3223 Canfield Rd
Sebastopol, CA 95472

What the public record says

The barn upstairs is marketed as a 1-BR apartment. The permit says "unfinished storage."

Permit Sonoma's authoritative permit history shows the 2015 barn was finaled as a utility structure with explicitly unfinished residential storage upstairs. The current listing markets the same space as a one-bedroom apartment with its own septic. This is the single most important diligence item.

One home, one barn, a garden house, an orchard

27 records on parcel 025-060-014, 1993 to 2026

Pulled from Permit Sonoma's authoritative JSON API. The original well, septic, and SFD all finaled cleanly. The two records worth flagging: PX030635 (1994 second-unit attempt, expired) and BLD15-4332 (2015 barn, finaled as "unfinished storage" upstairs — see Headline).

DA B6 20, no Williamson Act, no overlays, Zone X, Moderate FHSZ

Jurisdiction

Unincorporated Sonoma County (outside Sebastopol city limits — no municipal water/sewer)

Acreage

8.00 ac (per Sonoma County GIS / assessor)

Zoning

DA B6 20, NONE — Diverse Agriculture, 20-acre density

General Plan

DA 20 (Diverse Agriculture, 20-acre density)

Assessor use code

0051 — Rural Res / Single Res

Combining overlays

None. No Z (ADU exclusion), no RC (riparian), no HD (historic), no OAK / VOH, no SR (scenic), no BR (biotic)

Williamson Act

No contract (verified — ContractNo: null in GIS feed). Full flexibility.

Area plan

Petaluma Dairy Belt Area Plan; Planning Area 6 — Sebastopol

Supervisor District

District 2 (David Rabbitt)

Density & the home

At 8 ac on DA 20, the parcel is below the 20-ac density threshold for a new primary dwelling, but the existing 1995 SFD is legal-nonconforming. An ADU is permittable by right under Sonoma County's 2020 ADU ordinance regardless of density.

FEMA flood

Zone X — outside the Special Flood Hazard Area (FIRM panel 06097C0856E, eff. 2008-11-01)

CAL FIRE

Moderate FHSZ in State Responsibility Area (Gold Ridge FPD covers structure protection). Not High or Very High.

Geotech

CGS MS58 deep-seated landslide susceptibility Class 5 (mid-range, driven by 9–15% slope on Steinbeck loam over Wilson Grove sand). NOT in an Alquist-Priolo zone. Low liquefaction.

Faults (approx.)

Rodgers Creek ~10–11 mi E (Holocene-active, the Bay Area's most-likely "next big one"); San Andreas ~12–14 mi W (Tomales Bay); Tolay / Bloomfield ~7–10 mi SE.

Soils

Steinbeck loam (SnD, 9–15% slopes) — fine-loamy, hydrologic group B, moderately well drained. Low-to-moderate shrink-swell (not flagged as high-expansive).

Groundwater

Class 2 — Major Natural Recharge (Sonoma County GWA layer). Basin: Wilson Grove Formation Highlands (DWR 1-059). Very Low SGMA priority — not in critical overdraft; levels stable 2014–2018.

Biotic

No mapped Sebastopol meadowfoam or California tiger salamander critical habitat on the parcel (vernal pools concentrate east on the Santa Rosa Plain). Site-specific survey prudent before ground disturbance — Atascadero Creek watershed touches west Sebastopol.

Schools

Apple Blossom Elementary → Hillcrest Middle → Analy High (Twin Hills Union → West Sonoma County Union)

Private well, two septics, two tanks, generator

Last sold 2014. Pre-sale family: the O'Briens.

2025 net assessed

$1,401,978 — Land $811,826 + Structure $590,152.

Current tax

~$13,634/yr (aggregator-reported; verify on the Sonoma County tax portal using APN 025-060-014).

Last recorded sale

2014R078929 — Nov 5, 2014 — $1,125,000.

Prior sale

1994RR023829 — Feb 1994 — $222,500.

Most recent doc

2017R009740 recorded 2026-02-06 — a post-purchase title event (likely a deed-into-trust, quitclaim between co-owners, or DOT refi). Pull this from the Recorder.

Reassessment on sale

Prop 13 will reset the base year. At a $1.795M close, expect roughly $20K–$22K/yr secured tax going forward (1.1–1.25% effective × $1.795M).

Identity & ownership

The current owner of record is not published in Sonoma County's public GIS feed (CPRA privacy).

• Pre-2014 owner family: the O'Briens. John Daniel O'Brien (Dec 31, 1918 – Mar 2, 2013, Stanford engineering, Douglas Aircraft) and wife Lois (d. 2006), who started O'Brien Iris Garden here. Three surviving children at his death (Dana James of Los Altos, David O'Brien of Gulfport FL, P.J. O'Brien of Sebastopol). The 2014 listing copy: "owned by the same family since 1951 and was never before offered for sale." The 1999 permit SOIL-01105 "OBRIEN RESIDENCE" corroborates.
• Current owner (post-2014): not confirmed. Aggregator residency data associates the address with Janet M Bair (a.k.a. Janet Marie Bair / Janet M Jackson) and Catherine H Jackson, with relatives Jack Jackson and Mary Jackson — consistent with a Bair/Jackson household, possibly held in a family trust. The 2017R009740 document suggests vesting changed after the 2014 purchase.

