ShareThisBy JOHN REBCHOOK
Scripps Howard News Service
Monday, May 14, 2007
It's a big house for a big man.
Carmelo Anthony, the 6-foot-8 superstar forward for the Denver Nuggets, has bought the sprawling Sognare Estate mansion near Littleton, Colo. Listing price: almost $12 million.
Anthony bought the home, which some sources list as having more than 25,000 square feet, from a former Qwest executive who, as part of the deal, will get the basketball player's house in Lakewood, Colo.
Former Qwest Executive Vice President Stephen Jacobsen built the house after pocketing almost $50 million in company stock when the Denver telco was flying high.
The 22-year-old basketball player's purchase of the Tuscan-style home on almost six acres in Polo Reserve has kept real estate brokers buzzing for more than a month.
The home was originally listed at $17 million in 2004, which was then the most expensive house on the market, but last year the price was slashed to $11.95 million.
Although the sale and the purchase price have not been recorded with the Arapahoe County assessor's office, Anthony's agent, Calvin Andrews, confirmed the sale to the Rocky Mountain News last week.
The house is in unincorporated Arapahoe County, according to the assessor's office, which put the taxable value of the home at $11 million.
"He already bought it," Andrews said by mobile phone. "He moved in last week."
The estate was built in 2002. It includes seven bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a 5,000-bottle wine center, an 11,000-square-foot barn, hand-cut limestone floors, a Brazilian mahogany paneled library and a recording studio.
The finished square footage has been described in various marketing material as ranging from 21,084 square feet to 25,610 square feet.
But basically, Anthony doubled the size of his 12,130-square-foot Lakewood home, which he bought in 2004 for $3.5 million.
One amenity that appealed to Anthony was the recording studio.
"It is absolutely state of the art and a very modern recording studio," Andrews said. "I would not say it was high on his criteria, but it probably pushed him over the edge to buy it. Carmelo wants to do more and more with his record label (Kross Over Entertainment)."
What the house includes:
_ A house with as much as 25,610 square feet.
_ Eight fireplaces
_ Seven-car garage
_ A swimming pool, fountains and waterfall
_ A 11,000 square foot barn "worthy of a Triple Crown hopeful."
_ Hand-cut pillowed limestone floors
_ A Brazilian mahogany library
_ Copper-clad French doors
_ 5,000-bottle wine cellar
_ A professional-grade recording studio
Source: Marketing Material Released In 2004 By Fuller Towne & Country Properties.
(Contact John Rebchook of the Rocky Mountain News at www.rockymountainnews.com.)
