Blue Heron Farm Chilmark, OBama Summer Vacation Home Sold For $21+ Million

The house/farm where President OBama and family have spent there last three Summer vacations on Martha's Vineyard has sold for $21.925 million. MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW.. Here is the full story as reported by the Vineyard Gazette.
Blue Heron Farm, the Chilmark estate that President Obama and his family have rented for three past summer vacations, was sold last week for $21.9 million. The gentleman’s farm will be occupied by a high-profile European couple, Lord Norman and Lady Elena Foster of Thames Bank in Great Britain.

Lord Foster, who designed the new Wembley Stadium and 30 St. Mary Axe, the cylindrical building in downtown London known as the Gherkin, is considered to be one of the world’s most successful architects. Lady Foster is an accomplished academic and the founder of several arts publications. Hers is the only name that appears in connection with the real estate transfer, the bulk of which was handled through a limited liability corporation.

The transaction was complicated and involved two separate deeds in as many days, and designed to preserve anonymity. On Nov. 22, Blue Sky MV LTD, a real estate investment corporation organized in late October, purchased 28.5 acres in Chilmark and 3.7 noncontiguous acres in West Tisbury for a total of $21.925 million. One day later, Lady Foster purchased an accompanying .3-acre Quansoo Beach lot for $475,000 in her maiden name, Maria Elena Pia Fernandez Lopez de Ochoa.

At $22.4 million, the price ranks among the highest paid for a single-family home on the Vineyard.

The sale was handled by Tom Wallace, a principal in Wallace and Co. Realty Sotheby’s International. Mr. Wallace, who also handled the rentals to the Obamas, would not comment on the identity of the Blue Heron Farm buyers. However, the transaction mirrors another Mr. Wallace oversaw in 2005, when Mississippi businessman William Van Devender purchased Blue Heron Farm through a limited liability corporation. Because the Quansoo Beach Association does not allow buyers to organize their sales under blind corporations, Mr. Van Devender purchased the same Quansoo parcel using his and his wife’s full name.

The transfer of ownership marks the latest chapter in Blue Heron Farm’s storied history, made all the more public since the First Family’s stay.

In 1991, the late Vineyard philanthropist M. Anthony Fisher purchased much of the land that comprises Blue Heron Farm for $1.2 million. Over the course of several years, he amassed additional property and hired Vineyard contractors to build and renovate existing structures on the site. Today, the property, which fronts a cove on Tisbury Great Pond, includes two full-sized homes, a boathouse, a 150-year-old barn that was brought in from Pennsylvania and reassembled, a riding ring, tennis and basketball courts, multiple gardens and an apple orchard. A white clapboard farmhouse on the property was inspired by the home in the Kevin Costner movie Field of Dreams.

Then-president Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, attended a dinner party on the property in the summer of 1998.

Mr. Fisher and his wife, Anne, were killed in a plane crash in 2003.

Mr. Van Devender, one of the original investors of the Vineyard Golf Club, purchased Blue Heron Farm from the estate of Mr. Fisher in 2005 for $20.35 million.

Wallace & Co. managed Blue Heron Farm for the past three years for the Van Devenders, renting it out on a limited basis. The First Family spent 10 days in the farmhouse this summer.

The Van Devenders put the property on the market in September for an asking price of $23.7 million. In conversation with the Gazette at the time, Mr. Wallace said the Van Devenders decided to sell because they have been spending less time on the Island. “I think their plans include spending more time on the West Coast for a variety of reasons,” he said.


Though Blue Sky MV documents indicate that Wallace & Co. will continue to manage Blue Heron Farm, it is understood that the Fosters will not rent out the estate. Lord and Lady Foster maintain several residences both in North American and abroad, and their respective business interests are headquartered overseas.

Lord Foster is founder and chairman of the 600-person architectural firm Foster + Partners, based in London. A champion in his field, he has been awarded the Pritzker Architecure Prize, Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture, the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Architecture, the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture. He was granted a knighthood in 1990 and was honored with a life peerage in 1999, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

Lady Foster is a Fulbright scholar and an academic psychologist with a strong media presence in her native Spain. In 1996, she founded Ivory Press, an arts publishing house with locations in London and Madrid. Lady Foster has launched several upscale arts publications, including C International Photography Magazine, which is published in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Japanese.