Sebastopol Hills — Russian River Valley AVA, the cool western edge

Canfield Road runs roughly north-south through the rural hills southwest of downtown Sebastopol, between Bodega Hwy (CA-12) to the north and Bloomfield Rd to the south. The common approach: Gravenstein Hwy (CA-116) → Bloomfield Rd → Canfield Rd. The neighborhood is the unofficial "Sebastopol Hills" — incorporated into the Russian River Valley AVA in 2005. The Green Valley sub-AVA sits immediately to the north.

Climate: the Petaluma Wind Gap channels Pacific fog inland — Canfield Rd is one of the cooler viticultural micro-zones in northern California; daily fog is normal. Soils are predominantly Goldridge fine sandy loam (the same prized class as Green Valley), with Steinbeck loam at this elevation. J Vineyards' Canfield Vineyard is on this road — "the closest of all J's vineyards to the Pacific Ocean," planted to Pinot Noir on a former chicken farm in 2009. Other Sebastopol Hills neighbors include Jackson Family Estate (Bloomfield, Marshall), Sonoma-Cutrer (Owsley), Balletto (Burnside), Martinelli-Bondi (Home Ranch); buyers from this area also include Merry Edwards, Littorai, Freeman, and Kosta Browne.

Fire history: the 2020 Walbridge Fire (LNU Lightning Complex, 55,209 ac) burned northwest Sonoma County north of the Russian River — it did NOT reach Canfield Rd; smoke/ash impact only ("a massive smoke column was visible from Sebastopol on Aug 19"). The 2017 Tubbs and 2019 Kincade fires were both well east/north.

Drive times

$754/sf at ask sits between two Canfield Road comps

The cleanest direct comps are on Canfield Rd itself: 4059 Canfield (½ mile south, 4 BR / 5 BA, 4,286 sf, sold Oct 2025 at $2,155,000 / $503/sf) and 3683 Canfield (1,527 sf farmhouse on 14 ac, sold Apr 2025 at $1,225,000 / $802/sf). The subject's $754/sf implied price sits between them.

Read. The 2-bedroom count is the limiter. Comps with 4+ BR on similar acreage trade $500–$640/sf in the $2.1–$2.8M band; comps with 2 BR on similar acreage trade $700–$1,000/sf in the $1.4–$2.0M band (4401 Burnside, 11370 Occidental, 12958 Dupont). The $1,795,000 ask is at the upper end of the 2-BR band — justified by the 2015 barn, the well + storage, the 1995-modern construction (not 1932-original), and the AVA location. The unpermitted-apartment risk argues for a discount unless the seller delivers a written legalization path before close.

Comps-implied range as a 2-BR property: ~$1.5M–$1.85M; closing band ~$1.6–1.75M. The marketing premium for the (unpermitted) apartment is the gap between that and the $1.795M ask. The 95472 zip-level median is $1.3M / $710/sf (Rocket Homes / Redfin) — the subject sits above the zip median, consistent with rural acreage.

Comps lifted from Press Democrat closing summaries, Redfin/Trulia aggregator snippets, and Compass listing pages. Verify recorded prices against the Sonoma Assessor; get a broker CMA before anchoring a number.

Diligence checklist

• Barn / second unit — highest priority
• Confirm with Permit Sonoma whether the upper-floor barn apartment has any permit beyond BLD15-4332's "unfinished storage" — walk the history directly with the building inspector (Rick Behrens) and code enforcement (Ryan Sharp).
• Identify which septic permit covers the barn/apartment (the listing claims a second system but only SEP94-0617 appears on the public record).
• Get a written legalization-cost estimate: engineered as-builts, ADU permit + plan check, fire/life-safety upgrades, second-septic verification. Planning placeholder: $20K–$60K.
• Confirm no CC&Rs / HOA constrain ADU use.
• Water & systems
• Pull the WEL94-0052 well completion report (seller copy or DWR §13752 owner authorization).
• Run a dry-season 4-hour pump test to reconcile 100 gpm (1994) vs 26+ gpm (2026). Pull a water-quality panel (coliform, nitrate, arsenic).
• Inspect the two 1994 storage tanks (B-124434 / B-124435) — material, condition, capacity vs the 21,000 gal claim.
• Title & ownership
• Pull 2014R078929 and 2017R009740 from the Recorder to identify current vesting and any liens / DOTs.
• Order a preliminary title report — easements (none mentioned in the listing — verify on the survey), prior recorded violations.
• Verify the current secured tax bill (~$13.6K/yr per aggregators).
• Structure
• Inspect the 1995 SFD (self-cert re-roof 2019 — confirm warranty + condition).
• Inspect the 2015 barn ground floor + the upper-floor "apartment" buildout (egress, electrical, plumbing, framing).
• Confirm the 18 kW generator (BLD26-1363) wiring + transfer switch operation.
• Verify the garden house has no plumbing/permit gap (no permit on record — likely sub-120 sf ag-exempt).
• Zoning & future use
• Confirm DA B6 20 + no Z overlay permits an ADU by right (consistent with Sonoma County's 2020 ADU ordinance).
• If a vineyard / orchard expansion is contemplated, scope use-permit and any RC riparian / biotic constraints with a planner.
• Area / drive
• Walk Canfield Rd on a weekday AM/PM — rate quietness vs. the marketing copy (J Vineyards traffic during crush).
• Verify school access (Apple Blossom Elementary location, bus routing).

What is authoritative and what isn't