See the thread on Off Course entitled, Tom Cruise for your answer to this question…
Slow down of the real estate market? I think not.
The magnificent Hickory Tree Farm in Middleburg, VA, the stables of the late Mrs. DuPont Mills (most notably the runner Devil’s Bag) is now under contract. Hopefully the buyer is snatching up the entire offering and not the recently broken up two parts.
An equisite offering!
Still available but the price reduced is the architecturally magnificent Nydrie Stud, Albemarle County, VA estate of recently retired Breeders’ Cup President D.G. Van Clief Jr.: $6.75 million for the historic 592 acre stables.
Oh Lad will be so sad.
His temp home is gonna be sold. Boo Hoo. J/K. He wouldn’t leave his girlfriend now for all the tea in China,
~Emily
Whoa, never realised Pete Bostwick was related to the Clark’s. Somehow all that money seems to have chukkered away.
[QUOTE=merrygoround;2126196]
Whoa, never realised Pete Bostwick was related to the Clark’s. Somehow all that money seems to have chukkered away.[/QUOTE]
A funny pun there 
Pete’s mother was Marie Stokes and Ambrose Clark’s wife was Florence Stokes, her sister.
The legendary Pete who you could say happily died in the saddle during a polo match (heart attack) was of Standard Oil money. So the Singer sewing machine fortune of Brose was almost unnecessary and only a minor portion left to Pete and others after his death in '64. Brose left much of his property and possessions outside of Cooperstown to various entities, but the core of his fortune remained with the family trust/foundation which still exists today.
Pete’s famous Village Farms Polo field in Gilbertsville, NY [his stepfather was a member of the community’s founder] is still there as are the numerous stables, outbuilding, cottages and the like. Other Bostwick family members still have property there and of course in South Carolina.
A rather interesting family, the Bostwicks.
One of Pete’s late sisters, Dorothy Stokes Bostwick Campbell continued to live in Cooperstown (like Brose) at her magnificent estate - Leatherstocking Falls - and in Florida until her death in 2001. She was perhaps the least “horsey” of them all. Instead of horses she had the first helicopter pilots licenses issued for a woman and was also a champion yachatsman along with her first husband.
His other sister, Lillian Bostwick Phipps, who died in 1987, owned the champion jump er Neji and was married to Ogden Mills Phipps (deceased '02). Her surving son Ogden is pretty well known in the racing world
His brother Dunbar Bostwick, who died in 2006, was a polo player like Pete and had a 6-goal handicap. Based in Vermont he would be inducted into the Trotter Hall of Fame. Some interesting elements from his obit in the New York Times:
He bred, trained and raced winning standard-bred trotters, including Boyne, Nibble Hanover, Chris Spencer, Kuno, Speedy Tomali (named New Jersey Horse of the Year in 1986) and Super Speedy. His most famous horse, Chris Spencer, ended a successful year lame as a 2-year-old, prompting Mr. Bostwick to use a now-common practice of swimming horses to train them.
He did so twice a day, piloting a small motorboat on Lake Champlain and making the horse perform the trot without the weight of pounding a dirt track. Chris Spencer made a celebrated comeback, training in Vermont and even traveling by air to California to win the prestigious Hollywood Stakes race in 1952.
They don’t seem to make sporting families quite like the Bostwick-Clark-Phipps clans any more in America.
1 Like
The Sheikh buys former Greentree Stables in Saratoga
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;1680429]
On the topic of stables for sale, did by chance the Stonerside facility at Saratoga Springs, NY ever get sold? It seemingly dropped off the market - Sotheby’s Realty has no mention of it nor does the original listing agent, Roohan Realty. The 105 acre Stonerside Stable (nee Whitney Greentree) training center, which adjoins the Saratoga Race Course backstretch, had been listed for $19 million.[/QUOTE]
SOLD to none other then the family with all the toys - Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Saratoga’s legendary Stonerside farms is sold for $17.5M to train horses like Travers winner Bernardini
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
Albany Times Union
Thursday, January 18, 2007
SARATOGA SPRINGS – The ruler of Dubai has purchased Stonerside Stable, a prestigious 106-acre horse farm that adjoins Saratoga Race Course, for nearly $17.5 million.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who leads the tiny Persian Gulf nation, bought the huge parcel on Nelson Avenue from Robert and Janice McNair, owners of the NFL’s Houston Texans, according to a property transfer filed in the Saratoga County clerk’s office.
