Bruce Willis fans buy for a bargain
Action hero’s Sun Valley estate sells for under half its original list price
Afamily of Bruce Willis fans has claimed bragging rights to the ultimate trophy following a seven-year campaign to find a new owner for the movie star’s home among the aspens of Idaho.
The clan, unidentified beyond their “huge” adulation for the action-flick hero, scored his lakefront estate for a fraction of its original $15-million asking price.
But both buyer and seller got a “fair deal,” says listing agent Travis Jones, whose team helped nudge Willis into accepting $5.5 million for the property he bought and rebuilt in 2003.
For the buyers, moving in means having expansive new walls to display their hero’s movie posters.
“The fact it was Bruce’s house certainly didn’t hurt,” Jones says about the purchase in October. The estate, located a short hop from popular celebrity playground and ski destination Sun Valley, has other things going for it besides its Hollywood connection.
Close to the resort’s amenities, good restaurants and ski shops, it’s an entertainer’s and outdoor lover’s delight, situated on a “beautiful 20-acre aspen glade with forest as far as the eye can see,” says Jones, of Engel & Volkers Sun Valley.
“The home is large and gracious and kind of timeless,” he notes, commending Willis for his choice of design style and finishes that won’t age. There’s also the “amazing” heated pool with three water slides and falls dominating the back yard.
But it wasn’t a quick or easy sell — the luxury lodge languished for seven years following the first listing for $15 million by another real estate firm in 2011.
The unrealistic “very high number” was compounded by the economic downturn, according to Jones.
“It might as well have been $100 million,” he says, adding that Willis wasn’t “super motivated” to sell and was trying to recoup what he put into the property.
By the time Engel & Volkers took on the challenge, in partnership with Grady and Heather Burnett of Keller Williams Realty in 2016, Willis was willing to drop the price to $6.5 million.
Two years later — quick for the sale of a high-end residence, according to Jones — the fan family negotiated the price down another million, bagging their hero’s home for less than 40 per cent of what he originally asked.
“He’s a busy guy,” the realtor says, explaining that Willis, a multiple home owner, relinquished the retreat because he didn’t have time to spend there. Known for playing hardboiled and wisecracking characters, Willis achieved popularity as an action hero in Die Hard and The Expendables, a boxer in Pulp Fiction, and child psychologist in The Sixth Sense. He bought the Idaho compound just outside the former mining town of Hailey three years after he and actress Demi Moore divorced.
Rustic yet elegant, the spacious six-bedroom main house, which Willis renovated and expanded, is a “cross between lodge-style and craftsmanstyle,” Jones says.
Almost half of the massive 2,200-square-foot master bedroom is taken up by the ensuite bathroom, he says.
The kitchen has been fully updated with wood cabinetry and flooring, steel-grey countertops and double fridges, ovens and dishwashers.
The focal point of the large sunken living room is a soaring stone fireplace book-ended by floor-to-ceiling windows that offer views of the pool and woods. Willis also added a gym, ponds and separate guest house.
Despite its jaw-dropping price cut, the estate is still the most expensive residential property ever sold in the Hailey area, according to Jones. Another claim to fame for the new owners.