Peek inside $75M family compound for sale on San Juan Island

A $75 million compound for sale on San Juan Island is among the most expensive listings in Western Washington history.

The nearly 90-acre property, marketed as Halftide Farms, is a sprawling array of homes and guesthouses the listing agent likens to vacation properties in the Hamptons.

The four parcels along the eastern coast of San Juan Island on Griffin Bay are owned by the Ackerley family. The late Ginger and Barry Ackerley owned the Seattle Sonics for 18 years, and Ginger Ackerley founded the Seattle Storm. 

The listing hit the market last week, approaching last year’s record-breaking $85 million listing on Hunts Point. That property, owned by telecom baron Bruce McCaw, did not sell last year and is no longer listed. Anna Riley, the Windermere agent who listed that property, said she expects the property to “become available again” but declined to share details. 

In 2022, the Bruce McCaw property was the most expensive listing in the history of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which covers 26 counties in Western Washington. The $75 million San Juan Island estate is the second-most expensive listing in NWMLS history and the most expensive home currently listed, the listing service confirmed. The most expensive sale on record was a $60 million property in Hunts Point sold in 2020.

“You would compare this to something in the Hamptons or other large family compounds nationally,” said Compass listing agent Tere Foster.

“The buyer or buyers who will come and consider this — that’s what they’ll be looking at,” Foster said. “They have the flexibility of many locations. There’s a great airport in Friday Harbor. You can land a jet. You can come in from all over the country.”

The compound includes three homes, each with a guesthouse or guest quarters, plus a game house, bunk house and caretaker house. The gated property also includes 650 feet of waterfront, two pools, a putting green, and tennis and pickleball courts, according to the listing.

The Puget Sound Business Journal first reported the listing.

Family members owned and expanded the compound over more than 30 years, but said in a statement they “believe it is time to explore moving on now that the children have grown up and everyone wishes to explore new adventures.”

San Juan County has some of the region’s most expensive homes: Last year the county’s median single-family home price was $960,000, the highest of the 26 Western Washington counties in the NWMLS. 

While the broader housing market has cooled dramatically, especially in the Seattle area, since interest rates started climbing last year, some of the wealthiest buyers prepared to pay cash for luxe properties may be unaffected. “We have not seen any change in the market at the upper luxury [level],” Foster said.

This story was updated to add details of the most expensive sale on record.