Britannia Manor II is Still For Sale!
Some of you may recall that Richard Garriott put Britannia Manor II up for sale back in 2011. Well…it’s still for sale, and the price has dropped by $600,000 to a modest and respectable $3.5 million.
The captivating and magical estate of Britannia Manor II is seeking new stewardship as Richard Garriott, aka Lord British, is pursuing completion of Britannia Manor III, also in Austin. The home offered is situated high on a level 3.99 acre hilltop overlooking the downtown skyline and 3,000 acres of Balcones Canyon Land Preserve. There is approximately 6900 sq ft of heated & cooled space including the Main home with approximately 2400 sq ft of decks, an outdoor pool which has a swim connection to an indoor pool, a two story grotto with waterfall, cave and rain, a sauna, a 360 degree Observatory with telescope, large wine cellar, secret passageways, 2- story library, 2 solar arrays that produce an excess of electricity which is sold back to the City, a Well house and water collection system, a 3-car garage with and entertainment room or guest house above, a workshop, an air conditioned barn, a detached gate house or studio, a Lagoon with an island and waterfall, a lighted crushed granite track course winding through the property, 2 Gazebos, and Electric Iron Gates and fencing. It is an inspiring and intriguing retreat! An Ultima Manor.
Here, have a look at a few of the highlights:
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- A Proper Mansion
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- Carousel
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- The Gate
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- Gazebo
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- Waterslide
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- Space Shuttle
Oh, and if you’re curious, there’s even a floor plan…and it gives away the location of the secret passage!
Since paying real attention to the industry in the last few years it’s seemed to me that game developers, even at the top, generally don’t make that much money. Of course Garriott got in at the very beginning, worked with many corporations and won a lovely suit against NCsoft recently but I still wonder: how does he have that much money? LB controls the mint and all, but holy shit… Maybe he bought and sold Yahoo and Google stock at the appropriate times. I know finances are personal and all, but I can’t help but be amazed by his level of success. It’s awe-inspiring and somehow strangely humbling.
What year was BMII’s main construction finished? I wonder what market conditions it appeared in when it was built.
He has mentioned being a shrewd investor in the past.
It’s true though that most of the pioneers of game development/publishing from the 80s appear to be wealthy to various degrees. Though not as much as Garriott.
I think it’s a combination of Origin and a savvy family background. Remember that he’s an astronaut and his dad was a NASA astronaut and his brother was both cofounder and a brilliant guy with an MS Management from MIT and EE masters from Stanford. The business acumen in a family like that has to be high. Combine that with the fact that he’s essentially one of the industry founders and you’ve got a lot of money rolling around.
Why is he selling it? I always thought it’s a shame that LB won’t be living there anymore.
I could be wrong but I think it’s his first house that he lives in, the one featured on Oddities and many other programs. From the description BMII sounds significantly less crazy that BMI.
He’s selling to build Britannia Manor III.
I can guess why it hasn’t sold. It’s a house made for a market of one: Richard Garriott. To anyone else it’s a really expensive fixer-upper to rip out all that other stuff and make it a “normal” house. Most folks don’t cotton to the weirdness and fantasy RG cultivated in building it.