It’s time to move on for baseball hall of famer Ken Griffey Jr. and his family. Their sprawling Windermere estate just hit the market for $27 million.
It’s huge.
“It’s the grandness of the scale of this particular property, the fact that it’s a 22,000-square-foot home on 11 acres in Windermere, which in terms of land, space, and lot size, there’s just not that much acreage of that size,” said Llin Lu, global real estate advisor with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty’s Southwest Orlando office. “It is a very unique property, being the sheer size of it and the amount of acres that it comes with.”
Griffey Jr. played in the majors for 22 years, mostly for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. He retired in 2010 and is widely considered one of the best centerfielders of all time.
He and his wife, Melissa, were looking for a Florida lifestyle when they moved to the Orlando area in the mid-1990s and built the lakefront house for his family in 2008.
“All the design features that they put into this home are just perfection. Nothing was overlooked. Everything was designed specifically for them,” Lu told GrowthSpotter. “This house will resemble something that you’ll see in Orange County in California. The only difference is the price is not as much as what a property would go for out there.”
There are seven bedrooms and eight full bathrooms, which include a two-bedroom guest wing with a separate entrance, and much more … including a gym, salon room, wine room, and even a special place for furry friends.
“It’s got a very cute dog room. They’re pet lovers, so they have a space for their dogs,” Lu said with a laugh. “It’s a very unique thing to have. The home was designed for the family and to cater to everyone in the family [including the dogs]”.
With so many square feet, there is definitely plenty of room.
“When you walk in, it’s very grand. The ceiling is about 28 feet, and it’s got a double staircase that’s wrapped with travertine marble all around. It’s very, very large,” he said, adding the foyer is 39 by 49 feet, but the whole house does not seem overwhelming. “When someone sees that it’s 22,000 square feet, the number is huge, but at the same time, it also feels cozy.”
Another rarity, a walkout basement with plenty of recreation and entertaining space.
“The lot is unique. It does look down a little bit in the back,” Lu said. “The way they built and designed this home was from the front, where you’ll notice that it’s two floors, and you get a peek at the basement windows from the front of the house.”
The home’s U-shaped garage area has room for a dozen cars with ten designated bays, including two with lifts.
The pool area rivals a five-star resort with a 125,000-gallon pool with a waterfall, slide, and terrace area with views of Cypress Lake. The land has 440 feet of lakefront with a boat dock.
Even from the lakeside, the entire estate is very private, which Lu said is his favorite feature.
“Most people who are in the area don’t even know this house even exists behind the gates. You’ve got a concrete block wall that surrounds the property, so you can’t see it from the main road. This is for someone that wants ultimate privacy in the Windermere market.”
While this home is one of the highest-priced listings ever in the area, it is part of a changing Central Florida market.
“We’ve definitely seen a shift in our ultra luxury market here. In prior years, anything over $10 million would be considered ultra luxury,” he explained, adding that in the past year, half a dozen properties sold for more than that and others are on the market and pending. “It just shows you that people are looking into this particular market as a luxury market.”
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