We were a group of 6 adults and 7 children ages newborn - 11. We had a fabulous time. No complaints! Hot tub, pool, tennis court, table games all a huge hit.
The house was a great place for our family to gather during the holiday season. We had seven teen/young adult children in tow and they all enjoyed the bikes, pool table and ping pong table on site.
This is a fantastic, very large and spacious home and grounds. All the extras are there: pool, tennis court, pond, ping pong, billiards, games, toys and extra sleeping. No chickens - darn it! Some of the furniture is dated - could have used a bigger family room table/seating but everything worked out fine. Expensive but worth it.
House is clean and well maintained. Lots of toys, games, and things to do for kids (ping pong, pool table, pool toys, bikes, tennis rackets and balls, bocci ball, horseshoes, tunnels. Every room has its own full bath. House is single level and huge. Speaker system throughout house and by pool for music from directv. Great RSF location. Enjoyed our stay very much.
We enjoyed a delightful stay at the ranch and particularly enjoyed the evening peace and serenity of the country location. Extended family consisted of grandparents and two adult married couples, each with two children age 5-10. There was plenty of room with beds left over. The ranch was close enough to all major attractions to do sightseeing day trips to Zoo, Safari Park, Balboa Park, Cabrillo National Monument, La Jolla, tide pools and County Fair, while still avoiding rush hour traffic.
Once back at the ranch the grandchildren loved splashing in the large pool and Jacuzzi. There were plenty of sports activity equipment to try and lots of room outside. And they loved all being able to sleep together in the four man bunkroom!
Excellent selection of implements, utensils and spices made preparation of breakfast and evening meals easy whether inside in oven or microwave or outside on grill. We even packed some picnics for lunch. The fruit trees were fun for the city grandchildren who loved picking and eating fresh fruit. The highlight for one particular granddaughter was early morning visit to the chicken to check for eggs. Only one chicken now but we did get brown two eggs during the week.
We did encounter a couple of problems but the management was on top of them same day.
Overall a great stay!
We loved the California Ranch style home! It was a perfect setting for our large family. It was comfortable, warm, and cozy with the fireplace in the main room. We had everything we needed to have a wonderful time plus a Christmas tree to make it even more perfect! We particularly liked playing tennis OK n the court and playing soccer in the large grass area.
The toddlers Enjoyed picking some tangerines from trees and the play gym. The ping pong and pool table was a hit for the adults. It truly is the best place for a large group. We will book again! Thank you Benson Family for sharing your home.
We were delighted to find this comfortable home situated only a couple of miles from a family wedding. Four related families gathered from Wisconsin, Santa Barbara, and Long Island. We each had our own bedroom and bathroom and made great use of the spacious home and back yard with a beautiful swimming pool and tennis court. While it felt quite a responsibility at first to make sure we all followed the (quite extensive) house rules, we soon learned that Chris was readily available to help us out and answer any questions. He sincerely wanted to make our stay a successful one. The kitchen was well-equipped, and we used the outside barbecue. The home is furnished with a homey rather than a luxurious ambiance, but that perfectly suited our crowd. Should the occasion arise we would certainly choose to stay there again.
A truly spectacular bit of property. 2 acres of usable land, wonderfully tucked away for privacy. I stayed with my 5 year old son and he and I always had lots of things to do. Between basketball, tennis, riding bikes in the totally private/secure driveway, playing on the big playground, swimming in the pool/jaccuzi, checking for eggs from the chickens, picking fresh stevia and lemongrass from the garden. Magical!
The interior of the house could certainly use some updating, but that's fairly par for the course in Rancho Santa Fe, and ultimately didn't detract from our enjoyment.
We've already scheduled our next visit for a much longer stay!
Great location, plenty to do for kids and adults. Very comfortable, lots of space. We had 8 adults and 5 kids staying at the house, and some days 10 or so relatives visiting. Chris was very pleasant to work with and went over all the details of the house when we arrived. The kids loved the pool, hot tub, basketball goal, tennis, fruit trees, riding toys, and indoor tents and tunnels. The adults played a lot of pool and ping pong, and sat outside enjoying the scenery. We had a variety of ages from 15 months to 88 years old and everybody had a great time.
Extremely comfortable, a relaxed place for the entire family from 73 year old to 1 year old.
The Ranch is a perfect family vacation, and one feels that families have enjoyed it over the years to the fullest extent. The layout is perfect for our combined families with sufficient privacy for grandparents, parents and children. Large, comfortable bedrooms, each with its own bath was a huge bonus.
Outside and physical opportunities abound with tennis, ping pong, jungle gym, and just enjoying the beautiful grounds. Picking up the eggs each day was something to look forward to, and the plum tree yielded delicious treats each morning. We had no problem with wi fi connections at all.
The central living room is a haven in the evening, and we would very much like to come back. Our entire family think it was the perfect choice of accommodation, and area.
Private Rancho Estate Indeed -- Lived Up to Its Billing
Our stay was a six-star experience in accommodation, privacy and amenities. The premises are well-maintained - the house, rooms, swimming pool, tennis court, and even the sprawling ground with various mature fruit-bearing trees, which the Landlord encourage us to pick for personal and on-premises consumption.
And adding extra dimension is the presence of two prolific egg-laying chicken which produced about two eggs a day, available to guest for consumption. A memorable highlight!
The house lay-out afforded individual room privacy. On the other hand, the well-placed well-placed public or shared rooms accorded easy, relaxed and dynamic group interaction.
The landlord was very gracious and took time and effort to familiarize guests with the facilities' features and operation.
