RIDDELL ESTATE ON BLOCK
Billionaire’s house listed at $9.9M
For nearly four decades a sprawling property southwest of Calgary was home to one of the city’s richest oil tycoons.
But Clay Riddell’s lavish home in the Municipal District of Foothills is now on the block for anyone with pockets deep enough to afford the $9.9 million price tag.
Tucked in about midway between Millarville and Priddis, the 65-hectare property boasts an 11,500 sq.-ft. house featuring six bedrooms, five bathrooms, an indoor pool, private squash court, as well as offering breathtaking views of the Rocky Mountains and Calgary’s cityscape.
In addition to a three-car attached garage, the rural property includes a bonus detached threecar garage with a walkout workshop, an outdoor tennis court, a 15-stall horse stable, custodian’s residence, as well as hay and equipment storage.
The property was quietly put up for sale last May, and marks one of the priciest properties up for sale in Alberta, according to MLS listings.
Riddell, whose current net worth is pegged by Forbes as $1.25 billion, is the executive chairman of Paramount Resources, after stepping down as CEO in 2015. Like many in Alberta’s oil sector, the mogul and Calgary Flames part-owner was hard hit by the province’s economic downturn, with Forbes reporting last year his net worth took a billion dollar haircut, dipping to $909 million.
But Shawn Hansen of Hansen Land Brokers, tapped to sell the pricey pad, said Riddell’s decision to sell the property, on land he purchased for just $136,000 in 1976, has little to do with economic factors.
“He’s at the stage of his life where his kids are grown, he’s 80-plus years old and he finds the drive a bit long,” Hansen said.
“He’s finding it more convenient to be in the city.”
Hansen said Riddell’s late wife Vi made the home a labour of love, continually upgrading and adding on to the home, that features a distinctly western motif.
“Mrs. Riddell was apparently always working on it, adding this and adding that,” he said.
“When he bought it, his friends though he’d lost his mind paying so much money for that piece of land.
“Everything in the home is absolutely top notch and top quality — it’s just beautiful. To have a swimming pool in your living room is just unbelievable.”
While Hansen wouldn’t say how much interest there’s been in the property, he said, “We’ve had some people looking at it.”
Even in Alberta’s ongoing downturn, Hansen said that has little to do with people with enough capital to invest in properties like Riddell’s.
Hansen added although the property doesn’t come furnished, the house includes “a bunch of pieces (Riddell) would sell to somebody.”