A ranch in Denver, Colo. that was frequently used as a recording retreat by music legends like Michael Jackson and Sir Elton John has reportedly sold for $32.5 million. (Photo : Mountain Marketing Associates Official Listing)
A ranch in Denver, Colo., that was frequently used as a recording retreat by music legends like Michael Jackson and Sir Elton John has reportedly sold for $32.5 million.
The Caribou Ranch, which belonged to music producer James William Guercio, sold to the Indian Peaks Holdings LLC about a month ago, reports The Business Journal.
Guercio reportedly purchased the place in 1971 for $11 million. He made some significant changes to the property including the addition of a swanky recording studio that attracted several renowned musicians like U2, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Jeff Back and Billy Joel as well.
Sir Elton John recorded his hit single “Caribou” in the studio of the ranch and also made his cover of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” with John Lennon, there. Michael Jackson also recorded a song for his album “Bad” in the studio, while enjoying the amenities the ranch had to offer.
“Caribou Ranch was such an incredible part of Colorado music history. In the ’70s, it was the first destination studio where acts sequestered themselves somewhere in the thought that it would spark creativity,” G. Brown, director of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame told The Denver Post.
“It was a who’s who of rock that recorded up there in the ’70s and ’80s. It is just an incredible legacy.”
However, the studio was closed after a fire accident in 1985.
Sources told the publication that the buyers, represented by the trust, were descendants of the Walton family, founders of Walmart. Over the years that the Guercio family owned the ranch, it collected and preserved several musical artifacts including 10 pianos. The family plans on donating some to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and auctioning off the rest.
But, why sell such a meaningful piece of music history?
“This gives us a good chance to focus on our ranch in Montana and Caribou’s induction into Colorado’s Music Hall of Fame later this year,” Will Guercio, James’ son, told the Denver Post.
The ranch was listed with Mountain Marketing Associates, which was shopping it around with a $45 million price tag. After the 1985 fire, Guercio sold away about 2,600 acres of the ranch to Boulder County.
According to the listing, the ranch has 1,600 deeded acres and 300 irrigated acres. It has water rights, allows for fly fishing, has building permits and is just minutes away from Boulder and Eldora Ski area.
The famous recording retreat of music legends like Elton John, Chicago, and Michael Jackson just sold in Colorado for a whopping $32.5 million. Originally listed at $45 million, the 1,600 acre property (called Caribou Ranch) is located 10 minutes from Eldora Ski Area and about 30 minutes from Boulder, Colorado. Let’s take a look back at a piece of music history, shall we?
In 1971, owner and musician Jim Guercio bought Caribou Ranch and set to work building a state of the art recording studio. And from the early 1970s until 1985 when a fire closed the recording studio, the who’s who of music came to Colorado to record and write. Some seriously good music came out of this property: Elton John recorded his hit 1974 album “Caribou” (get it?!) at the ranch, U2 mixed its “Under a Blood Red Sky” live album there, and Michael Jackson hid out at Caribou Ranch during his 1984 concert tour, working on songs, recording a song for “Bad,” and horseback riding.
Other stars who recorded, mixed records, or wrote at Guerico’s ranch include Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Amy Grant, Stephen Stills, Billy Joel, The Beach Boys, David Cassidy, John Lennon, Tom Petty, Rod Stewart, Earth Wind & Fire, Frank Zappa, Rod Stewart and Waylon Jennings.
Besides a permanent place in music history, the property also boasts an owner’s home, guest cabins, a lodge, riding area, barn, and equipment buildings. The new buyers are rumored to be part of the Walton family, descendants of the founders of Walmart, and plan to preserve the property, not develop it.
In the meantime, the many pianos and other musical relics from the ranch will either be donated to Colorado’s new Music Hall of Fame at Red Rocks amphitheater or will be auctioned off. Guercio says that the pianos used to record ‘Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ are part of the collection. Bonus: Check out the photo of Michael Jackson at the Caribou Ranch in 1984, below.
Photo of Michael Jackson at the Caribou Ranch in 1984
SOURCE: Realty Today
