Robert Redford House: The Sundance, Utah Mountain Home He Built From a $500 Plot of Land

“Robert Redford passed away on September 16, 2025, at his home at Sundance in the mountains of Utah — the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved.” That statement from his publicist said everything about the Robert Redford house. It was never a Hollywood mansion. It was a mountain home in Provo Canyon that grew out of one of the most famous small land purchases in celebrity history: two acres, bought in 1961, for $500.

This is the verified story of where Robert Redford lived — the Sundance land he turned into a resort, a film festival and a conservation legacy, the horse ranch he sold in 2021, and the California cottage he and his wife parted with just months before his death.

Robert Redford at a Glance

It Began With Two Acres and $500

Redford first came upon Provo Canyon in 1961, on a motorcycle trip, and fell for the place on sight. He bought two acres for $500 and, with his wife Lola — who was from Utah — built a modest family home there in 1963. Town & Country and others have told the story for decades: the future star of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid building his own retreat by hand under the wall of Mount Timpanogos, a nearly 12,000-foot limestone peak.

The details of the house itself were always kept private, and deliberately so. It was a working family home, not a showpiece — the base from which Redford raised his family and, eventually, built an empire of independent film.

From Timp Haven to Sundance

In 1968, using his earnings from films including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Downhill Racer, Redford bought the small local ski area, Timp Haven, on the east side of Mount Timpanogos. He renamed it Sundance, after his Sundance Kid character, and rebuilt it as Sundance Mountain Resort — rustic, low-key and designed to blend into the canyon rather than dominate it. Parts of Jeremiah Johnson (1972), one of his favourite films, were shot in the surrounding mountains.

He kept buying land, eventually assembling thousands of acres — motivated, by his own account, as much by defence as development. Redford repeatedly said he accumulated land around Sundance to stop aggressive development from destroying the landscape, and much of it was placed under protection. In 1981 he founded the Sundance Institute on the land; the film festival that grew out of it became the largest showcase for independent cinema in America.

Selling the Resort, Keeping the Land

In December 2020, Redford sold the 2,600-acre Sundance Mountain Resort to a private equity group for an undisclosed sum. But he did not leave Sundance. The Redford family continues to own roughly 1,800 acres in the canyon, including the family home, and much of that land is protected by conservation easements — Redford’s insurance policy against the canyon ever being turned into a cluster of luxury condos. The land he sheltered for over four decades stays sheltered.

Horse Whisper Ranch

About 16 miles north of Sundance, near Charleston, Utah, Redford kept the 30-acre Horse Whisper Ranch, named after his 1998 film The Horse Whisperer and used for his horses. In 2021 he put it on the market at $4.9 million, and it sold the same year. Unlike the Sundance home, the ranch was a working equestrian property — pastures and barns rather than a residence of any grandeur.

The Tiburon Cottage, and Santa Fe

Redford’s later-life portfolio was small and deliberate. In 2020 he and his wife, the artist Sibylle Szaggars Redford, bought a cottage in Tiburon, California, for $3.1 million. In December 2024 they sold it for $4.65 million — $500,000 above its asking price — explaining that they were spending most of their time in Utah and at their home near Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Szaggars runs her fine art gallery. Separately, in July 2024, Szaggars sold her own three-storey cabin at Sundance — a house she had bought back in the 1980s, years before the couple met — after listing it at just under $4 million.

A Note on Accuracy

The previous version of this article got the bones of the story right but blurred the numbers: it described the Tiburon sale price as the $4.15 million asking price (it actually sold for $4.65 million), gave no source for the Horse Whisper Ranch’s claimed $6.5 million sale price (it was listed at $4.9 million in 2021), and guessed at the Utah home’s value. This version sticks to figures reported by named outlets — Town & Country, Mansion Global, Realtor.com, Finance Monthly and Redford’s own publicist — and leaves the family’s private home private, as he always intended.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where was Robert Redford’s house?

His home was at Sundance, in Provo Canyon, Utah, beneath Mount Timpanogos. He bought his first two acres there in 1961 for $500 and built a family home on the land in 1963. He died at the house on 16 September 2025.

Did Robert Redford own Sundance?

He bought the Timp Haven ski area in 1968 and renamed it Sundance. He sold the 2,600-acre resort in December 2020, but his family retains about 1,800 acres of land at Sundance, much of it protected by conservation easements.

What was the Horse Whisper Ranch?

A 30-acre equestrian property near Charleston, Utah, about 16 miles from Sundance, named after his 1998 film The Horse Whisperer. He listed it for $4.9 million in 2021 and it sold that year.

Where else did Robert Redford own homes?

He and his wife Sibylle owned a cottage in Tiburon, California (bought 2020 for $3.1 million, sold December 2024 for $4.65 million) and a home near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

What was Robert Redford’s net worth?

At his death, his net worth was commonly estimated at around $200 million, built over a six-decade career as an actor, Oscar-winning director and the founder of Sundance.

Sources: Statement by publicist Cindi Berger (September 2025); Town & Country and Mansion Global on the Sundance land history; Wikipedia’s Sundance history, citing resort records; Realtor.com and Celebrity Net Worth on Horse Whisper Ranch; Finance Monthly and Times of India on the Tiburon sale.