Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa’s New Mexico home has sold after just one month on the market.
The deal came to a close on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Hackman and Arakawa’s Santa Fe compound listed in January for $6.25 million, less than a year after their bodies were discovered there in a grisly, and tragic, scene. The listing entered contingent contract in just eight days.
The contract price was not disclosed, and it is possible that the final closing price for the will remain unknown. New Mexico numbers among roughly a dozen states where home sale prices aren’t required to be made public.
Hackman, 95, was a two-time Academy Award winner. He acted in over 100 films across his five-decade career, including “The French Connection,” “Unforgiven,” and “The Royal Tanenbaums.” Arakawa, 65, was a classical pianist.
Hackman succumbed to heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s, according to investigators. Arakawa was determined to have died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rodent-borne disease, days before Hackman’s passing.
The couple purchased the property in the 1990s, later constructing a three-bedroom main house, a guesthouse and an artist’s studio.
Their sprawling estate’s recent history did not dissuade or even bother potential buyers, surprising listing agent Tara S. Earley of Sotheby’s International Realty. Earley previously said the home was priced without a celebrity premium, acknowledging that the deaths could deter some buyers.
“Everybody that came to see the property, the circumstances did not bother them.” Earley told the Journal. “If it was a hurdle, then they had gotten over it.”
Earley said she hosted 12 tours of the home during the eight-day listing period. The final buyer’s agent, Chris Pearson Kramer of Sotheby’s International Realty, declined the comment to the Journal.
The 53-acre compound resides across two parcels in the gated Summit neighborhood, northeast of downtown Santa Fe.
The main house and guesthouse span a combined 13,000 square feet, including six bedrooms. Large expanses of steel and glass overlooking the high desert landscape. The contemporary design was undertaken by Stephen Samuelson with architect Harry Perez-Daple, the same team behind Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s massive Calabasas property.
Outdoor features include a lap pool, a hot tub, a putting green and a picturesque pagoda.
Hackman and Arakawa’s personal belongings were cleared from the property prior to its sale. In addition to professional staging, the home required a new roof, paid for by Hackman’s estate.
