Why Hasn’t Anyone Bought Drew Bledsoe’s Oregon Mansion?

Paul Marotta/Getty Images; realtor.com

After six years on the market, retired NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe’s mansion in Bend, OR, hasn’t budged from the line of scrimmage.

Originally listed in 2013 for $9.95 million, the almost 15,000-square-foot home on 10 acres is waiting for a buyer to blitz in with an offer. The property’s price was slashed to $6.95 million in 2015. Since then, it’s simply been a waiting game.

“We’ve lowered it quite a bit,” says listing agent Justin Lavik of Cascade Sotheby’s International Realty. “It’s priced just right.”

When the property went up for sale six years ago, it was difficult to arrive at a price because of a lack of high-end inventory in the area. “We hadn’t had comps. Now we have some comps. There are a lot [of home listings] in the price range,” says Lavik.

Lavik told us Bledsoe would like to recoup construction costs, adding there’s no way the home could be replicated for the asking price. He estimates the construction of a comparable property today would cost upward of $20 million.

The home itself is worthy of an end zone dance. Bledsoe, a Washington native, bought the land in 2004 for $750,000, then spent years building the massive, gated estate. Completed in 2008, the custom-built home was designed by Sun Valley–based architect Janet Jarvis. 

Great room

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Dining room

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Along with seven beds and 10 baths, the layout includes a large living room with exposed beams and a fireplace, great room, loft with guest suite and sitting room, office, breakfast nook, formal dining room, and temperature-controlled wine room. Bledsoe is serious about vino. His post-NFL life includes winemaking on a vineyard in Washington.

Wine cellar

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Recreational amenities include an indoor basketball half-court, pool, two hot tubs, full-turf sport court, and a putting green. Let’s not forget the attached four-car garage and detached three-car garage.

Time on the market

While 1,200 days on the market is a long time, luxury homes do tend to spend more time on the market. Nationally, approximately 20.4% of listings priced over $5 million have been on the market for more than a year.

The issue is even more pronounced on the local level. In the Bend-Redmond metro area, a whopping 79.5% of properties over $5 million have been on the market for more than 12 months, notes Sabrina Speianu, economic research analyst for realtor.com®.

“Although the situation of this particular property is rarer, it isn’t unusual to have properties at this price point sit on the market for more than a year,” Speianu says. 

Lavik says he’s not under pressure to move the property fast. “It’s a life change,” Lavik says of the sellers. “It’s a good move but they don’t have to sell.”  

Home fit for a (wealthy) family

To sum up, the property is big, fun, and … expensive. “It’s designed for multiple children,” says Lavik. (Bledsoe has four.) “It’s super livable. It flows, it’s really well-designed. It’s fit for a family.”

Lavik has noticed anecdotally buyers for high-end area properties aren’t necessarily local. Our data back up what he’s seeing on the ground. According to Speianu, over half the people looking at Bend properties on realtor.com came from outside the state—with the majority of outside interest coming from large metros like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.

Kitchen with breakfast nook

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Pool with waterfall

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The space would be ideal for a large family with an equally large bank account. Lavik notes that the layout probably wouldn’t appeal to empty nesters thanks to the multitude of bedrooms. But the privacy probably would. Views of the Cascade Mountains and proximity to skiing don’t hurt either.

Benefits for the out-of-town buyer

The home’s actually close to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops, should an owner opt to emerge from their compound. Which is another benefit to an out-of-town buyer who wants both seclusion and a second home which isn’t too far removed from civilization.

“Bend’s proximity to thriving tech hubs are likely a benefit to its housing market,” says Speianu. Which means someone will eventually see the value in the mansion, take the handoff from Bledsoe, and run to daylight.

The 46-year-old played 14 seasons in the NFL, notably as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots. He also suited up for the Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys. After retiring in 2006, the former signal caller founded Doubleback Winery in Walla Walla, WA. 

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