$100 Million Estate Gets A Major Price Chop

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 26th 2010 at 8:01PM

It's been a hard time for the big estates in the country. Candy Spelling can't sell her $150 million Los Angeles home. Leona Helmsley's Dunellen Hall in Greenwich Connecticut has fallen in price from $125 million to $60 million. Now Patricia Kluge has dropped the price on her home, Albemarle in Charlottesville, Virginia. The 300-acre English country estate hit the market at $100 million last October but has had one hell of a price chop, down by 52 percent. The Wall Street Journal's Hot Properties column reports that the property is now listed at just $48 million.

The estate is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Thomas Jefferson's Monticello and James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland. On the grounds there are three ponds, a pool as well as a pool house, log cabin, a greenhouse and several staff cottages. The main house was completed in 1985 and spans over 25,000 square feet with 45 rooms. The home was designed by architect David Easton and his team and includes a theater, library, recreation room with spa and sauna, a card room and an Islamic gallery featuring an antique Syrian fountain. Should you have some leftover cash after buying the home you can turn the front grounds into an 18-hole golf course. Arnold Palmer has already designed it or you can buy some of the furnishings. Antiques, art and furniture will go on sale at Sotheby's in June.

For more on Patricia Kluge, check out Carrie Culpepper's interview with her on her winery.

Gallery: Albemarle

Tags: albemarle house, AlbemarleHouse, biggest price drops, BiggestPriceDrops, Charlottesville, patricia kluge, PatriciaKluge, Virginia

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

bhamab Mar 2nd 2010 6:41AM

magnificent, simply magnificent in every way, from the location, to the grounds, to the complex, to the detail of it's appointments and it's furnishings, this estate is magnificent in every way. clearly the Kluge's had the best of the best advisors, architect, and decorators when they assembled "Albemarle."

an estate such as this, and the realization that such magnificence can be obtained by anyone in this country is the american dream.

karen Mar 2nd 2010 7:15AM

I actually got quite ill looking at this gluttony. Can you say "God awful... and just hideous!"

SUSIEQ Mar 2nd 2010 8:06AM

READ COMMENTS, SAID 'NAH' TO MYSELF...
THEN I LOOKED...YIKES...
MONEY DOESN'T MEAN GOOD TASTE
DOES IT....ANYONE REMEMBER
LOUIS XIV?

Outlaw Josey Wales Mar 2nd 2010 10:11AM

Coupled with an Islamic gallery and the possibilty of celebrities for neighbors, the price tag should be 48 cents, not 48 mil dollars. Or maybe they should pay somebody 48 mil to live there.

As for those who keep telling others not to pass judgement and just shut up, it's out there in the open and public, comment and pass judgement all you want.

K Casey Mar 2nd 2010 10:35AM

I remember when this estate was featured in Town & Country magazine, it was 6,000 acres then, and had a carriage house filled with beautiful coaches. What happened?

Nancy W. Mar 2nd 2010 11:29AM

The Hilton Corp, Indian Casino's,Trump or McDonalds should be buying the Spelling, Helmsly & Kluge "Hotel's" and renting out the rooms, have unemployed American CITIZEN staff & unemployed American CITIZEN men & women working on the grounds, etc. Have horseback riding, cookouts, and trips into the city for shopping. Just like on a stupid cruise ship, which are poluting the ocean, WHERE IS AL GORE??? This is a jobs idea the 7 hr Washington blah,blah,blah meeting for so called medical coverage could have been discussing. Have you ever watched House Hunters on tv, where stupid people out of their element young spoiled couples are out looking for a home. It has to have 4 to 5 bedrooms, 31/2 baths, walk-in closets, granite on the cabinet tops, and a pool and spa, and thier budget is around $500 to $600??? And and you think Yah they are the people who's house's are being repo'd. Other fix up your house shows on DIY network to tear out your "wah, wah, wah old bathroom", after it all it has pink tile on the walls, and it has to go!! No way did they ever think about taxes, electricity, insurance, etc. Vote-M-Out