Actor Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe home is officially looking for a new owner. Nearly a year after the legendary actor and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead inside the property, the sprawling New Mexico compound is heading to market with a $6.25 million price tag (via Realtor).
Authorities discovered the bodies of Gene Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, on February 26, 2025, inside their gated estate in Santa Fe’s Summit neighborhood. Forensic experts later concluded they likely died about a week apart. Arakawa passed around February 11 from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare illness linked to infected rodent droppings or saliva. Hackman died days later on February 18 from heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease listed as a contributing factor, according to the Associated Press.
The couple had lived quietly on the 53-acre property since the 1990s – decades of privacy in the New Mexico high desert. That discretion carried into the sale process. Listing agents Tara S. Earley and Ricky Allen of Sotheby’s International Realty confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that all personal belongings have been removed and the 13,000-square-foot home has been professionally staged. They also made it clear that curiosity seekers need not apply.
“There will be some buyers that are just averse to purchasing a property where a death has occurred,” Earley said. “There are other buyers for whom that doesn’t matter. We are selling the property on its virtues and all of the positives. We just priced it based on what we felt was the fair market value.”
The estate includes a three-bedroom primary residence, a separate guesthouse, an artist’s studio, a lap pool, hot tub, and even a putting green. Floor-to-ceiling windows pull the surrounding wooded landscape straight into the living spaces. Hackman didn’t chase flashy design trends when he remodeled the house. He chased comfort and light.
Working with Santa Fe architects Harry Daple and Stephen Samuelson of Studio Arquitectura, Hackman and Arakawa tore down blocking walls, added French doors, and reshaped what Samuelson once bluntly described as a neglected 1950s block structure. “The house was horrible,” Samuelson said at the time. “But it was a great site.”
The estate requires a new roof, which Hackman’s estate has agreed to cover before closing. Attorney Julia L. Peters is overseeing the estate, though it remains unclear how Hackman’s three children from his first marriage will factor into the final arrangements.
Beyond architecture, the home holds quieter stories. Photos released during the investigation revealed handwritten notes Hackman left for Arakawa. One read, “Good morning. Happy several days after your birthday. Sorry still about the dinner, and having to ask for your help. Although it was appreciated.” He signed it simply, “Love you and the guys, G.”
Neighbors in Summit remember them not as movie royalty but as locals. Hackman shopped for art supplies downtown. Santa Fe, as he once put it, had “a kind of magic in it.”
Best known for his portrayal of the iconic villain Lex Luthor in the Superman franchise, Hackman was a several-decade-long figure in critical and audience acclaim for being able to navigate both drama and comedy, equally adept in both genres. Luthor, as interpreted by Hackman in Superman: The Movie (1978), remains one of the definitive portrayals of the character. His version of Luthor was a perfect mix of menace, wit, and comic relief. Unlike the cold, calculating mastermind seen in many comic books, Hackman’s Luthor was a humorous, but always a dangerous criminal mastermind. He played the character with a kind of unpredictable charm, making the villain both funny and formidable.
Gene Hackman’s house now waits for someone else to find their own version of that magic, minus the spotlight, priced without celebrity gloss, and sold on what it actually is.
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