An idyllic mountain estate with a brewery and the Clydesdale horses that appeared in Budweiser’s classic beer campaign is on the market in Virginia for $75 million.
Called Mount Ida, the 4,500-acre estate in the heart of Virginia’s wine country is more of a resort than a property. Built in the 1700s, it comes with 26 properties, including a farmhouse-style main home, two beaches, a vineyard, a two-lane go-kart track, a 180-foot waterslide leading to a lake, a pool, two tennis courts and countless trails and ponds. But its most interesting feature? The Clydesdale horses once featured in Budweiser’s beer advertisements.
The estate’s idyllic nature make it a good choice for both filming and potential use as a resort or retreat space. Owner and former wireless telecom entrepreneur Tom Sullivan put the estate on the market after his kids and aging father convinced him to spend more time in New York, according to the Wall Street Journal. Sullivan first bought the property for around $16 million in 2002 and spent over $100 million on various additions and renovations.
Along with being a filming location, the estate has also received prizes for the wines produced on its vineyard.
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The area, located in Southern Albemarle County near Charlottesville, is home to a well-known wine route and remains a popular location for billionaires’ estates. Bernard Arnault, who leads the luxury goods giant LVMH behind Moët and Louis Vuitton, owned Mount Ida prior to Sullivan. Trump Organization’s Trump Winery and Early Mountain Vineyards, owned by AOL co-founder Steve Case, are also within driving distance of the estate.
Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty is the listing agent tasked with selling the property.
“Mount Ida Reserve stands out not only due to its sheer scale roughly three times larger than nearby Trump Winery & Estate but also from its unique inventory of physical features including miles of private river frontage, spectacular mountain views, rolling hills, fertile farmland, hardwood forests and the largest privately owned lake in Virginia with its own island,” the listing description reads.
Due to Mount Ida’s size and number of different features, it requires a staff of 20 people along with contractors to maintain. Up to now, the most expensive sale in Virginia is registered at $45 million. If Sullivan gets his asking price, Mount Ida would go down in history for nearly doubling that amount.