Jimmy Bell, president of the Lexington, Ky.-based Darley Stud Management, which is owned by Sheikh Mohammed, came to Saratoga Springs Tuesday and closed on the property, he said.
The McNairs had bought it and an additional 14 acres east of the Northway eight years ago for $5.5 million. Sheikh Mohammed will continue using the farm to train and race horses, Bell said.
“I could tell you what people think of it, but horses think more of it,” Bell said. “It’s just a great, relaxing environment for these young horses to develop and thrive, and Sheikh Mohammed is always interested in providing his horses the best environment.”
The farm includes a one-mile training track, 46 stalls in two stables, a mansion and a dairy barn that has been converted to an Adirondack-style lodge.
Conflicts between Robert McNair’s racing and football training seasons were behind the decision to sell, Stonerside Stable business manager David Sorrell said in 2004, when the property was first made available. Darley Stud Management has leased the farm from Stonerside the last two thoroughbred racing seasons.
The property was marketed locally by Tom Roohan of Roohan Realty in Saratoga Springs, who could not be reached for comment. In 2004, its assessed value was $6 million, according to city property records. A current assessed value could not be obtained Wednesday.
Darley anticipates renovating the on-site oval to include a new synthetic Polytrack surface, Bell said. The company presently has no plans to build more stalls or housing on the site, he said.
“The emphasis is really about the horses,” Bell said. “Having been guests of the property, you can tell the positive impact on the horse’s overall attitudes, and they appeared to thrive in that environment. This is an opportunity to give these horses every chance to be successful on the racetrack.”
Darley’s Bernardini, winner of Saratoga Race Course’s Travers Stakes in 2006, trained as a 2-year-old at Stonerside, Bell said.
The farm is separated from the track property by a gate.
Betsey Cushing Whitney and her husband, the late John Hay “Jock” Whitney, had owned the property for decades.
Bell said it was doubtful the ruler of Dubai could ever find time to visit his new estate.
“Sheikh Mohammed has numerous farms throughout the world, and one thing that can be said is that he and the Maktoum family are great stewards of the land,” Bell said.
Regarding McNair’s ownership of the former Greentree Stables there in Saratoga: BloodHorse 1-18-07
In a statement released by Stonerside, Robert McNair noted that “Janice and I have enjoyed our time at our Saratoga home, but since buying the Houston Texans of the National Football League, we’ve been unable to spend as much time in Saratoga as we had planned to.” The McNairs had purchased the one-time John Hay and Betsey Whitney estate in the late '90s for $5.5 million, and had done extensive renovation to the home and property.
The McNairs never did have horses on the property, which was leased for the first couple of years they owned it to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, then to Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley operation. The McNairs listed the property for sale in 2004, then took it off the market one year later, subsequently leasing it once again to Darley for the past two years.
Never used the perfectly located facility for Stonerside horses … amazing!
If you enjoyed Seabiscuit here is where some of it was filmed …
Stony Oak Training Facility, Bourbon Co, KY near Claborne, et al $7,500,000 605 Acres
The stone bridge overwhich Seabiscuit gallops when “allowed to just be a horse again” is part of this estate.
It has an indoor, covered 1/8 mi track. The private outdoor 1-mile oval dirt track is registered with Daily Racing Form for published works. It has a 1 1/16 turf gallop track, etc.
The music video to promote the StonyOak facility [in Quicktime and takes a while to load up] is something right out of Wildfire. Interesting music choice …
[QUOTE=Xctrygirl;1909330]
Thats where Lad lived and trained out of this spring. And believe me its every bit as nice in person. But even if I won the big lottery, I wouldn’t be buying it. Just a bit too much property and facilities to manage, even with a fleet of hired help.
~Emily[/QUOTE]
hey Emily, you know Hickory Tree sold don’t you?
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2125989]
Slow down of the real estate market? I think not.
