Arizona’s Biggest Home Sold After Two Years in Contract

The biggest home in Arizona has a new owner with plans to sink $40 million into widespread renovations at the estate on Sugar Loaf Mountain.

The 52,000-square-foot mansion at 6112 North Paradise View Drive in Paradise Valley sold for $9 million in a sale that closed last week, the Phoenix Business Journal reported. The price amounts to $173 per square foot.

The seller was Jamie Hormel, wife of the late George “Geordie” Hormel, a former musician and member of the family behind the Hormel Foods meat packing company. The buyer was identified as an investor from Florida, according to the Business Journal.

The home was listed for $16 million in June 2022 and was on and off the market before going under contract two and a half years ago, listing agent Libby Cohen with ROCO Luxury Homes told the outlet.

Pennzoil heir Walker McClure had the home built in 1967, when it was called McClure Mansion. The buyer plans to rename it to The Paradise Mansion, Cohen said. The Hormels bought the property in 1991 for nearly $3.8 million and acquired the Wrigley Mansion, at 2501 East Telawa Trail in Phoenix, the following year for $2.6 million. Hormel operates the Wrigley Mansion as a restaurant complex and events venue.

The property was once ranked as the 13th largest residence in the United States. It still holds the title of the largest private residence in Arizona.

The mansion is on a 3.8-acre lot. Two adjacent parcels of empty land bring the total size of the property to about 6 acres. The estate has 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms in the main home as well as a 2,900-square-foot guest house. The property also has an Olympic-sized swimming pool and dual locker rooms in what was once a movie theater and a ballroom. The home also at one point had an ice skating rink built for Walter McCune’s wife, as well as a tennis court that was used as a parking lot during events the Hormels hosted over the years.

— Chris Malone Méndez