Property features two barns, 25 stalls, seven paddocks and an indoor training arena on 54 acres

With two barns, 25 stalls, seven paddocks, five fenced fields and an indoor training arena on 54 acres, this Bluegrass property is a horse lover’s dream.

Oh yes, there is also a sumptuous two-story, four-bedroom, 3,920-square-foot house that deserves a mention.

The moderately large and well-appointed home, just off Chrisman Mill Road in Jessamine County at 1901 West Lane, was built in 2003 with four full and two half baths, and an attached three-car garage.

A series of architectural arches in the brick and stone exterior emphasize the home’s strength and grace. The arch theme is echoed in the windows and walls of the grand entry with earthy Mediterranean stylings and soaring 18-foot ceiling.

One of the first things you notice is the sunlight streaming through the home’s many large windows. For owner Sarah Berkowitz, the natural light was one of the home’s attractions along with the first-floor master suite and the large outdoor living pavilion.

But for Berkowitz, the most important aspect of the property by far is the equine-friendly rolling countryside where she established Top Venture West.

“What I generally do is buy young horses in Europe, generally out of Holland or Germany,” said Berkowitz, a competitive showjumping rider. “I bring them here and develop them and compete them and resell them.”

The decision to locate in Kentucky’s Bluegrass six years ago came easily.

“We were living in California and John’s job was coming to an end there,” Berkowitz said. “We kind of had free range for where we wanted to pick to live. I’d come to Kentucky several times from Pennsylvania where I grew up for the horse shows and just really fell in love with Lexington.”

“It’s a good location in the sense that you’re 12 hours to Florida (Ocala), which is the big winter circuit,” Berkowitz said. “Then you have the Kentucky spring and summer circuit, which is where everyone comes from all over the country.”

“We were looking for a nice house and a nice barn within our budget,” Berkowitz said. “We flew out here from California four or five times and looked at probably 20 to 30 properties between Louisville and Lexington. It’s very difficult to find a nice house and a nice barn on more than 30 acres.”

Notable improvements to the property were the new indoor riding arena and a second barn.

“The most attractive feature here would be the 20,000-square-foot indoor arena,” Berkowitz said. “Regardless of the weather you can always ride.”

The new 20-stall barn has a heated hot-and-cold wash stall, laundry room, tack room, feed room. The stalls are all 12 feet by 12 feet and are rubber matted.

“The stalls all have individual feeders for your hay and grain, which I love so it doesn’t mix with the bedding and make your stalls more difficult to clean,” Berkowitz said.

In the home, master suite amenities include tray ceilings and a pass-through fireplace into the bath with granite counters, Jacuzzi and tiled shower with wall jets. The great room features a coffered ceiling and stunning fieldstone fireplace.

The gourmet kitchen comes with custom cabinets by Artistic Wood. The curved staircase in the entry leads up to three bedrooms and three baths on the second floor where there is also a large common living area.

“It’s nicely secluded here,” said John Pallasch, an employment and training consultant. “We have neighbors on either side, but they are hundreds of feet way and there are rows of trees.”