The magnificent Hickory Tree Farm in Middleburg, VA, the stables of the late Mrs. DuPont Mills (most notably the runner Devil’s Bag) is now under contract. Hopefully the buyer is snatching up the entire offering and not the recently broken up two parts.
QUOTE]
I do believe they bought the entire thing - both “parcels”. And they are keeping the employees and tenants…
[QUOTE=InVA;2235299]
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2125989]Slow down of the real estate market? I think not.
The magnificent Hickory Tree Farm in Middleburg, VA, the stables of the late Mrs. DuPont Mills (most notably the runner Devil’s Bag) is now under contract. Hopefully the buyer is snatching up the entire offering and not the recently broken up two parts.[/QUOTE]
I do believe they bought the entire thing - both “parcels”. And they are keeping the employees and tenants…[/QUOTE]
“They” being who I understood was James R. and Mary Lea Treptow of Warrenton … CEO and Chairman/Magellan Resources … I could be wrong
While they share video from Seabiscuit - video clip in question - in the real estate promo it is worth pointing out a slight bit of geography.
The film’s riding scene actually begins on Stoner Mill Farm, which was also [like Stony Oak] a part of Xalapa. Stoner Mill contains the scene’s smaller bridge and cemetery. The rest of Seabiscuit’s emancipating run was shot on Stony Oak.
Thanks to all who have posted on this thread, especially Glimmerglass.
This is wonderful viewing and reading.
These properties are what dreams are made of, just gorgeous.
Please keep posting as I’d love to see more of the properties in the US
Better than poor little old, drought-ridden Australia:(
Aussie input
Thought I’d offer up one of our biggest.
http://www.realestate.com.au/realestate/agent/hale+real+estate+south+australia/zpcahy/page3/7099801
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2235330]
“They” being who I understood was James R. and Mary Lea Treptow of Warrenton … CEO and Chairman/Magellan Resources … I could be wrong[/QUOTE]
You are correct.
Try this one
€14m (around $18m) seems like a lot for 61 acres, but you’re surrounded by a National park and forest, so plenty of trails and the house itself isn’t bad I suppose.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;2251771]
Try this one
€14m (around $18m) seems like a lot for 61 acres, but you’re surrounded by a National park and forest, so plenty of trails and the house itself isn’t bad I suppose.[/QUOTE]
Interesting. I was always partial to once famed polo-playing Ms. Renata Coleman’s “Humewood Castle” which was sold not too long ago for continued development. I have a lovely brochure for the property 
Purchased for €25m to Galway developer John Lally it was brilliant deal for Coleman who bought it for under €1.2m in 1992.
It was everything anyone could ever want - and also not need or be able to enjoy alone - on the Emerald Isle who is into horses and countryside.
Back on the market - Highland Farms for $19.5 million in Bourbon Co, Kentucky a far cry from what it was pitched for in around 2001/2002.
The stables portion on 417 acres [which was the birth place of Derby Winner Gato Del Sol] is on the market for another $5.2 million or so.
At that time the whole 2,000 acre estate was listed for $40 million to $60 million. (Today the mansion alone is listed on just 270 acres) For the $60 M price tag back then you got “one Kentucky Derby winner - Real Quite, 115 breed mares, 30 barns and 19 other homes” plus the 35,000 sq ft. stone mansion.
The property was built by George Hofmeister who lost most of his fortune due to a series of unfortunate circumstances. A head on collision with a delivery truck in Nov 1998 made things worse. In fact he was in a wheelchair for five months afterwards. Per his attorney at the time “unable to oversee dozens of businesses across the world, his net worth declined from $196.7 million to negative $6.5 million.”
George also went on to sue a number of folks including Bob Baffert and Mike Pegram over Real Quiet then later a number of insurance companies.
This thread has been absolutely fascinating!!! I LOVE IT!!! It is soo neat hearing stories about the “old” families and these farms, and seeing these pictures. What gorgeous places. It is so sad to see them sold as parcels. I guess that having these places just isn’t economically viable anymore. I mean, I sure wouldn’t buy one, but it sure is nice to see people that can afford them and keep them together.
