New Neighbor

Producer buys part of Santa Fe Canyon Ranch, reduces development density

Meet your new neighbor: The Beverly Hills producer who brought the world the Friday the 13th and Species franchises and films such as Ronin and Stigmata.

But Frank Mancuso Jr. isn't moving to New Mexico to open a film studio; he's ready to reinvent himself as a rancher.

Mancuso has purchased about 850 acres that was once part of Santa Fe Canyon Ranch on La Bajada Mesa. While the land had development approval for up to 18 homes, he's had it rezoned for a single family homestead complete with horses, cows and plans to "grow stuff."

That's already sitting well with longtime residents of the area who didn't want to see a subdivision in their community. The La Cienga Valley Improvement Association supported the rezoning effort. Santa Fe County owns the rest of the former ranch, a 470-acre property it paid $7 million for in 2012 and has yet to announce a plan for.

While Mancuso and his wife first considered buying a second home in Santa Fe last year, they quickly shifted to the plan to buy the ranch land and relocate from Los Angeles with their 13-year-old daughter.

No homes have been built on the ranch west of I-25 at present, so the Macusos, who closed on the land deal last month, plan to next build a new home and guest home. In the future, he says, maybe he'll add a cottage residence for son Giovanni, a 21-year old who will begin classes at University of New Mexico in the winter.

"LA is great and it's been a great place for me to be for the years that I have been there, but I feel like if that is your only experience, then you are ultimately going to be limited," he says, adding that his son feels like Santa Fe is "a place where he can make his mark."

"The thing is people here are looking at your eyes," he says. "They are not looking at your watch or looking at whose shoes you have on or what bag you are holding onto. And that really is different."

Plus, he says, he's ready to use his Hollywood connections to help associates take advantage of the state tax credits that he says are still a "great deal."

Mancuso is bringing at least a piece of the LA culture to his new Southwestern home. While Santa Fe County has rule prohibiting new swimming pools, he asked for and was a granted a variance to build a pool and fill it with well water so the family can continue to swim as much as they do in California.

Maybe the story all sounds like the makings of a good movie itself.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be Green Acres or what,” says Mancuso, “I don’t know what it’s going to be.”

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