The Blue Heron Farm sale gave a significant boost to the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank, a state-chartered Island organization which collects a two per cent fee on most real estate transactions to buy public open space and other conservation lands. The recent slowdown in the real estate market has caused land bank monies to slow to a trickle. The land bank fee on the Blue Heron and Quansoo beach lot sale was $448,000. “From the perspective of the land bank, this is a welcome receipt of funds,” said executive director James Lengyel this week.



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Mike Wallace, 60 Minutes, Martha's Vineyard Home Sold For $7 Million

The Vineyard Summer home of Mary and Mike Wallace has been sold for $7 million. The quintessential, six bedroom, five bath, waterfront compound with private 90' dock, 220' private beach,etc., had been enjoyed by them, family and friends for more than 20 years.

Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!

President OBama Summer Vacation Home Set to Close

President OBama and family may be looking for a new place to spend their Vineyard vacation starting next Summer. The property known as Blue Heron Farm or 41 Cobbs Hill Rd. in Chilmark has a signed purchase and sales agreement in place. The 28.5 acre property is presently owned by Blue Heron Properties, LLC. and was listed for sale at $23.7 million. It includes includes 5 main structures, two full-size homes (5118 square feet and 3718 square feet) that have all been renovated, equestrian facilities including an antique eight-stall horse barn that was relocated from Pennsylvania and completely rebuilt on site, an Olympic dressage arena, and six grass paddocks. Recreational amenities include a waterview pool with hot tub, a stunning par 3 golf hole, tennis court, half basketball court, lawn bowling, and horseshoes plus over 1800' of waterfront allowing for boating etc.

Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!

544 Chappaquonsett Road Vineyard Haven Listed for $16 Million

This just hit the market. Here is a description provided by the broker;

SECLUDED 22-ACRE WATERFRONT COMPOUND BOASTING THREE HOMES, each with sweeping views across Vineyard Sound. Located in Northern Pines off Lambert's Cove Road, this exquisite property is one of the last remaining waterfront estates offering the grandeur of a bygone era. The MAIN HOUSE is comprised of five (5) bedrooms and five (5) baths, central a/c, expansive decks and terrace; GUEST HOUSE is comprised of five (5) bedrooms and three (3) baths, central a/c, kitchen and Great Room that opens onto covered porch w/pergola; the POND HOUSE offers one (1) bedroom and one (1) bath, a fireplace, two screened rooms and is sited on a the edge of a private restored freshwater pond. Extras include a private ARTIST'S STUDIO, a 300-foot sandy PRIVATE BEACH and a PRIVATE TENNIS COURT. This home has been cared for by a full-time caretaker and has had constant upgrades over the years. Being sold TURNKEY with all the furnishings.Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!

39 Spruce Gate Road Chilmark Martha's Vineyard Listed for $18.5 Million

39 Spruce Gate Road in Chilmark was just listed yesterday for $18.5 million. Here is the description of the property provided by the broker;
One of a kind Squibnocket Ridge property on the south shore of Chilmark - walk to private association beaches or enjoy the miles of association roads and trails through hundreds of acres of conservation land. One of only seventeen properties on the entire +-500 acre farm. This 16+ acre property is allowed to have two full sized dwelling and has a 12 bedroom septic system already installed. Maybe the most beautiful spot on the entire island.Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!
This is a big number for a piece of land but by no means the most expensive in Chilmark currently listed. If you would like a listing sheet sent please email me.

Boston.Com places two Vineyard Beaches in the Top 10

Martha's Vineyard was voted as having two of the best beaches in Massachusetts by Boston.Com today. Both Menemsha Beach located in Chilmark and South Beach located in Katama/Edgartown made the list. Check out the link to the article.http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/specials/summer/gallery/top_10_beaches_in_massachusetts/?p1=Upbox_links
Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!

83 Norton Farm West Tisbury Sold For $3,275,000

The Vineyard real estate market continues to show strong sales. Yesterday Richard and Wendy Hurst Levine of Cresskill, New Jersey sold their Summer home located at 83 Norton Farm Rd. West Tisbury, Martha's Vineyard to Elizabeth Braudis Trustee of the Orca Remainder Trust for $3,275,000. The 5,000 square foot 4 bedroom, 3.5 bathroom property has tremendous views of Vineyard Sound and the Elizabeth Islands and sits on 3 acres. The sale included deeded rights to Upper Makonikey Beach.
Please visit my website www.vineyardrealtygroup.com to search all properties for sale on Martha's Vineyard. I can be reached at 617-429-5219. Thanks for viewing!