The owners of Fayetteville’s Dromborg Castle are still grinding away trying to sell their 8,825-SF creation in south Fayetteville.
Bruce and Joan Johnson, who also own White River Hardwoods, have relisted the property at $5.5 million.
The Johnsons first listed the castle for sale at $14.7 million, then dropped the price to $4.9 million before an abortive auction in 2019.
Katherine Hudson of Keller Williams Realty — and Joan Johnson’s sister — said she is confident the castle will sell this go-round. Hudson said the castle sits on 40 acres and is being marketed strongly in California and Texas as a perfect site for a winery.
Hudson said she is creating a new Facebook page and will interview climate and soil experts, including guru John Clark of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Arkansas has a vibrant wine industry centered on Altus but hilly northwest Arkansas also has vineyards.
“The wine country of northern California is due some competition,” Hudson said. “The main thing you can’t recreate is the mountainside. Believe me, we have the shittiest soil in the world, which is exactly what grapes like.
“We are going to ride the wave of serious money folks relocating from California. Everybody is getting phone calls from them.”
Hudson said the property has been appraised at more than $13 million, but her sister and brother-in-law understand the castle won’t ever sell for that. Hudson, without going into too much detail, said her sister is finally, truly ready to sell the castle that she and her husband designed and filled with their company’s millwork.
“It is [her] favorite child obviously,” Hudson said.
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