Robert Redford Sells Coastal Cottage Above $4.1 Million Asking Price in Just 3 Weeks—as He Quits California Amid Retirement

Legendary actor Robert Redford has started his holiday week in a lucrative fashion after selling off his coastal California cottage for $4.65 million—a half-million above his asking price.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the property has been snapped up by Cricket Wardein, the owner of Mighty Pilates, a fitness studio that has several locations in California.

Redford, 88, and his wife, Sibylle Szaggars Redford, managed to snag a sale in just three weeks, having put the Tiburon, CA, property on the market at the start of December.

At the time, they revealed that their decision to sell the home came as a result of the increased amount of time they have been spending in New Mexico, where Szaggars Redford runs an art gallery.

In an email to the Journal, the couple noted that they have a “long history with and great affection for the town.” However, they added that they simply aren’t spending enough time in the home to justify keeping it.

Their move also comes six years after Redford announced his plans to retire from Hollywood, after spending decades working in the industry as both an actor and director.

Since then, he has been spending more time in Santa Fe, NM, where his wife’s art career is based, as well as a charitable organization that the couple devote “a great deal of time to.”

“Sadly, we are not able to spend as much time in Tiburon as we would like, as we are now spending more time in Santa Fe, where Sibylle has been creating new art there and focusing on her fine art gallery, Sibylle Szaggars Redford Fine Art,” the couple explained in their email.

“And the two of us are devoting a great deal of time to the non-profit organization, The Way of the Rain, also headquartered in Santa Fe, which produces educational and artistic performances to protect the environment and promote global conservation efforts.”

A new owner

Speaking to the Journal about her new home, Wardein gushed about the home’s creative spirit, telling the outlet that she was “pinching” herself at the idea of living in a home that offers such a vast amount of living space and such staggering views.

Though she is a fan of Redford, she said that she was unaware of his connection to the home when she first fell in love with it. She was delighted to learn the identity of its former owners, adding that she and her 13-year-old daughter wrote a letter to Redford and his wife to praise their house’s “creative energy.”

“That’s an intangible you don’t know if you’ll find or not,” Wardein mogul noted. She also purchased three of Szaggars Redford’s paintings to hang in the house.

Built in 1968, the split-level Tiburon cottage is a remodeled four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom property that measures 2,824 square feet.

The great room features a soaring ceiling, a fireplace, and skylights. The chef’s kitchen is equipped with top-of-the-line appliances, a breakfast nook, and a walk-in pantry. The decks and gardens on the eastern side of the home offer spectacular views.

Some of the furniture and artwork, much of it created by the sellers, can be negotiated in the sale.

The quaint abode is “beautifully positioned down an unpaved dirt road at the end of a cul-de-sac ringed by redwoods,” Compass agent Steven Mavromihalis previously told Realtor.com®. He noted that the current residents personalized the space to “take advantage of the unspoiled views” and the “indoor-outdoor lifestyle.”

Natural affection

In an email, the Redfords noted that they were “immediately struck” by the warmth of the home, “with its light-filled rooms,” as well as the impressive views of the San Francisco Bay and Angel Island. They were also attracted to the “privacy that the home offers,” with its unpaved, cul-de-sac setting with little traffic.

While there, the couple made “cosmetic changes” to brighten the interiors to “create more of a coastal feel inside.”

However, they focused much of their attention on the gardens. The local climate was “perfect” for a multitude of plants, they said.

“We love Mediterranean gardens, and Tiburon’s climate is perfect for plants like lavender, jasmine, and succulents, all water-wise plants which now grace the outdoor spaces around the home,” they added.

The locale was also a draw.

“We have a long history with and great affection for the town of Tiburon, having previously owned other homes in the area,” they said, referring to their longtime wine country getaway in nearby St. Helena. They sold that property in 2019 for $7 million.

“We have always loved the fact that one can walk to most places, not only stores and restaurants, but also hiking trails in the nearby open space,” they said.

“The town’s promenade, which has wonderful views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, is a favorite spot of ours—it has a friendly vibe, and we enjoy walking the path and exchanging greetings with other walkers, both people and dogs.”

Property moguls

In addition to the St. Helena home, Redford sold his Sundance Mountain Resort in 2020 and the Horse Whisperer Ranch in 2021, both of them in Utah.

This summer, Szaggars Redford listed a three-story Sundance cabin, which she’d picked up in the 1980s for $3.9 million.

The award-winning actor and director founded the Sundance Resort and Film Institute. He starred in classics such as “The Sting,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and “The Horse Whisperer.” As an acclaimed director, his projects included “Ordinary People” and “A River Runs Through It.”

Redford announced his retirement from acting in 2018, before backtracking slightly.

“It was a mistake to say that I was retiring because you never know,” the actor told People magazine at the premiere of his 2018 film “The Old Man & the Gun,” which he had previously said would be his final on-screen project.

“It did feel like it was time, maybe, to concentrate on another category. … I shouldn’t have said that because it draws attention away from the film.”

Since then, he has dabbled in a few projects, but has largely focused his efforts on producing movies, rather than starring in them.