Space cowboy’s home down-to-earth
Rivers, forests and mountains are the focus for rock legend Steve Miller’s Idaho retreat
Steve Miller will take the money, but he likely won’t run from his Idaho estate when it sells.
The legendary rock ’n’ roller will be leaving a piece of his heart behind at the creative compound he called home for 30 years and where he did some of his best work. His 15th album, Wide River — a tribute to Big Wood River, which flows past his windows — was recorded there in the early 1990s.
“He called it a place to create and recreate,” broker Darlene Young says of the 12.5-acre rural retreat that includes a multimillion-dollar, 4,632square-foot recording studio. “Everything blends with nature and was built with reverence to the natural beauty of the river and mountains.”
Miller, whose namesake band is known for such hits as “Take the Money and Run,” “Space Cowboy” and “The Joker,” acquired the property in the late ’80s, adding several buildings to serve his creative needs.
The recording studio, designed by architect Sid Schneider, has isolation booths, a piano lift and a cedar-beamed vaulted ceiling. It was architecturally engineered for optimal acoustics, according to Young, of Engel & Volkers Sun Valley.
Although she’s forbidden to namedrop, other sources reveal that Paul McCartney is among the musical giants who have recorded there.
The private estate located in Ketchum, in Idaho’s Sun Valley — home to one of the world’s best ski resorts — features “outstanding” river and mountain views from every room, Young says.
The sprawling, ranch-style main house boasts 925 feet of waterfront along Big Wood River, as well as another 1,200 feet along Eagle Creek behind it.
With beamed cathedral ceilings, huge windows and multiple fireplaces, the light-toned interior harmonizes with Miller’s love of nature and the outdoors.
Now in his 70s, the guitarist, singer and songwriter is also a painter and photographer.
Although his band’s recording career peaked in the mid-1980s, the popular group still tours and has just released a new album: Ultimate Hits.
“He is the first to admit that being able to stay viable in the music industry all these years has meant knowing when to take some time off, and this is the place to do it,” Craig Dalton wrote in mixonline.com back in 2006.
But the band’s busy schedule means their frontman isn’t spending as much time at the estate, says Young, explaining the decision to put it on the market.
Among the structures Miller added to his acreage are three self-contained guest cottages, also designed by Schneider. With etched art glass, rooms lined with natural wood and Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired stonework, they’re “charming as can be,” Young says.
Similar features are also found in the spacious recording studio, as well as the “art barn” and light-filled archive building where15-foot stainedglass art by Jacques Bordeleau commands attention.
With custom cabinetry and a climate-controlled, high-security vault, the archive building is used for storing Miller’s art, music and treasured guitar collection.
Outside, the wooded and landscaped grounds with two rivers intersecting offer prime fly-fishing spots, in addition to a tennis court and swimming pool. Multiple bridges dot the property and provide access to the cottages and other buildings.
In winter, there are cross-country ski and snowshoe trails that were groomed by the rocker himself, according to Young.