Get a look inside Western Washington’s most expensive home for sale

Complete with a tennis court, pool and plenty of space for both a seaplane and a yacht, telecom magnate Bruce McCaw’s Hunts Point estate is listed for sale at $85 million — reportedly the highest price in the history of the local real estate listing service.

Though Hunts Point is lined with plenty of luxury waterfront homes, the 4.3-acre parcel is larger than others and includes a five-bedroom, 10-bath mansion, plus a beach house, staff house and cabana, according to the property listing. 

Space for luxuries isn’t an issue: “Boats, seaplane, jet skis and a yacht of up to 150 [feet] are all accommodated” at the property’s dock and 327 feet of Lake Washington shoreline.

“It’s a trophy property, really without peer,” said Windermere listing agent Anna Riley. 

A large lawn offers space for hosting “fundraisers or holiday events,” and the dock is “like having a private marina,” Riley said. Modern zoning rules would not allow a dock of the same size or for the guest house to be as close to the water as it is, she said.

Los Angeles architect Richard Landry designed the sandstone home for saxophonist Kenny G, aka Kenneth Gorelick. The house was built in 1995. In 1999, Gorelick sold the home to Craig McCaw. At the time, neither side would reveal the purchase price, but the home had been listed for $26.5 million, The Seattle Times reported. 

Craig later sold the home to his brother Bruce McCaw and Jolene McCaw, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, which first reported the $85 million listing.

The McCaw family built its fortune after founding McCaw Cellular Communications, which was later sold to AT&T, and investing in other cellular companies as cell phones began to become a part of everyday life. Bruce McCaw also founded an insurance company and helped found Horizon Airlines.

The $85 million listing is the most expensive in the history of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which covers 26 Western Washington counties, the service confirmed.

The price is far beyond even the most extravagant homes to hit the local market in recent memory (though some luxury sales take place off market). In 2020, a property at the tip of Hunts Point became the most expensive local home sale at $60 million. Last year, the priciest sale in Western Washington was a mere $30.75 million, according to the NWMLS. Riley said the size and scale set the McCaw property apart.

Nationally, the number of luxury home sales spiked early in the pandemic but that has since begun to dip as the housing market slightly cools.

The priciest homes in the Seattle area often draw wealthy buyers from markets such as California, where prices are even higher.

Listing agents plan to market the Hunts Point home internationally. “The buying pool is not just our local pool of buyers,” Riley said. “Buyers who will look at this will have a broader perspective.”

This article includes information from the Seattle Times archives.