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Former Abercrombie Ranch Hits Auction Block at Steep Discount
Luxury residential real estate sales may be bouncing back, but sluggish sales at the ultra high-end are making for some potentially deep discounts.

The latest to join the parade: Teton Valley Ranch, a 151-acre ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Originally listed for $47.4 million in the summer of 2008, the property is now scheduled for a July auction with a reserve price, or low estimate, of $15 million.

The owner, a Houston investor, bought the property in 2004 intending to use it as a family retreat, says listing agent Richard Lewis of Sotheby’s International Realty, which is selling the property with Concierge Auctions.

The owner and his family are instead spending most of their time at a large horse ranch outside Washington, D.C. purchased several years ago. “It makes no sense for them to have such a huge asset and never be here,” Mr. Lewis says.

The ranch comes with quite a pedigree: It was owned in the early 1900s by the Abercrombie family now known for the upscale teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, according to a spokeswoman for Concierge Auctions. A subsequent owner operated the ranch for decades as a summer camp for children, including scions of the Rockefeller, Kennedy and DuPont families, Concierge says; the camp continues to operate today from another location.

The property can be purchased in its entirety or as one of two lots, one with a reserve of $11 million and the other, with a reserve of $4 million. The more expensive parcel is about 52 acres and has a more than 10,000-square-foot stone residence the owner was building for his family. It is is 90% complete, Mr. Lewis says, allowing the buyer to choose some of the finishes. The two-story mansion has floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the Teton mountain range, several fireplaces and about a half-mile of frontage on Gros Ventre River, a tributary of the Snake River. Items including doors and stained glass windows were sourced from European castles and churches; a stone staircase was taken out of a castle’s turret. A three-acre lake with a 70-degree, year-round temperature is adjacent to the home and can be used for swimming. The parcel also has a recently renovated log-cabin guest house with two bedrooms, a fireplace and a kitchen.

The other lot has a quarter-mile of river frontage. There’s a 1,700-square-foot building currently used as the caretaker’s home and two log cabins that could be used for guests. There’s also a barn that Mr. Lewis said has appeared in Marlboro commercials.

The lots will first be auctioned off individually, then collectively, with the lots selling for the highest collective price over the reserve. The auction is open to registered bidders and their agents and is scheduled for July 16 at 11 a.m. on the Kelly, Wyo. property. Telephone bids also will be accepted.
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Formerly owned by the Abercrombie family, Teton Valley Ranch, once listed at $45 million, is scheduled for auction with a $15 million reserve in July.
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London burns again for 350th anniversary of Great Fire
The City of London has commemorated the anniversary of the blaze which razed it to the ground 350 years ago by safely reliving the destruction on a much smaller scale.

Which isn't to say the doomed reconstruction of the city in 1666, which was torched overnight, was anything to sniff at.

The 120m-long wooden model was designed by US "burn artist" David Best and was reduced to ashes on a barge moored on the Thames.

Baked goods were blamed for starting the original blaze, which over the course of four days destroyed some 13,200 homes, 87 churches and a cathedral.

About 80 per cent of the city was left in ruins and some 70,000 people left without homes.

Remarkably only six deaths were recorded as a result of the fire, over which a French watchmaker was hanged after he falsely claimed responsibility.

"Three-hundred and fifty years ago, when embers from a baker's oven sparked one of the most catastrophic events the capital has ever witnessed, London's economic prowess almost came to a fiery end," the ABC quotes Nick Bodger, head of cultural and visitor development for the City of London, as saying ahead of the event.

"A renewed sense of purpose saw the great city we enjoy today rise from those ashes, develop and thrive."

Thousands turned out to watch the reconstruction, which wrapped up a commemorative festival that began late last week.

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016
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assistant: The City of London has marked the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London in incendiary fashion.