TACOMA, Wash. — A once-in-a-lifetime property has hit the market in Tacoma. Windhover Farm combines a large home with a water view, a six-acre farm, and 23 acres of forest -- and it's all within the city.
For 70 years the estate belonged to businessman James Wiborg and his family.
"I think he was just carving out a really big niche of Tacoma that he wanted to keep rural and that he wanted to keep it to himself," said Linda Selfors, co-executor of the estate.
Windhover Farm is a place that tells a story of one man's love for his family, the stars in the sky and the city his family called home.
"They were extremely in love with the city of Tacoma," Selfors said.
Not that you will feel like you're in Tacoma when you visit the property. Wiborg built the home as a honeymoon cottage for his bride, Ann, in 1948. Over the years the couple added rooms to the house and buildings to the property. There's an observatory at the top of a barn and a pasture for the sheep who still come running at the sight of a familiar face.
"He was carving out a special place for him and his wife and his family," Selfors said. "He was carving out a place that was private."
It was a place to build memories. The couple raised children and entertained grandchildren, then great-grandchildren.
"I've worked with a lot of unique properties, a lot of high-end residences, but this farm kind of takes it to a different level," said Sotheby's Michael Morrison, the listing agent.
There's a windmill on the property that was built in the 1970s.
"They had been to Holland several times and they really loved the windmills of Holland," Morrison said.
There's also a covered bridge that once crossed N 21st Street where Wiborg grew up.
"There is a lot of uniqueness here, Morrison said.
The five-bedroom, 10,000-square-foot home is built for comfort, and to make the most of the views.
"It was built to take in the views of the Olympic mountains, Puget Sound, the Narrows passage and the bridge," Morrison said.
From the primary bedroom there's also a view of the swimming pool. There's a large gaming room downstairs.
Behind the actual door where Wiborg turned a Seattle business into the largest chemical distribution company in the world, you'll find the fruit of his labors. It's a wine cellar big enough for a dining room table.
"It's very peaceful here. You wouldn't know you had Tacoma at your back door," Morrison said.
After 70 years, one family's legacy is now ready to be handed over so a new family can build memories on a city farm.
"This is going to be the house where everybody comes to," Morrison said.
"The next family is buying something incredibly special in the city of Tacoma," Selfors said. " I don't know anything else that exists like this."
The asking price for Windhover Farm is $4,999,999.
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