Canzano: Russell Wilson's $25 million real estate purchase hits home
Who needs 12 bathrooms?!?
Russell Wilson and his wife, Ciara, purchased a $25 million home in the suburbs of Denver. The five-acre property has four bedrooms, a nine-car garage and a 2,590-square foot pool house. It made big news. Our culture is certifiably captivated by peeking into the lives of the rich and famous.
Their new house has 12 bathrooms.
A dozen? I have so many questions.
Seahawks’ fans are frustrated that Wilson is going to suit up for the Broncos this season. I grasp that. The purchase is over the top, for sure. But I think the public relations hit he’s taking on the new house is related to him switching teams. Wilson and his wife recently listed their $36 million home in Bellevue, Wash. They purchased the six-bedroom home for $6.7 million in 2015.
The $25 million Denver purchase is a record for the area. I have to believe it’s a tricky re-sale market in that price range. The whole thing reminds me of the hidden challenge that a line of ex-Trail Blazers’ players faced over the years. They arrive in Portland to play basketball and buy a multi-million dollar home near the practice facility. When they leave they’re faced with the struggle to find a buyer at a price point few can afford.
Scottie Pippen and his then-wife, Larsa, bought a home in the suburbs of Portland in 2000 for $4 million. It had 18,700-square feet of living space, an indoor sport court, a media room and a pool. Seven years later, they sold the place at a loss.
Sales price: $2.95 million.
Rasheed Wallace listed his 8,500-square foot home in Lake Oswego for sale after leaving the Trail Blazers for Detroit years ago. It had the usual luxury amenities, including a jacuzzi tub that was extra deep. But the coolest thing I noted was that Wallace had a urinal installed on the wall in the master bathroom.
Current Portland guard Damian Lillard bought a five-acre property in West Linn a few years ago. He’s now constructing a full-scale gymnasium on the property and has erected an unusually tall fence, I’m told by a source, “to keep the deer out of the yard.”
Remember host Robin Leach and his syndicated television show “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”? We only got two television stations when I was a kid. That show must have aired on one of them. My parents used to send me up to the roof to adjust the antennae manually when I was maybe 12 years old. Dad would stand in the living room, mom in the backyard, and I’d be up on the roof turning the antennae for better reception as my parents barked, “OK, better. Now, go back a touch the other way!”
This whole celebrity-home-buyer fascination is now rooted in American culture, isn’t it? From MTV’s “Cribs” to VH1’s “Fabulous life of…” to the current reality television programming we see it’s all about knowing how many cars the rich and famous can fit in their garage. It quantifies their wealth and satisfies our curiosity. USC football coach Lincoln Riley’s new home in Southern California was big news for this reason.
Russell Wilson is currently on a $140 million contract. He and Ciara can afford the real estate purchase. It’s nothing new in sports. The previous record for a home sale in Denver, for example, was held by ex-Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who paid $15.7 million for his 13-bedroom home in the same neighborhood.
13 bedrooms?
I wonder how many bathrooms it has.
TEED UP: I’m not wild about the LIV Golf Invitational coming to Pumpkin Ridge, but Robert Garrigus must be. He’s the first PGA Tour golfer to request a waiver to play in the Saudi-backed golf event.
The first event stop is being held in June at the Centurion Club in London. The first event on American soil will take place a month later (July 1-3) at Pumpkin Ridge. It has caused considerable angst among embarrassed members and staff at the course in Oregon.
Garrigus, 44, grew up in Oregon. He spent his childhood in Banks and attended Forest Grove High, Crescent Valley High (Corvallis) and Centennial High (Gresham).
His world ranking: 1,043.
2022 earnings: $162,000.
Garrigus finished third in the 2011 US Open. He’s also battled substance abuse and was suspended for testing positive for marijuana. He also had a painful final-hole collapse in the FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2010. He held a three-shot lead as he teed off for the final hole. He hit a water hazard off the tee, took a penalty drop, then hit a tree and ended up with a triple-bogey 7.
He lost the event.
I’d love to get Garrigus on the statewide radio show this week to talk about it. Is it a money grab? Is he concerned about protests? The event has a purse of $25 million — $10 million more than The Masters.
The PGA Tour requires players to give 45 days notice in requesting a waiver. I expect we’ll see a few more requests between now and Monday’s deadline, but it’s interesting to me that the first to do it is a journeyman golfer with local ties.
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Trust me, having a urinal is one of the greatest things a man can do when updating his bathroom. We put one in during our remodel in Portland in 2001, and loved it so much we had one with an auto flush installed in our Palm Springs remodel last year. Just a "man" thing you say? Not at all! The ladies of the house will love it too, since a urinal guarantees toilet seats will always be down!
Russ and Ciara have a couple small kids. Kids wait until the last minute before finding a bathroom. The house is so large they need all those bathrooms so there is always one nearby when the kids need them so they don't have go clear across the house to take care of business.