Gene Hackman’s sprawling Santa Fe residence has officially gone up for sale, nearly a year after the actor and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead at the property earlier this year.
The 13,000-square-foot stucco home, located in New Mexico’s capital city, is listed for $6.25 million, according to Sotheby’s International Realty agents Tara S. Earley and Ricky Allen, who confirmed the listing to The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Thursday, Jan. 15. The luxury brokerage is handling the sale.
© GettyHackman, a celebrated character actor with a career spanning more than six decades and two Academy Awards, died alongside Arakawa in February. Police discovered their bodies inside the home on Feb. 26.
The unusual nature of their deaths prompted an extensive investigation, including the release of police body-camera footage that documented the condition of the house and detailed Arakawa’s online activity in the weeks before she died.
“There will be some buyers that are just averse to purchasing a property where a death has occurred,” Earley told The Wall Street Journal. “There are other buyers for whom that doesn't matter. We are selling the property on its virtues and all of the positives.”
Earley and Allen said the couple’s personal belongings have been fully removed and that the home has been “professionally staged” to prepare it for showings.
Set amid Santa Fe’s arid hills, the green, two-story house served as a peaceful retreat for Hackman during his later years, far removed from Hollywood.
© GettyThe estate was a passion project for Hackman and Arakawa, who rebuilt the home from the studs, blending pueblo, colonial, and Spanish baroque influences, according to Architectural Digest.
A standout feature of the property is its expansive main living area, outfitted with a modern stereo system and framed by large, stately columns. “I wanted a big room with a great-hall feeling, with other rooms opening off it, not closed off with a lot of walls,” Hackman told AD in 1990. “It's totally different from my other houses.”
The Oscar-winning actor, who was also a visual artist, played a hands-on role in designing the home. The magazine noted that Hackman sometimes mixed paint colors himself on a palette to demonstrate the exact shades he envisioned. He lived in Santa Fe for roughly 40 years, spending much of that time in the renovated residence.
© GettyAfter their deaths, authorities found Hackman and Arakawa in different parts of the home—Arakawa in a bathroom near the main entrance and Hackman in a mudroom.
New Mexico’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Heather Jarrell, later confirmed that Hackman, 95, died of natural causes. He also suffered from heart disease and complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. Arakawa, 65, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare illness transmitted through contact with mouse droppings.
