Michael Meldman

Mike Meldman founded Discovery Land Company out of an enduring love of family and nature and out of a deep personal desire to create intimate communities where families can forge lasting bonds, create intergenerational memories, and enrich their lives in exquisite and untouched sanctuaries. That dream has evolved into one of the most renowned and successful private resort community development companies in the world. Inspired decades ago first by the development of the world renowned Estancia Club in his home town of Scottsdale/Phoenix and refined during his time in Montana with his two sons, Mike set out to create luxurious service driven destinations that were casual, and casual destinations that were luxurious. A graduate of Stanford University, Mike’s passion for enhancing properties and creating places where families could come together began when he was a real estate broker in Northern California in 1982. He established Discovery Land Company in 1994 and since then, he has cultivated a reputation for trust and integrity by building places he himself lives in. Born in Milwaukee, Mr. Meldman grew up as a self-described jock in a one-story tract house in Phoenix, where his father worked for an insurance company and his mother was a book reviewer and travel writer. After high school, he chose to attend Stanford University. There, he was a history major and a member of Theta Delta Chi. After graduating in 1981, he got a job dealing blackjack at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe, Nev. Soon after, he got into commercial real estate, selling farmland in Fremont, Calif., from 1981 to 1984, just as property prices in Silicon Valley started to take off. With the money he made as a broker, he bought a 300-acre ranch in Portola Valley and planned a development, now called Blue Oaks. It took him 18 years to get past opponents of the project, who were concerned the land was in a wildlife corridor and on the San Andreas fault. Mr. Meldman formed Discovery Land Co. Foundation, a charity that supports foster-family programs in the areas around the resorts. That foundation is headed by Christy Nichols, whom he met at Stanford and married in 1986. Together they have two sons, Hunter, now 28, and Will, now 25. The couple divorced in 1992. Twice married and divorced, Mr. Meldman was publicly branded a womanizer by his high-profile ex-girlfriend, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Brandi Glanville in her book, “Drinking & Tweeting.” Both Mr. Meldman and Ms. Glanville declined to comment on this matter. Now Mr. Meldman and actress Monica Gambee, his girlfriend of four years (or “Baby Mama”, as he puts it), have a 2-year-old son named Max.