Albuquerque home featured in AMC’s ‘Better Call Saul’ on the market for $3.7 million

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For the owners of 8906 Paramount NE, the single-family home is an oasis offering unobstructed views of nearby buffalo wandering the neighboring Sandia Pueblo.

But for fictional television character Ricky Sipes — otherwise known as “Big Ricky” in the series “Better Call Saul,” a spin-off, prequel to AMC’s “Breaking Bad” — the Albuquerque property serving as his home is an opportunity to secede from the United States and become a sovereign state.

In a scene in episode five of season one, Sipes, played by actor Joe Berryman, presents the idea to main character Saul Goodman, a fictional lawyer portrayed by Bob Odenkirk.

“I got 1,100 acres of property here, self-sustaining with solar power and wells — a sovereign state immune to the business-killing regulations of the country in which it geographically lies,” Sipes said in the scene as Mozart played in the background. “We are going to be America’s Vatican City.”

Sipes offered Goodman $1 million to help him with the process. Goodman was thrilled until he saw Sipes’ face on the fake cash bills. The scene ended with tires screeching as Goodman sped away from Sipes’ grand home.

While Sipes didn’t make a deal, the home’s real-life owners are hoping they can. The mansion-like home, built in 2008, is on the market for $3.7 million.

The 5,871-square-foot home, which sits on nearly an acre of land, doesn’t come with wells or solar power, but it does offer seven bedrooms, five bathrooms and a detached casita, the Zillow listing says.

The property also features a pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen, a fire pit and covered patio with a fireplace — all backdropped by the Sandia Mountains and miles of private Sandia Pueblo land where buffalo often roam.

While decorated with taxidermy galore in the home’s “Better Call Saul” appearance, the owners have meticulously remodeled it with a sound system, fresh lighting, hand-scraped hickory floors, custom cabinets, an arched brick ceiling, exposed wood beams, quartzite countertops, stone accents and Spanish-imported roof tiles.

“It’s all been local tradesmen,” said Michael Schlichte, the home’s listing agent, qualifying broker and owner of Absolute Real Estate. “They’ve really made the house shine.”

The home’s owners, a local couple who declined to comment for this story, purchased the property in 2020, Schlichte said. The couple works in the medical industry, and they have taken on interior design projects for several properties over the years. However, a shifting family dynamic with children going off to college prompted a change, Schlichte said.

“They felt like there wasn’t anything else that they could add to this home,” Schlichte said.

Schlichte initially listed the property for $4.1 million in late July but dropped the price by nearly 10% in early October, citing time on the market and what his analytics were showing as factors. Zillow values the property at $3.5 million.

The home — dubbed the “buffalo house” by its owners, Schlichte said — isn’t the only real estate from the “Breaking Bad” universe on the market.

Albuquerque’s Crossroads Motel, known as the Crystal Palace on the show, was recently listed for $3 million in late October. Joanne Quintana also listed her home — where “Breaking Bad” main character Walter White lived in the show — for $4 million earlier this year.

But the buffalo home’s price doesn’t reflect the television appearance, which Schlichte was unaware of. Rather, it reflects a craftsmanship and character that Schlichte said isn’t common in large mansions.

“The house that I have on Paramount has a lot of soul to it,” Schlichte said. “There’s no shortcuts — it’s just really tuned up. Every time I show it, people are just smiling the whole time walking through. It just has a really warm feeling throughout.”

The ‘buffalo house’