LIVERMORE — A vast ranch that stretches across more than 50,000 acres in four counties in and next to the Bay Area has been bought by an East Bay resident who aims to preserve the legacy of the nearly 90-year-old property.

N3 Cattle Co., a Livermore-area ranch that’s larger than San Francisco, has been bought by a foundation and affiliates headed by Bill Brown, a Bay Area businessman who is dedicated to conservation and preservation.

“I have a great love for our state’s ranching heritage and have long been committed to preserving ranch lands in California,” Brown said.

The properties that were bought by Brown and his foundation are located in portions of Alameda County, Santa Clara County, San Joaquin County and Stanislaus County, according to multiple deeds that were filed on Oct. 22 with county officials in the four jurisdictions.

“It is humbling to be able to purchase this historic ranch,” Brown said. “I consider it an honor to preserve its future, protect the land and watersheds, and maintain this amazing property.”

The last known asking price for the property was $68 million in the spring of 2020. N3 Cattle Co. was first listed for sale in July 2019 at $72 million. At 50,500 acres, the property was the largest land offering ever in California.

The ranch appears to have been bought for somewhere in the neighborhood of the $68 million asking price.

The new owner paid at least $57.8 million, based on documents obtained by this news organization that were filed in three of the four counties where the purchase transactions occurred.

At roughly 79 square miles in size, the N3 Cattle lands are larger than San Francisco and more than twice the size of Mount Diablo State Park.

The purchase of the ranch was arranged by Todd Renfrew, a broker with Vacaville-based California Outdoor Properties, which listed the N3 Cattle Co. land for sale.

The sellers are two sisters, Sandra Naftzger and Natalie Naftzger Davis, who live in Southern California. They are fourth-generation ranchers and decided to call it quits around the time they put the ranch up for sale in 2019. The sisters are members of a family that has owned and operated the property for more than 85 years.

Steep canyons, rolling oak woodlands, grasslands, canyons covered with shrubs, rock outcroppings, meadows, ponds and watersheds are among the features of the ranch.

The property’s wildlife consists of animals that can be encountered throughout the wildlands of Northern California.

Coyotes, bobcats, grey foxes and mountain lions, along with deer, tule elk, wild pigs, turkeys, quails, doves, rabbits, ground squirrels and raccoons can be found on the huge ranch, along with an array of birds. A pair of bald eagles have nested on the site.

The ranch’s headquarters complex consists of a four-bedroom main residence, a one-bedroom annex residence, a bunkhouse, horse barn, hay barn, two shops, some sheds and four cabins for employees.

An array of local, regional and state government agencies eyed a purchase of the huge ranch during the two years it was up for sale. None of those plans came close to fruition and some didn’t even get out of the talking stages.

In 2020, state officials toyed with the idea of spending $20 million to create a new state park out of the N3 Cattle lands. Turning N3 Cattle Co. into a state park didn’t get very far.

Now, the ranch lands remain in private ownership in the wake of the property deal.

“I’m excited that the buyer wants to preserve the legacy of the ranch,” Renfrew said. “This is an iconic property.”