Famed Taylor Estate in Denver to Hit the Auction Block

The Taylor Estate in Lakewood, Colorado, that was the longtime home of the late oilman Vernon Taylor, Jr., is going under the hammer on July 13, Mansion Global has learned.

The estate sits on approximately 65 acres of land and includes a custom European manor-style main residence with 11 bedrooms and nine bathrooms, a lake cottage with 1,100 feet of waterfront access and boating rights on Lake Ward, a pool, a tennis court, a four-car garage, gardens and patios, according to DeCaro Auctions International, which is handling the sale.

The auction has no minimum bid and is without reserve, meaning that the highest bidder will become the new owner of the estate, said Daniel DeCaro, CEO and founder of the eponymous, 38-year-old luxury real estate auction firm.

The estate also has three staff cottages, full equestrian facilities, two hay barns, and a private stable and dressage ring.

"There’s a lot of history to the home. This is a rare opportunity to purchase a private estate reflecting a bygone era," Mr. DeCaro said.

Taylor, Jr., former president of Westhoma Oil Co. and an early investor in the Vail ski resort, had hosted at this home the likes of Truman Capote, Gregory Peck, Gerald Ford, Henry Kissinger and Princess Anne and her father, Prince Philip, of the United Kingdom, according to the auction house.

The home’s gracious entertaining space includes a grand drawing room for greeting guests, a ballroom, a banquet-sized dining room and a private chef’s kitchen and a paneled library. It features 12 fireplaces as well as views of Mount Evans and the Front Range.

Taylor, Jr. died in 2013 at age 97. He and his late wife, Ann, a fashion designer and model who died in 2007 at 96, bought the property in 1951.

The estate, still owned by the Taylor family trust, had been on and off the market for $27.7 million from 2014 to 2016, but the listing included 58 more acres, according to listing records.