Onetime home of singer Burl Ives is for sale in Montecito

A Montecito estate once owned by an industrial heiress and, later, folk singer Burl Ives is on the market at $16.98 million.

The park-like grounds encompass 4.5 acres dotted with stately palms, mature oaks and pine trees.

Set behind iron gates is a five-bedroom, seven-bathroom main house, a 2,500-square-foot guesthouse in use as an entertainment pavilion and a detached gym.

Built in 1917 and designed by renowned architect Reginald Johnson, the main house has ocean views from the balcony of the master suite. Rooms include a conservatory, a dance studio, a library and a wine cellar.

There’s an 80-foot lap pool, a putting green, a stable and tack room and a four-car garage.

The estate was given the name Casa del Sueno by early owner and industrial heiress Amy DuPont, who bought the property in 1920 as her “winter home” and held it for more than four decades.

Ives and his wife, Dorothy, bought the Mediterranean-style villa in 1974 for $290,000, according to Los Angeles Times reports. They sold 15 years later for $3.9 million when they relocated to Washington state, where they had purchased a shorefront residence on Puget Sound.

Ives, who died in 1995 at 85, started out as a traveling singer. After serving in the military, he was cast as a singing cowboy in “Smoky” (1946). The balladeer went on to appear in many films and television shows, winning an Oscar for his supporting role in “The Big Country” (1958).

His hit recordings include “Blue Tail Fly,” “On Top of Old Smoky” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas.”

Carol Marie Dotson and Susan Pekich of the Agency and Tim Dahl of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices are the listing agents.