The large estate that the late Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa called home in the Santa Fe area could be worth millions if it hits the market.
The 12-acre property is located northeast of Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico.
In late February, police discovered the actor and his wife, a classical pianist, deceased. They were ages 95 and 65, respectively, at the time of their deaths.
GENE HACKMAN, WIFE FOUND DEAD AT SANTA FE ESTATE: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE PROPERTY
A realtor recently told the Daily Mail the Hackman property could go for $5 million should it get listed.
The agent said the home “is big, stylish and has great bones, so there will be interest.” Its ties to a Hollywood star could help its price, according to the outlet.
The sprawling Santa Fe property has two homes on it, one of which existed when Hackman bought it and another he built about 25 years ago, Realtor.com reported in February.
The actor told Architectural Digest in 1990 that he put the property’s original home through a significant revamping. He turned to architects Harry Daple and Stephen Samuelson for that endeavor, according to the outlet.
“Because Hackman and Arakawa were so fiercely private about their home life, it’s difficult to know exactly how many updates and upgrades they made to the property during the 20-plus years that they lived there,” Realtor.com executive editor Charlie Lankston told FOX Business on Thursday.
“In 1990, Hackman revealed he had made extensive changes to the home, which was in a state of disrepair when he purchased it,” Lankston said. “In 2000, he built another home on the same land, and in the 25 years since then, he’s added a number of external structures, including the garages where rodent activity was discovered. There were only four bedrooms and one bathroom in the home when Hackman bought it. However, he and his wife added many more rooms during their ownership, all of which would add to the value.”
The massive renovation that Hackman detailed in 1990 involved tearing down walls, creating a living area and making the ceilings significantly taller, according to Architectural Digest.
The actor reportedly incorporated multiple styles, such as Pueblo, colonial New Mexico and Spanish Baroque, into the home during the remodel.
Lankston said estimates have put the home’s value “anywhere between $3.8 million and $4.5 million, with many headlines placing it at $4 million exactly.”
The Santa Fe ranch has belonged to Hackman since the 1980s.
New Mexico officials said Arakawa died around Feb. 12 and the Oscar-winning actor passed about a week after her. Her cause of death was the result of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. Hackman died of hypertensive atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor, Fox News Digital previously reported.
GENE HACKMAN’S HOME FOUND TO BE INFESTED WITH RODENTS AFTER WIFE DIED OF HANTAVIRUS
The New Mexico Department of Public Health found dead rodents and nests in eight detached outbuildings on the couple’s estate during an assessment in early March.
“When it comes to putting an asking price on the home, the couple’s death should not have an impact,” Lankston told FOX Business, noting factors like home size, acreage, condition, amenities and decor are typically used to determine that.
“While the home’s connection to Hackman and Arakawa’s passings may impede its ability to sell, I would not expect it to negatively impact the price initially,” he said. “It’s also highly likely that many prospective buyers will not be turned away by the fact that its former owners passed away there. If anything, I think the huge public scrutiny over the future of the home may be the biggest deterrent.”
That, he said, could make some privacy-focused buyers less interested in it if it went on the market.
Homes within the same ZIP code as Hackman’s ranch varied in value. Asking prices in the area ran the gambit from $70,000 to $19.5 million, data on Realtor.com’s website showed.
GENE HACKMAN, WIFE’S DEATHS PROMPT QUESTIONS ABOUT FUTURE OF THEIR ESTATES
In March, homes in the ZIP code had median prices of $893,000 and square footage of 1,700, Realtor.com Senior Economic Research Analyst Hannah Jones told FOX Business.
“The median listing price per square foot in this ZIP was 528 in March 2025, which would translate to a listing price around $4 million for the Hackman home,” she said.
A nearly 11,500-square-foot house with a 3.41-acre lot up for sale not far from the Hackman property carried a $7.5 million asking price, a listing on Zillow showed.
A private funeral service for Hackman and Arakawa was held recently, People reported on April 15.
Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Giang-Paunon contributed to this report.
Read the full article here
