainy season the hillsides are a gorgeous verdant green and the sun usually shines all morning giving way to showers in the afternoon. The house sits on a hill at an altitude of 714 meters (a little over 2300 feet) and I have yet to experience a day over 33ºC (90ºF) or under 16ºC (60ºF). Located at N9º57' W85º17' the sun rises about 0600 (6:00AM) and sets about 1800 (6:00PM) year round. Twice a year it is directly overhead.   Contact me at 506 4000-2629 or 506-8302-2980 or preferably by email at duane@shiffert.com
The large breakfast bar separates the great room from the kitchen which is well equiped with appliances (stove, refrigarator and dishwasher). There is a freezer that matches the refrigaratot in the laundry room.	The bathroom is built to American standards and has both a large shower and bathtub. Local stone was used for the walls.	There are two identical bedrooms, both equiped with a fan and air conditioner.
This twelve sided house sits high on a hilltop with spectacular views in all directions	The large jacuzzi comfortably seats six and has a beautiful view of the mountains.	There are over 3000 square feet under roof with a 20 foot ceiling at the highest point. There are twelve almond wood beams which support the rancho roof.
The Farm   Of the 15½ hectors contained on the property about eight hectors are cultivatable. Currently about three are planted and five contain pasture and the house. There are four horses (they are NOT included) on the pasture currently. If you choose not to have livestock the amount under cultivation could be almost tripled.   Coffee and citrus are the main crops. I planted my first coffee in 2006 along with a few citrus and avocado trees. I slowly expanded the coffee with my first picking in 2009. About that time I became concerned about the U.S. economy, the future of my social security and put together a business plan to make me self-sustainable. The problem was that I did not have sufficient funds to buy plants and trees and have them planted and maintained. I started planting both coffee and citrus from seed and slowly expanded the amount under cultivation. Currently I have about 8,000 plants of coffee, with 500 more coming on line each year and about 100 citrus trees producing with about 50 more coming on line each year. I sold the first avocados this year and did very well for a first crop. I started planting more several years ago which start producing in another four years.   In addition I planted 35 cashew trees which produced the first crop large enough to sell this year (only about $25 worth) but will double every year for the net five to seven years.  I originally planted twelve almond trees along the driveway for their beauty, however they are now producing a crop large enough to market.   Plants include:     Coffee:  Caturra rojo, Catturra amarillo, Costa Rica 95, Catimor, Vencia and one unidentified variety.   Oranges:  Naranja Malagueña (sweet orange), Naranja Ortinique, Naranja Piña (Pineapple orange), Washington, Valencia, Red Valencia and one unidentified variety.   Tangerines: Clementina and Mandarina Criollo    Lemons and Limes:  Mandarino Mineola (mandarin lime), Limón Dulce (sweet lime), Limón Mesina (Persian lime), Variegated Lime, Mexican Lime, and one unidentified variety of lemon. Avocados:  Simmonds, San Marcos, Torres, Catalina and Hass   Cashews:  marañón rojo, marañón amarillo   Mangos: several varieties   Bananas and Plantains: several vatieties   Other fruits and nuts: Papaya, Guanábana, Cass, Manzana de agua, Manzana rosa, Cacao (chocolate), Tamarindo (tamarind), Carambola (starfruit), Níspero, Guava and Noni   I installed both the water and electric systems and are constructed to last. Water storage can easily be increased if you should decide to plant more.            Contact me at 506 4000-2629 or 506-8302-2980 or preferably by email at duane@shiffert.com

The nursury is 15x15 metetrs (49x49 feet). It is here that I grow the coffee, citrus, avacados and other fruit that will be planted every year at the start of rainy season.	The Bodega has a concrete floor, shelving and lighting.	The guest house is the orgional farm house that was completely rebuilt. I lived here the first two years. There are more details on the "Farm house" page.

I have several types of arabica coffee. This plant is Caturra Rojo. I also have a hybrid called Costa Rica 95, Catimore and Caturra Amarello.	There are many varieties of oranges. The picture is of a Naranja Malgaueña (Sweet Orange). Other varieties include Valencia, Red Valencia, Ortanique, Pineapple Orange, Washington and an Unknown variety.	This is a verigated lemon. I also grow Persian limes, small round Mexican limes, sweet limes (LimónDulce) and the most popular in Costa Rica, Mandarino Mineola, a lime with an orange center.
Avacado types include San Marcos, Simmonds, Torres, Catalina and Hass.	This is a cashew. There is one nut attached below a red or yellow fruit (I have both varieties).	These are almond trees. The trick is to get to the almonds before the parrots do.
Mangos are abundant. The problem is that everyone has them and I have never sold any. But they are great to eat!	Papayas are easy to grow. I grow them mainly for my consumption and give some away. Occasionally I sell to the fruit and vegetable store in Carmona.	This is a Guanabana. A stange fruit that I had never heard of before I came to Costa Rica. The locals use it to make a natural fruit drink. I do not personally like it, but they do bring a good price.

Where Am I?

 

The property is located in the southern part of Guanacaste on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is in the small town of Bella Vista which is the highest town on the peninsula. Driving instructions can be provided and it is pretty easy to find.

The Nicoya peninsula is located in northwest Costa Rica.	Bella Vista is in the south central part of the Peninsula about 12 Kilometers from the town of Carmona.	The farm is just off the main road (if you can call it that) with a double red gate. Here you can see the main house, the guest house and the bodega (storage shed). To see it better on Google Maps use the coordinates 9º 57' 10.2" N  85º 17' 33.3" W.