E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Friday, January 02, 2009
Actors Slash Prices on N.M. Homes
By Kathaleen Roberts
Journal Northern Bureau
SANTA FE Â — It's apparently getting tougher to sell star-gilded property in northern New Mexico.
Actors Marsha Mason and Val Kilmer have both slashed asking prices on compounds they're selling near Abiquiu and southeast of Santa Fe.
Mason is asking nearly $8 million for her ranch near Abiquiu after pricing it at $11 million about a year ago. Kilmer has listed his Pecos River property for $10 million, down from $12 million six weeks ago.
Mason, a four-time Oscar-nominated actress and longtime New Mexico resident, disclosed in the fall of 2007 that she was selling her 247-acre estate and ranch along the Rio Chama.
"She's not leaving New Mexico," Lisa Bessone of Christie's Great Estates, who is marketing the property, said this week. "She just doesn't have the time to be a head-on entrepreneur."
Kilmer is selling 963 acres, downsizing from the 6,000 acres he owns along the trout-filled Pecos River south of Rowe, N.M. There were reports about three years ago that he wanted to sell about 1,800 acres for $18 million.
The actor — who said recently that it's "sort of true" that he may run for New Mexico governor — has offered pieces of his property for sale on and off for four years, said Dale Heinemann, who is marketing the compound on his Web site, dale@santafereal-estate.com. The property is being listed by Santa Fe Realty Partners.
Kilmer's listing includes a 5,591-square-foot ranch headquarters, barns, garages, several guest houses and horse facilities, Heinemann said. The Santa Fe National Forest abuts the ranch's northern boundary. Two to three miles of the Pecos River runs directly through the ranch.
"He doesn't need the infrastructure," Heinemann said. "I think he'd like to have a much more private existence out there.
"He's not interested in leaving (New Mexico)," Heinemann said. "He'll be left with a lot of raw property. He's on the road most of the time. He's out of the country a lot."
Kilmer has been in dozens of movies and TV shows over the years, including roles in "Batman Forever," "Top Gun" and "Tombstone." More recently, Kilmer was the voice of K.I.T.T in the new "Knight Rider" TV series. He's also active in New Mexico filmmaking, including roles in "Felon," "The Missing," and "Blind Horizon," all of which were shot in the state.
Mason has operated a certified organic farm, Resting in the River, at the Abiquiu site. Her company markets herbal, medicinal and body and bath products. Mason is returning to Broadway to star with Tony Award-winners Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen in "Impressionism," a play opening in March. Mason will play a patron of a New York gallery owned by Allen. The 66-year-old actress plans to buy another home in New Mexico once the ranch is sold, Bessone said.
"After 15 years, I'm looking forward to simplifying and refocusing on the theater," Mason said in a press release. "The farm has been the highlight of my life, separate from acting. The business is wonderful, but time consuming. A part of my life will always be in New Mexico, and that is something I look forward to."
Mason initially tried to sell the property for $11 million when she first put it on the market in 2007.
"I think at one time she was interested in selling it but not strongly committed," said Don DeVito of Santa Fe Properties, who is listing the compound with Briggs Freeman Real Estate in Dallas. "I think now she's definitely ready to move on. She'd like to have a smaller place in New Mexico."
Mason plans to retain her organic business, he added.
To help promote the sale of the property, Realtors are hosting a "press day," with Mason available for interviews, at the farm next week.
Mason's Andalusia-inspired 15,000-square-foot compound consists of a main house circling an interior courtyard and fountain. The home features a great room with facing fireplaces, library and private study. The master suite boasts two separate baths and a fireplace; the two guest bedrooms and gourmet kitchen also feature fireplaces. A two-story artist studio and a two-bedroom guest house also sit on the compound. The home also features artisan-designed doors, antique mantels, bath tile from Seville and ceramic religious plaques set into plastered walls. Mason found the property with the help of Shirley MacLaine, who also owns land in the area.
"It'd be perfect for a school or some kind of institute," DeVito said.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Mason bought the former cattle ranch for $1.5 million and has said she spent about $10 million improving and maintaining it.
Mason told an Associated Press reporter that her first husband was a New Mexico artist; her second spouse was playwright Neil Simon, with whom she collaborated on five films. They divorced in 1983.
"I wound up in New Mexico by just saying, 'I can't deal with L.A. anymore,'" Mason said in an interview about her 1993 move. "I really just threw the pieces of my life up in the air and wondered where they would come down."
Much of Mason's recent work has been focused on the stage, including "Steel Magnolias" on Broadway in 2005, "Wintertime" off-Broadway in 2004 and the title role in "Hecuba" at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Last year, she appeared in "A Feminine Ending" with Tony Award-winning actress Blair Brown at Playwrights Horizon's Peter Jay Sharp Theatre in New York.
As a result of Mason's organic farming, Gov. Bill Richardson appointed her chairwoman of the New Mexico Organic Commodity Commission, which certifies organic farms.
The property is being represented by Santa Fe Properties and Briggs Freeman Real Estate in Dallas.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
