Take the Money and Run: Steve Miller Selling $16M Idyllic Idaho Compound
Originally posted on Realtor.com
Legendary musician Steve Miller is selling his beautiful compound in Ketchum, ID. The $16 million asking price makes it the fifth-most expensive listing in the tony community.
Included in the collection of buildings on 13 acres are an 8,000-square-foot home, three guest cottages spanning nearly 3,000 square feet each, a 1,600-square-foot art barn, a recording studio that’s about 4,000 square feet, a 3,000-square-foot garage (with a gym), and a 2,700-square-foot archive building. With all those buildings comes plenty of space.
“It’s on a very large acreage for our area,” says listing agent Darlene Young of Engel & Völkers Sun Valley.
Fresh off his controversial induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year, the 73-year-old rocker also continues to woo potential buyers to his massive mansion in San Juan Island, WA, which has been on the market for the past 18 months. After a $2 million price reduction, the Washington home is now going for $14.8 million.
His Idaho property might be a quicker sale. The compound could attract a fellow recording artist, wealthy nature lover, or simply someone who wants to live the good life with a lot of privacy. Miller commissioned the property, designed and built by Sid Schneider in 1987, and has been the sole owner.
“He had quite a long run here,” says Young, “almost 30 years.”
The property borders both Eagle Creek and Big Wood River. Picture windows throughout the home also mean there are mountain views from nearly every room in the main house. The agent says most homes with river frontage in the region don’t have water views, but this home is an exception.
In the building designed to house archives, stained-glass windows by Jacques Bordeleau reach 15 feet in height. The cabinetry within was custom-designed, and the floors are maple. Shelving for storing art and photography, as well as a security vault, is a boon for any buyer who has collectibles worth preserving.
Originally a building for storing potatoes, the art barn is a special place that has fostered Miller’s creativity.
“In addition to being a musician, [Miller] is an artist. This is where he would do his painting,” says Young.
Each of the guest cottages bordering Eagle Creek has a different layout, plus a full kitchen, with common themes in Douglas fir trusses and Bordeleau’s etched-art glass.
“It’s kind of enchanting,” says Young about the bridges that connect each cottage.
Nature lovers who crave fresh powder could use the property as a winter retreat thanks to its half-mile of trails.
“Steve groomed the property for Nordic skiing,” says Young. “When I first met him, he came in wearing ski clothes. He skis all around the property.”
Above all, the property’s most luxe amenity is the recording studio, with isolation booths, a piano lift, climate-controlled instrument vault, bath and kitchenette, and a vaulted ceiling constructed from cedar beams.
“He liked to record in Sun Valley,” says Young. “He would bring his band here to do that.”
Young’s hope is that the private recording studio will attract someone in the music business. But the studio “could be philanthropic as well,” she says, by granting usage to the Sun Valley Center for the Arts. Whatever becomes of this cool compound, the eventual sale will be worthy of a joyous tune.