The location offered various access points to Freeway 5, for a choice on best way to go to desired destination.
We'd highly recommend the accommodation for a great group or family experience!
It's huge! Absolutely BEAUTIFUL property and house! Perfect for families!!a
We had the whole family there comfortably. (14) Had a beautiful wedding in front of the pond. So many things to do for the adults and kids! It's clean and comfortable. The kids cried when they had to leave. I would love to stay forver too! Chris is such a solid, nice guy! We can't wait to go back!
We used this property for a birthday milestone and anniversary celebration. It was a beautiful property, and the management was very prompt and helpful with questions that arose throughout our stay. We highly recommend this property, and would book again. Thanks!
We had a wonderful four days staying at the property and the seven kids that were there were in heaven! They loved everything the place had to offer: chickens, playground set, tennis courts, pool, and lots of land to run wild and explore! We spent most of our time in the large eat-in-kitchen and outside so could have cared less about the more dated furnishings as others have commented on. We did heat the pool and it was costly but we chose to do it for the kids' sake. The rooms are perfect for kids, lots of twin beds and a bunk room, but bed sizes are a little more challenging for adults. The Wifi was spotty and we did end up ordering dinner in one night and it was difficult to find places that would deliver. We should have cooked ourselves but were ill prepared with groceries that night. Would recommend without hesitation and would go back myself.
We had a wonderful week long stay over the holidays. The home is quite large and has multiple areas for groups to hang out indoor or outside. We liked the single level floor plan for both the kids and elders. The property is beautiful! The kids loved the pool, playground, chickens and play spaces. Tennis court was newly refinished and perfect. We cooked all our meals and found everything we needed to serve our large family group. Can't wait to go back!
We had a fantastic stay at the Ranch with extended family to celebrate a big birthday. From the preschoolers to the teens to their parents and grandparents, everyone found many reasons to be happy here! The fresh eggs from the chickens, infinity pool and fantastic play structure were particularly appreciated. Lots of thanks to our gracious hosts - we made wonderful memories at the Ranch and would recommend to others without hesitation.
We had a fantastic time at this beautiful property. It was perfectly set up for multiple families with a wonderful amount of space and with each bedroom having a bathroom. The grounds are very well kept and there were many things to do to keep everyone of all ages occupied and enjoying our time together there. We had a minor problem, but Chris and his management crew were very attentive to getting the problem resolved. Thank you for an amazing property!!
The property is absolutely georgious. The outside grounds beg you to come out and enjoy the amazing and usable property. We picked fruit, played tennis, and enjoyed the fabulous pool everyday. All of the fun things you want to do on vacation is right outside your door. Kim is your property coordinator and she is fabulous. She will obviously help you with your needs at the house but also knows the entire area from beaches to shopping. Do yourself a favor and go enjoy this property!
The Benson Ranch is a sprawling, one story ranch that is relaxed and comfortable, but luxurious with space and amenities. Our family of 6 adults and 4 kids slept comfortably for a week. The rooms each had 2+ beds to accommodate a mix of scenarios. Master has a king and a twin, with an alcove with 2 more twins. One room has 2 sets of bunks. One has a queen with a twin. My only feedback to the Bensons would be to upgrade the other 2 rooms from double beds to queen beds. They do have twins in there as well, but it is difficult for couples used to a queen or bigger to spend a week on a double bed, and the rooms are plenty large enough to accommodate them. The yard... dozens of different fruit trees, massive for the kids to run around and feel like they were on an adventure. The kids had so much fun taking care of the 2 chickens and collecting eggs daily as well. The garden was plentiful, which we picked from daily. Our main time was spent on the playground, in the pool, on the tennis/basketball court or in the garage playing ping pong or pool. The property manager was very helpful throughout the stay. We look forward to staying there again.
Our family thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Benson Ranch. It was exactly as pictured, and we echo many of the other reviewers' nice comments and just have a few things to add.
First of all, the people who own and manage this property could not be nicer or more accommodating, and that is a huge improvement over so many rental properties. They are welcoming, generous and share the kitchen basics so you do not have to buy a pound of sugar in order to have a few tablespoons which is actually extremely helpful.
The house has been described elsewhere adequately; the decor is somewhat dated but to us it signaled that it was a true family house where, as long as you were moderately careful, you could enjoy the house and not feel like you had to be on guard every moment as the children played.
The garage was an unexpected surprise; it had a pool table, a pingpong table and more sports equipment than even our active four little boys could find time to use.
I would have (given the option) rated this property as 4.5 stars. While the house is very comfortable, it is also very dated. The pool was too cold for us adults and we were cautioned that heating it would cause a substantial dent in the wallet. We chose not to exercise the heating option.
The garden with fresh kale and swiss chard (and even a few strawberries) was a delight, but to our city-bred grandchildren, the egg hunt in the chicken house every morning was a true highlight.
One activity that our family thoroughly enjoyed was taking a 1/2 hour drive to Torrey Canyon State Preserve, parking at the top of the big hill (after you enter the preserve at the beach level) and doing the wonderful hike down to the cliffs above the beach. Amazing views and a great hike with kids. We timed it so that we were down and back to enjoy the spectacular sunset and then headed to Torrey Pines Lodge in the Grill Room for dinner.
I would recommend this property to a friend, a relative and even strangers!
The Benson Ranch was the perfect location and home for our family vacation. The home comfortably accommodated our family of 11, from the age of 60 to 4 months. The swing set, pool, chickens, vegetable garden and pond were so much fun for all of us. The home and grounds were immaculate. The property manager was excellent. I would definitely recommend this property to family and friends.