Fire sale of Paradise Valley mansion yields “phenomenal buy” for $12M

The owner of a 9,100-square-foot mansion perched on a hill high over Paradise Valley outside Phoenix has sold it for $11.75 million, more than $4 million less than its initial asking price.

Ruth Stumpf, wife of a disgraced former Wells Fargo executive, sold the six-bedroom, eight-bathroom estate at 7560 North Silvercrest Way, atop Phoenix Mountains Preserve, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. 

The buyers were Brian Swette, president of California-based Sweet Earth Natural Foods, and Kelly Swette. 

The initial asking price for the gray, contemporary-style estate four months ago was $16 million.

Stumpf bought the 5-acre gated property in 2019 for $9.5 million in cash, then renovated it.

The two-story house, built in 2006, has floor-to-ceiling windows “with no steps to two swimming pools,” according to the listing, including a 75-foot lap pool and an infinity pool with sweeping views of Camelback Mountain and Downtown Phoenix below.

The hilltop home has six ensuite bedrooms, a one-bedroom guest house with kitchen and a five-car garage.

Joan Levinson of Realty One Group held the listing, representing both the seller and buyer.

“The seller had a personal issue that suddenly motivated them — it wasn’t financial,” Levinson said of the fire sale. “But it motivated them to have it sold. I reduced it and sold it immediately after I reduced it. It was a phenomenal buy.”

Maricopa County records show that the seller was Ruth Stumpf, the wife of the former Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, who retired in 2016 during a fake accounts scandal, according to the Business Journal.

Despite some soaring deals in the exclusive Paradise Valley outside Phoenix, the cost and number of homes sold within Arizona’s richest enclave declined last spring.

Paradise Valley, home to the state’s priciest zip code, had price reductions for 15.1 percent of the 162 homes seeking $5 million or more in March, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing figures from Realtor.com. 

— Dana Bartholomew

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