Don Imus ranch in northern New Mexico up for sale
RIBERA, N.M. — The sprawling cattle ranch in northern New Mexico owned by former radio host Don Imus is for sale.
Real estate agent Craig Huitfeldt confirmed last week that the ranch is on the market, the Santa Fe New Mexico reported Saturday.
The 2,400-acre (971-hectare) ranch near the small community of Ribera, New Mexico, and about 45 miles (72 kilometres) east of Santa Fe has been used to benefit children afflicted by cancer.
It was originally listed for sale at $35 million by Bell Tower Keller Williams Realty but the price was reduced to $29.9 million and the property is now listed at $19.9 million.
According to the Keller Williams website, the ranch has views that include Rowe Mesa, the Santa Fe National Forest and the Sangre de Cristos, with 11 structures. There also are greenhouses, garages, barns and sheds.
Imus and his wife, Deirdre, founded the ranch in 1998 in the Pecos River Valley as a non-profit group to help children with cancer. It has hosted children for nine-day visits during summer months.
The ranch, which stopped taking sick children in 2014, was the subject of an inquiry into its non-profit status and personal use of the ranch by the Imuses, according to a 2005 Wall Street Journal story.
Imus called the story a “hatchet job” and defended his ranch.
There were tax investigations by the attorneys general in New York and New Mexico, but no action was taken, the New York Post reported in 2017.
The radio host was fired from his CBS show in 2007 after using a racial slur to refer to the Rutgers women’s basketball team. He later apologized in person to the team.
The “Imus in the Morning” program aired its last show on the Fox Business Network in 2015. The show was nationally simulcast on radio on Cumulus Media Networks and until last month.
Cumulus Media filed for bankruptcy last year and asked Imus, 77, to retire early.
His contract was set to end in December.
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Information from: The Santa Fe New Mexican, http://www.santafenewmexican.com