Back in 2009, an optimistic Joe Montana listed his 500-acre Napa Valley estate for $49 million, a reference to his legendary stint as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Inside jokes are all well and good but sometimes the real estate market has other plans, and now Montana has re-listed the property a decade after the first time, at a 41 percent discount to $28.9 million.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Montana and his wife Jennifer Montana only intended for the $49 million price to be a "starting point for negotiations," followed by a decision to take it off the market thanks to their grown children, who "begged them to keep it a few more years." Now, though, they're trying to get rid of it again at the lower price.
The present casa de Montana is a 9,700-square-foot, three-bedroom home in the European style, with a design that was inspired by monasteries and villas seen during the couple's own trip across the continent, and even includes interiors imported from Italy and France. With its turrets, statues, large fireplace, and even a bridge and moat outside, the house almost looks like something out of a storybook, and was the end result of a five-year process by the Montanas, with much of the design work being handled by Jennifer herself.
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In addition to its storybook touches, the house is also clearly the home of people who enjoy sports and the outdoors. There's a court for either basketball or tennis, a swimming pool, space for bocce ball and horseback riding, and even a skeet shooting range. There's a guest house and cottage for a caretaker on the property, an olive grove, and rose garden, but despite a wine cellar and wine tasting room, the Montanas opted not to build a vineyard there. That's because, as Jennifer explains, they're "better as consumers" instead of winemakers.
If it sounds like a dream home, you might be surprised that Joe and his wife have decided to sell the property. But they say they just don't spend enough time there anymore to justify keeping it for themselves – and now someone has the chance to snag it for a relative steal compared to its original asking price.
