Philanthropist Kluge putting Albemarle County house on market

More interested in grandchildren and vacations than grand galas and gatherings, Albemarle County winemaker and philanthropist Patricia Kluge has put on the market for $100 million her 24,000-square-foot Albemarle House estate and 300 acres surrounding it.

Kluge, 61, said she and her husband, William Moses, are planning to build a new home on a neighboring 900 acres.

“[Albemarle] House is huge and we would like to create our own house on the other side of the road and build a new house for ourselves and family,” Kluge said. “Grandchildren are coming into our lives now, and we want to have a home that better fits our lifestyle.”

It’s an effort to downsize the couple’s lifestyle, Kluge said of selling the estate home, which includes a library, gallery, formal dining room, pool, recreation room, extensive gardens, a helicopter pad, stables, staff quarters and, of a course, a wine cellar. The home was built in 1985 and was designed by Kluge and David Easton.

The property also includes a pool, pool house, log cabin, a greenhouse and several staff cottages. There are three stocked ponds, gardens and a croquet lawn.

“The house is beautiful, but it’s huge,” Kluge said. “Albemarle House is wonderful, but it should be for someone who loves to entertain, who has children and who will fill it with people. We don’t feel our lifestyle warrants that kind of [home]. The house really comes to life when you have a lot of people in it and that kind of entertaining is fun, but it’s exhausting as you get older.”

Kluge said she and Moses plan to continue operating the vineyard and winery and hope to expand the business. The vineyard’s output this year is estimated at about 35,000 cases and Kluge has said she hopes the vineyard will eventually be able to produce as much as 75,000 cases a year. The wines are sold in 15 states with plans to expand into another five by the end of the year.

“They’re 100 percent committed to the winery,” said Kristen Moses Murray, winery spokeswoman. “They’ve worked very hard to make it a success and they have plans to expand it. They just want to relax more.”

Kluge confirms that.

“We have other properties we want to visit and we want to spend more time traveling,” she said. “We’re not giving up the winery and we’re not leaving Albemarle County. The winery is a seven-day-a-week job and we don’t plan on letting up on that. We just want to change our personal lives.”

The home is being marketed by TTR Sotheby’s International Realty in Washington.