After the death of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2018, a cavalcade of extraordinary properties owned by the businessman and programmer have appeared on the open market, with most having already found buyers.
Taken as a whole, these substantial estates provide a window into the tastes and sensibilities of the billionaire whiz kid; Enchanted Hill perhaps caught him at his most grandiose, while the living spaces of his main estate in Atherton, California, reveal a penchant for cerebral warmth and singular artisanal elements.
One of the unsold properties being dealt with by Allen’s estate is his desert getaway in New Mexico, a pueblo-style that was once hearth and home to seminal American painter Georgia O’Keefe. The property saw a substantial price cut recently; formerly asking $22.6 million, the 20-acre Santa Fe compound is now tagged at $17.5 million.
Set behind formidable but sculptural gates and framed in landscaping designed in a leafy, secluded style, the property’s main house is something of a reticent presence amid the buoyantly bright Santa Fe atmosphere; the softness of its adobe exterior provides it with a remarkable sense of connection to the land, and it might’ve always been here. In fact, it dates to the 1930s.
The home’s ceilings, with log, stick and hewn beam, drive home the palpable sense of the historic on the estate, and the authenticity of the living style is absolutely unimpeachable as a result. But the house is also bright and fairly modern; indeed, a whisper of midcentury sneaks in here and there. Kiva fireplaces, built-in shelving, red brick, terra-cotta tile, and custom metalwork are among the additional details in this house’s aggregate. Its vernacular is astonishingly literate.
With 21 bedrooms and 23 baths across 18,663 sq. ft. of interiors, as well as a conference center, events center and lodge, as well as indoor and outdoor amenities various and sundry. this property may be a natural for a sensitive accommodations business with a fine arts context.
Allen passed away in 2018. His net worth was around $20 billion.
