All the comforts, for the horses too

In “All the Pretty Horses” by Cormac McCarthy, protagonist John Grady Cole says that he wants to stay at the Hacienda La Purisima horse ranch for “about a hundred years.”

That’s probably only because no one showed him Hacienda Libelula in Topanga Canyon. Yeah, it’s that fabulous.

Hacienda Libelula was built in 1998, but it evokes a centuries-old feel. Perched on a hillside in the Mesa neighborhood of Topanga, it’s an equestrian ranch of old-world charm, vineyards and orchards and ocean views.

The colonial hacienda is plenty spectacular on its own -- beams and doors hand-carved from 200-year-old distressed wood, imported mahogany floors, a vaulted brick ceiling in the dining room and hand-painted murals in the entryway and family room -- but the real scene stealer is the grounds.

Owner Rose Dayani, who has ridden competitively but now rides just for pleasure, built the horse facilities to her exacting standards. There’s an Olympic-size dressage arena, a state-of-the-art 10-stall barn with an automatic, organic, air-misted fly spray in each stall and a German exerciser that allows the horses to be walked without leads. There are feed and tack rooms, nine corrals and a 50-foot round pen and a separate garage for the tractor.

The Dayanis installed solar panels, worth $160,000, on the roof of the horse barn that have reduced their electricity bills, Dayani said, to zero. In fact, they sell electricity to Southern California Edison. The house has a private well, so water is “free” as well -- which is a good thing since walking the hilly trails of the property works up a sweat.

One hike is through a sandstone canyon and Manzanita forest. It ends at two waterfalls, one natural and one man-made, and two soaking pools with a white-sand beach in a hidden cove. The sand for the beach was imported from Peru.

The landscaped grounds of rolling hills are equally spectacular with grapevines, a meandering hedge of rosemary that fills the air with its heady aroma, fields of wildflowers and lavender and fruit trees worthy of a nursery -- orange, peach, plum, avocado, lemon and passion fruit. The property contains hundreds of varieties of plants and flowers, irrigated by more than 60 stations of sprinklers.

About this house: In this romantic home, with five bedrooms and 4 1/2 -bathrooms, reclaimed 200-year-old hand-hewn wood was used for beams, cabinetry and doors. There are distressed-wood floors. The kitchen floor is of Italian tile, and antique light fixtures are used throughout the house. The kitchen has a big center island with a vegetable sink, limestone counter tops and a Viking Professional six-burner range and grill. There is also an outdoor kitchen and patio area.

The grand living room has tall windows and a ceiling so high that a baby grand piano is almost dwarfed by the room’s scale. The family room has a built-in media center.

The oversized master suite has a large bathroom and private viewing deck.

Can’t you just hear Andres Segovia playing classical guitar?

Asking price: $5,850,000

Size: About 5,000 square feet on 6.5 acres

Where: Mesa area of Topanga Canyon

Listing agent: Gary Harryman, Pritchett-Rapf & Associates, (310) 455-1884. Website: www.garyharryman.com.

ann.brenoff@latimes.com