A West Austin estate once dubbed the “Castle in the Woods” just hit the market for a jaw-dropping $14.9 million — making it the most expensive home currently listed for sale in Austin.
The home is nestled on a 4-acre site in the gated Barton Creek subdivision. The 16,722-square-foot mansion, at 2401 Portofino Ridge Dr., features seven bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, and four half-bathrooms.
Gary Dolch of the Compass real estate brokerage has the listing with his wife, Michelle, and says it’s rare for a home in Austin to be priced at or above $14 million. In fact, only one Austin home available through the Multiple Listing Service has sold for more than $14 million since the year 2000, he says. That house, at 903 Crystal Mountain Dr., fetched nearly $21.8 million — the highest home price ever recorded on Austin’s MLS. The Dolches had the listing for that property as well.
Originally built for a former Dell executive, the Portofino Ridge mansion took about five years to construct at a cost of more than $25 million, Gary Dolch says. Included in the original price tag:
- Two-foot-thick stone walls built over a three-year period at a cost of about $3 million.
- More than $1 million worth of copper on the roof, including rain gutters and custom-made domes and spires.
- A floating spiral staircase connecting three of the bedrooms constructed of limestone at an estimated cost of $1 million.
- A homesite consisting of five adjoining lots that now are valued at more than $1 million each.
The Provençal-style mansion, completed in 2002, was designed by Austin architect David Shiflet and constructed by local homebuilder Gary Reissig. It backs up to one of the fairways at a Barton Creek golf course designed by pro-golfing legend Ben Crenshaw.
Among the mansion’s other amenities are:
- Two-bedroom guest apartment with full kitchen and private garage
- Commercial-quality security system
- Resort-style swimming pool
- Seven hand-carved limestone fireplaces
- 1,500-bottle wine cellar
- Private water well
- Attached garage and detached garage with room for more than 10 cars
- Elevator
- Commercial-grade power generator
- $2 million worth of recent upgrades, including Venetian plasterwork and paint, a kitchen makeover, a home automation system, replacement of every pane of window glass, and a new organic garden that Dolch says “would make any Whole Foods disciple jealous.”
Dolch says the current owners are selling the estate so they can move closer to their children's school.
“At the end of the day, there are only a handful of homes in Austin that exhibit this level of quality, detail, and craftsmanship, and they are rarely sold because it’s nearly impossible for families to find a replacement without building it,” Dolch says. “This is a true opportunity for a very special and lucky buyer to take over the stewardship of one of Austin’s finest properties.”
The house was originally built for $25 million, making its $14 million price tag a relative steal.
