Showbiz

EXCLUSIVE Gene Hackman’s sprawling Santa Fe house ‘could sell for $5M’ despite rat-infested home being site of his death

EXCLUSIVE
Gene Hackman's sprawling Santa Fe house 'could sell for $5M' despite rat-infested home being site of his death

Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe compound will likely be sold following the settlement of his estate.

Property records say the New Mexico property worth between $3.8 million and $4 million. 

But DailyMail.com has learned that the sprawling Southwestern-style four bed room ranch sitting on a picturesque hill could fetch as much as $5 million when it finally goes on sale.

‘The home is big, stylish and has great bones so there will be interest,’ said an agent at Coldwell Banker. ‘Even though two people pᴀssed away in the house, there will still be plenty of offers.’

The agent added that anytime there is a celebrity linked to a property, it drives up the price, as is whether the home is bought in spring or summer summer.

The home is also desired as it’s within a gated community despite being on six acres of land, and offers generous views of the Rocky Mountains and is close to nature. 

Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside the home on Old Sunset Trail, Hyde Park, in February 2025. 

Extraordinary footage released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff on Tuesday shows a heartbroken German shepherd watching over the couple’s bodies as deputies walked inside. 

EXCLUSIVE
Gene Hackman’s sprawling Santa Fe house ‘could sell for M’ despite rat-infested home being site of his death

Gene Hackman’s Santa Fe compound will likely be sold following the settlement of his estate; seen with wife Betsy in 1989

The New Mexico property is reportedly worth around $3.8 million to $4 million. But DailyMail.com has learned that the sprawling dwelling that sits on a picturesque hill could fetch as much as $5 million when it finally goes on sale

The New Mexico property is reportedly worth around $3.8 million to $4 million. But DailyMail.com has learned that the sprawling dwelling that sits on a picturesque hill could fetch as much as $5 million when it finally goes on sale

The house, which was extensively remodeled in 1990, was cluttered with clothing, boxes, diapers and even dog cages when the couple died. 

It was also infested with rats. 

Their Pueblo revival home is far from Hollywood in an area renowned as a retreat for artists and celebrities wanting to escape the spotlight .

The home was featured in a 1990 article by Architectural Digest. 

Hackman could be spotted around the historic state capital, but he disappeared largely from the public eye in his later years. 

His hobbies included painting, deep-sea diving and, later in life, writing novels.

Authorities in northern New Mexico released police body camera video and other public records Tuesday in the investigation into the deaths of Gene and Betsy

The two were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ February 26 in their Santa Fe home.

Hackman, 95, died of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer’s disease about a week after Arakawa, 65, died of hantavirus.

The records detail some of Arakawa’s last emails, phone calls and internet searches that appear to show she was looking for information on flu-like symptoms and breathing techniques. The documents and video recordings were released after a court ruled that most of them are public record but ordered that the couple’s bodies would have to be blocked from view.

Arakawa´s computer showed that between February 8 and the morning of February 12, she was researching medical conditions related to COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms, according to the records released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

In an email to her mᴀsseuse, she said Hackman woke up Feb. 11 with flu or cold-like symptoms and she’d have to reschedule her appointment for the next day.

Her search history on the morning of Feb. 12 showed she was looking into a medical concierge service in Santa Fe. A call with the service lasted less than two minutes, and she missed a return call later that afternoon, according to investigators.

'The home is big, stylish and has great bones so there will be interest,' said an agent at Coldwell Banker. Seen in 1994

‘The home is big, stylish and has great bones so there will be interest,’ said an agent at Coldwell Banker. Seen in 1994

'Even though two people pᴀssed away in the house, there will still be plenty of offers,' added the real estate expert

‘Even though two people pᴀssed away in the house, there will still be plenty of offers,’ added the real estate expert

Read More Heartbreaking handwritten notes found at Gene Hackman’s home showing his devotion to wife Betsy until the end are revealed in trove of new police pH๏τos article image

Redacted police body camera images showed officers going through the home and finding no signs of forced entry or anything out of the ordinary with the home’s contents. Investigators took note of prescription medication on a bathroom counter as one of the couple’s dogs barked in the background.

Initially, all pH๏τos, video and documents from the investigation were sealed by a temporary court order. 

