About Wendy Devine
My Story
About
Wendy Devine
“The art of living is the art of bringing dreams and reality together.”
Being involved as a Realtor in some way in Newhall Ranch, now known as FivePoint Valencia®, has been a dream of mine since 1984 when I first heard about it. Over time, with all the ups and downs it went through to get here, I wasn’t sure I would see it in my lifetime.
As the years went by, the dream morphed into many different shapes. Now that it is coming to fruition at this stage in my life, I have chosen this website as my way of participating in a way that blends my real estate career and the long silent creative muse within me.
Wendy Devine – Real Estate Broker and Webmaster
The Vision
The vision for Ranch on the River is to have an all encompassing website that is clean, stays current and is easy to navigate. Finding “everything” about FivePoint Valencia® and Newhall Ranch®” should be effortless.
Old-Newhall-Newhall-Town-2
Newhall, California 1880.
A Little About Me
The Santa Clarita Valley has been my home for almost my entire life.
I was a Navy brat for the first several years of my life. We moved 15 times around the country following my father who was in nuclear submarines at the time.
After he got out of the Navy, we settled in comfortably. It was nice to plant roots, and a little town on the Santa Clara River was the perfect place to do it.
When we moved here in 1966, I was 10 years old. There were 16,000 people, 2 communities, Newhall and Saugus, and a 2-lane road, Soledad Canyon, that connected them. Growing up here was wonderful. I really loved it… and still do, even if it isn’t the sleepy little town it once was.
Dillenbeck’s was the only market for miles. They had the greatest butcher shop around. Howard and Phil’s (as in Howard “Buck” McKeon the first Mayor of Santa Clarita) was the place to buy clothes and furniture.
BBQ Bills in Newhall was the only “fast food” around at the time. Obviously, it was amazing BBQ if I am writing about it 50 years later and it hasn’t been around for 40. Unfortunately, they went by the wayside as so many family businesses did as the valley grew.
My early years were spent at Sulphur Springs Elementary School, Sierra Vista Jr. High, and Canyon High School. I did a little time at the College of the Canyons before moving on to a career in real estate.
… And Life Went On!
I got married, started my real estate career, had two kids, and they each had two kids. Being a grandmother is one of the greatest joys of my life.
The path of my life has been blessed, even though I met with a few bumps and the occasional “gotchas” along the way. Having the love and support of my family got me through the tough times.
My husband, Mike Devine, is a recently retired construction inspector. When he retired, he grabbed his fishing poles, I grabbed my camera and my computer, we packed our motorhome and hit the road.
We get away every chance we can to explore new places. Finding the momentary Wi-Fi hot spot means we can be gone for as long as we want.
It’s funny, even when you’re working, when you’re surrounded by some of the most beautiful country in the world, it just doesn’t seem like work at all!
How I Ended Up Here?
When I got married, we moved into a tiny condo in the Bouquet Canyon area of Santa Clarita.
I was 19 years old when I bought my first house. It was only $19,000 AND it came with the refrigerator….wow. Suddenly, it was worth $60,000 and I’m a real estate baron! Real estate got into my blood in a big way.
At 22, I became a licensed real estate agent. My first 2 real estate offices were purchased at 28. The next 30 years of my life were spent as the Owner and Broker of a major, award-winning, real estate franchise in Santa Clarita and Acton, CA.
Along the way, real estate has had its ups and downs of course. However, all in all, it has been a great career. The freedom it gave me was priceless. In 2015, I retired as an owner and broker of an office, but of course, I maintained my Broker’s license so I can still be as involved in real estate as I wish, on my own.
When Newhall Ranch was rumored to be on the horizon in the early ’80s, I planned to set up a new fancy office there. It was my dream to work in a brand new office in a beautiful new community just like Valencia.
Well…giggle… that didn’t happen! I had no idea it would take almost 30 years to get it through the planning process!
In conclusion, going forward, it’s nice to truly love what I am doing again. Now I focus on my family, and friends and play with my website.
Thanks for visiting me! Have a wonderful day!
A Final Note
Thank you so much for taking the time to come to visit my website, I am excited that you are here, to say the least. Hopefully, you have found it helpful, organized and easy to navigate.
Please let me be very clear that my Ranch on the River website has NO AFFILIATION WHATSOEVER with the developer or builders of FivePoint Valencia. I am a 40-year Real Estate veteran and a 50-year Santa Clarita resident that has been passionate about Newhall Ranch (now known as FivePoint Valencia®) since the day it was announced.
This website represents MY VISION only. Everything in it is my work product unless otherwise stated. I am not paid by, nor do I represent the developer or the builders, in any way as far as this website is concerned.
Being fairly new at this website stuff and knowing I have a long way to go, your comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Please feel free to call me at 661-478-4784 or email me at Wendy@RanchOnTheRiver.com if you have questions or just want to chat. I do love to share details and the excitement of it all with anyone.
Be sure to check in periodically to see what’s new! Ranch on the River will be an ever-evolving website as you can imagine!