Originally published in the L.A. Times
When Hollywood calls, Val Kilmer gets moving.
Kilmer has put part of his 6,000-acre Pecos River Ranch near Santa Fe, N.M., on the market. The actor, a native of L.A., has listed about 1,800 acres at $18 million because he will soon star in two films shooting back to back and "won't be able to spend as much time on the ranch as he would like," said his publicist Christina Papadopoulos.
The ranch, once owned by actress Greer Garson and her husband, Buddy Fogelson, is in high-desert canyon country and looks as if it's straight out of the Old West. The Santa Fe Trail runs through it, and there are four miles of trout-filled river as well as fields of wildflowers and ponderosa-lined limestone cliffs. There is wildlife — deer, turkeys, black bears, cougars, beavers, eagles and falcons.
The part of the ranch Kilmer is selling has a log-and-stucco ranch house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms in 5,600 square feet and two guest cottages. Each cottage is about 1,000 square feet and has one bedroom and one bathroom.
There are extensive staff quarters, heated stables, foaling barns and corrals. Kilmer said that he grew up riding horses in Chatsworth and has several on the ranch, which feeds more than 100 animals, among them buffalo and llamas that roam the property.
Two tracts are available. As separate purchases, the one with the house and stables on nearly 963 acres with three miles of river is listed at $14 million; the other, about 842 acres with three-quarters of a mile of river, is listed at $7 million.
On the land he is keeping, Kilmer plans "to build another home to his own specifications," Papadopoulos said. The actor said that he wants to build a house that will be eco-friendly and hopes to include wind power and solar energy.
Kilmer, 46, has lived in New Mexico for more than 20 years, eight of which were on his ranch. Known to stay at the Chateau Marmont when in L.A., he now rents a house.
He will star in Jerry Bruckheimer's "Déjà Vu" with Denzel Washington and in "Dark Matter" with Meryl Streep. The movies are expected to be filmed this year.
Santa Fe-based Garrett and Annie VeneKlasen of InterAngler are handling the listing.