That's the tact commercial real estate mogul Don Abbey, founder of The Abbey Co., has decided to take for his twin estates of opulence and glory.
- Bradbury, CA Estate: Abbey has listed his 8-acre, 34,000-square-foot Bradbury, CA estate at 172 Bliss Canyon Rd, Bradbury, CA 91008 for $78.8 million.
- Flathead Lake, MT Estate: In Montana, where he bought a private island and erected a stone castle on a 24-acre mound of granite, Abbey is selling his 24,000-square-foot home on Shelter Island, Flathead Lake, MT 59931 for $78 million.
Abbey spent a combined 18 years and more than $200 million erecting the pair of super-luxury residences but, apparently, has decided to downsize.
"He did not build them to sell them, but maybe he'll look for something a little smaller, like 20,000 square feet,'' said listing broker Don Hurwitz, a luxury real estate specialist who lists the creme de la creme around the world.
Abbey started his company in 1990 and grew the commercial real estate group into one of the most successful in California. But with a meticulous eye for detail and an unrelenting pursuit of building homes that would accommodate his love of finer things and outdoors activities, Abbey created the Bradbury and Shelter Island estates, self-contained paradises by any measure.
California estate:
While the California residence includes a huge infinity pool and a temperature-controlled trout pond, the Montana property includes an amazing boat docking system that prevents any boater from touching a line or walking on a dock. There's also a clay shooting course on the Montana island. Both homes come with certified shooting ranges, where target practice participants included actress Lucy Liu.
"She came out to get ready for her role in 'Southland,' " Hurwitz said.
The craftsmanship and materials used in both places are too numerous to list, but Hurwitz said that in the Bradbury estate, one Italian marble fireplace alone came in at $1 million. A stone wall that rings the entire 8-acre property took three years to build by hand.
Montana estate
In Montana, the only way to get materials and equipment shipped to the island that overlooks Glacier National Park was to buy mainland lots to use as staging areas. These lots come with the sale, along with a list of goodies about a mile long.
Abbey previously listed the properties last February, but after pulling them off the market in June, he has decided to list them with Hurwitz, who chose to include the No. 8 in both sale prices in order to attract Chinese buyers, whom Hurwitz said are eager to snap up these kinds of high-end homes, particularly outside of Los Angeles.
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