Hackman’s estate and Arakawa’s mother asked a judge to extend that order, citing privacy concerns. The ᴀssociated Press, CBS News and CBS Studios intervened in the matter, saying in court filings that they would not disseminate images of the couple’s bodies.

The court cleared the way for the release of investigative records as long as there were no videos or pH๏τos of the couple’s bodies.

Both were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said. Hackman’s death was tied to heart disease with Alzheimer´s disease contributing. Authorities linked Arakawa’s death to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare but potentially fatal disease spread by the droppings of infected rodents.

Hackman´s pacemaker showed an abnormal heart rhythm on Feb. 18 – the day he likely died, Jarrell said.

While there’s no reliable way to know for sure when each died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said.

The agent added that anytime there is a celebrity linked to a property, it drives up prices, and the time of year is also a positive factor as most people make purchases in spring or summer

The agent added that anytime there is a celebrity linked to a property, it drives up prices, and the time of year is also a positive factor as most people make purchases in spring or summer

The pad in unusual as it is located in a coveted gated community that has generous views of the lush flora and fauna that makes the neighborhood so appealing

The pad in unusual as it is located in a coveted gated community that has generous views of the lush flora and fauna that makes the neighborhood so appealing

A gray pull-up diaper could be seen in a black pot on this wood table

A gray pull-up diaper could be seen in a black pot on this wood table

Read More Gene Hackman fans are all asking the same thing about pH๏τos of the late actor’s squalid home article image

Hackman’s body was found in the home´s entryway, and Arakawa’s body was found in a bathroom. Thyroid medication pills prescribed to Arakawa were found nearby and weren´t listed as contributing to her death, Jarrell said.

Investigators earlier retrieved personal items from the home, including a monthly planner and two cellphones. 

One of the couple´s three dogs was found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in a crate near Arakawa. Authorities initially misidentified the breed.

The virus typically is reported in spring and summer, often when people are exposed to mouse droppings in homes, sheds or poorly ventilated areas. It can cause a severe, sometimes ᴅᴇᴀᴅly lung infection called hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

An environmental ᴀssessment of the Hackman property found rodent feces in several outbuildings and live traps on the property, according to a New Mexico Department of Health report. The inside of the home was clean, with no evidence of rodent activity.

Nestled among the piñon and juniper hills overlooking Santa Fe, the Hackman home is not unlike others in the area as mice are common within the surrounding landscape.

This was the first confirmed case of hantavirus in New Mexico this year. Hantavirus does not spread between people.

Initial symptoms can include fatigue, fever and muscle aches. As the disease progresses, people can experience coughing, shortness of breath or тιԍнтness in the chest as the lungs fill with fluid, according to the CDC. About a third of people who develop respiratory symptoms can die, the agency said.

The French Connection actor's home on Old Sunset Trail in bucolic Hyde Park

The French Connection actor’s home on Old Sunset Trail in bucolic Hyde Park

Gene and his wife Betsy were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside the home in February 2025

Gene and his wife Betsy were found ᴅᴇᴀᴅ inside the home in February 2025

Hackman appeared in a broad range of movie roles dating back to 1961, when he debuted in Mad Dog Coll.

His roles included playing the arch nemesis Lex Luthor in the Superman movies and a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite Hoosiers.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for The French Connection in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for Unforgiven two decades later. He retired in the early 2000s.

Arakawa was born in Hawaii in December 1959 and grew up in Honolulu. She studied piano and, as an 11-year-old sixth grader, performed in youth concerts in front of thousands of students at the Honolulu International Center Concert Hall, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported in 1971.

New pH๏τos inside the compound show that the home was remodeled and in decent shape even if it was cluttered with clothing, boxes, diapers and dog cages, seen right

New pH๏τos inside the compound show that the home was remodeled and in decent shape even if it was cluttered with clothing, boxes, diapers and dog cages, seen right

It has also been claimed that some of the property was infested with rats

It has also been claimed that some of the property was infested with rats

A pond was empty and bushes were overgrown

A pond was empty and bushes were overgrown

She attended the University of Southern California and was a cheerleader for the Aztecs, a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League. 

The artist also worked as a production ᴀssistant on the television game show Card Sharks, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported in 1981.

Betsy met Hackman while working part-time at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They soon moved in together and relocated to Santa Fe by the end of the decade.

Arakawa was vice president of Pandora´s, a home decor and furnishing store in Santa Fe, according to New Mexico business records.

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