porcupine creek

Larry Ellison Buys Porcupine Creek

One of the homes on our biggest price drops for 2010 list has found its new owner. MyDesert.com confirms that Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison has snapped up Porcupine Creek, a 249-acre golf course estate in Ranch Mirage, California, for $42.9 million. This home originally hit the market for $75 million but last fall it had a price cut to $55 million. Ellison already has ties in the area. In 2009 he bought the nearby Indian Wells Tennis Garden and BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. Ellison also owns property in Woodside, California, on Malibu's Carbon Beach and last year he purchased the Astor's Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

Pourcupine Creek was formerly owned by Yellowstone Club founders Tim and Edra Blixseth before an acrimonious divorce got the better of them and their global collection of properties. Porcupine Creek was most recently in the hands of a holding company related to the Yellowstone Club. Blixseth sold the Yellowstone Club last year to CrossHarbor Partners. Porcupine Creek includes a golf club and golf course, a huge 18,400 square-foot main residence, eight guest houses, a pool, spa, gym and an amphitheater. It has hosted many benefits and charity events and in an email to MyDesert Edra Blixseth expressed hope that the estate might serve that function again.

[Thanks, Spec.]

Gallery: Porcupine Creek

Tags: edra blixeth, larry ellison, oracle, porcupine creek

Far From The Blixseth Scandal, Yellowstone Club Moves On

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

We've been following the fortunes of Tim and Edra Blixseth for several years. The billionaire couple, once famous for a reportedly amicable separation, devolved into a messy divorce with a major loss of fortune for both parties. Last week scandal hit Edra Blixseth when she was identified as the woman licking congresswoman Mary Bono Mack's cleavage in an event that took place at Blixseth's Porcupine Creek. Real estate watchers know that this is the 249-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, California that used to be owned by Yellowstone Club founders Tim and Edra Blixseth. It hit the market last February at $75 million and is now down to $55 million.

Meanwhile, at the Yellowstone Club, the Big Sky, Montana resort founded by Tim and Edra Blixseth, life goes on. The Bozeman Chronicle recently did an update on the club, checking out how it has fared since its Chapter 11 and subsequent sale to CrossHarbor Capital Partners for $115 million. The club was founded in 2000, as an ultra-luxurious private ski and golf community.

The club is back in business, paying off debts and selling real estate. According to the article more than $175 million in real estate sales have taken place since CrossHarbor took over last year and there are 40 new members. Sam Byrne, managing partner of CrossHarbor Capital Partners, said that he hopes that the special retreat that the Blixseths created will be their legacy rather than "all the noise that goes on in the bankruptcy."

In the article, Tim Blixseth said that he was no longer interested in running the club. As he put it, "some people are better dreamers than operators. I might fall into that category myself." He continues to fight legal battles relating to the case and the charges from his ex-wife that he caused the club to go bankrupt because of a $375 million loan in the club's name from Credit Suisse. The pair planned a global destination club. Several of the properties that were to be used in the club have gone up for sale. Emerald Cay, a Caribbean hideaway in the Turks and Caicos, remains on the market for $48.5 million.

Gallery: Porcupine Creek

Tags: crossharbor, edra blixseth, porcupine creek, tim blixseth

Porcupine Creek Gets A Major Price Cut

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

When Porcupine Creek, the 249-acre estate in Rancho Mirage, California that used to be owned by Yellowstone Club founders Tim and Edra Blixseth, hit the market in February, I knew it was only a matter of time before the price came tumbling down. The Wall Street Journal reports that the property is getting a price cut into slightly more realistic territory, down to $55 million from $75 million.

Even at that price it's a highly unwieldy property, more suited to being a retreat or a resort than a private home. The estate includes a golf club and 19-hole golf course, a huge 18,400 square-foot main residence, eight guest houses, a pool, spa, gym and an amphitheater. The WSJ says that the Montage Hotel and Resorts has restored the golf course, irrigation system and water features; a good thing as things change quickly out in the desert and an untended course could quickly go dusty. The property is being sold for creditors of the bankrupt Yellowstone project and its holding company. Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland and Tyler Morgan of Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate in Palm Springs have the listing and any potential sale would be subject to bankruptcy court approval in Montana. New pictures in the MLS give more of a view of the interior of the main home, including the many antiques in the home and details like ceiling murals and ornate woodwork. I suspect that when this home sells there will be a another huge estate sale of all the furniture in the home.

Gallery: Porcupine Creek

Tags: blixseths, california real estate, edra blixseth, porcupine creek, rancho mirage, tim blixseth, yellowstone club

Edra Blixseth's Porcupine Creek On The Market For $75 Million

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

I've been chronicling the misfortunes of the Tim and Edra Blixseth for a while. The pair went from owning the ultra-elite Yellowstone Club and a global scattering of multimillion properties to seeing everything they built up parceled out and sold off in the fallout from their divorce. Most recently many of the antiques that the Blixseths amassed in their trips around the world were auctioned off. Edra Blixseth has also unloaded some of her jewelry.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the estate where Edra Blixseth spent many happy years is now up for sale for $75 million. Porcupine Creek in Rancho Mirage is a 249 acre estate. Blixseth declared bankruptcy but is now a shareholder in the BLX Group, the holding company for the Yellowstone Club and this home. The seller is the trustee of the BLX Group. The Blixseths built the Porcupine Creek estate together. The property includes a 25,000 square foot main residence, guest houses, a gym and spa, golf clubhouse, golf course and more. Jeff Hyland of Hilton & Hyland and Tyler Morgan of Pacific Union GMAC Real Estate in Palm Springs have the listing but an official listing hasn't hit the web yet. Any potential sale would be subject to bankruptcy court approval in Montana.

The one question on anyone's mind is, will it sell for even close to that price? The Wall Street Journal's Robert Frank who has visited the property believes that it would make a fine resort. He suggests that a company like the Four Seasons or even a resort-minded mogul like Donald Trump might be a buyer who can make the most of the home. It bears noting that $75 million was also a price Tim Blixseth was once looking for his island retreat, Emerald Cay. He has since revised his expectations and that tropical paradise is now listed at $48.5 million.

UPDATE: Thanks to Ben for leading me to the Christie's listing. The pictures aren't great but they do give a bit of an idea as to the scale of the property.

Gallery: Porcupine Creek

Tags: edra blixseth, EdraBlixseth, emerald cay, EmeraldCay, porcupine creek, PorcupineCreek, tim blixseth, TimBlixseth, yellowstone club, YellowstoneClub