A sprawling Martha’s Vineyard estate that served as a summer haven for former President Barack Obama and his family from 2009 to 2011 is now listed for $39 million.
Known as Blue Heron Farm, the 30-acre property in Chilmark belongs to the family of celebrated British architect Norman Foster, whose firm, Foster + Partners, is behind iconic structures like London’s Gherkin and the reimagined Wembley Stadium, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Fosters acquired the estate in 2011 for $22.4 million and have since transformed it with significant upgrades.
The property, nestled in the heart of the island, boasts an eight-bedroom 7,000-square-foot main residence, a classic New England clapboard home with a wraparound porch and a five-bedroom guesthouse clad in cedar shingles.
The Obamas reportedly rented the home for a whopping $50,000 per week at the time.
Recent enhancements include a new pool and pool house, alongside extensive landscaping with tree-lined avenues.
“A beautiful approach through a long avenue lined by trees to arrive at a classic New England house that had grown from historic farming roots,” Foster said in a written statement to The Journal, describing what drew his family to the estate.
He added that it offered a “feeling of space, freedom and isolation — although located conveniently in the heart of the island.”
Foster, who founded his namesake firm and is currently designing a new stadium for Manchester United, purchased the property from Mississippi couple Mollie and William Van Devender.
During the Obamas’ tenancy, the estate became a high-profile summer retreat, and Foster recounted a lighthearted encounter with the former president after the purchase.
“He met the president following his family’s purchase at a neighbor’s home and Obama suggested they rent it back to his family, exerting a kind of ‘jokey pressure’ on the architect,” Foster told the New Yorker earlier this year. He declined the request.
A spokesperson for the Obamas offered no comment, and the Foster family opted not to disclose their reasons for selling.
The listing, handled by Maggie Gold Seelig of MGS Group Real Estate and Brian Dougherty of Corcoran Property Advisors, enters a cooling luxury market on Martha’s Vineyard.
The island’s median home sale price fell to $1.1 million in April, a 32.2% drop from the previous year. Yet, properties with notable provenance continue to command attention.
In late 2023, a nearby estate owned by former news anchor Diane Sawyer sold for $23.9 million, just shy of its $24 million asking price, after only two months on the market.