Baseball Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr Just Listed His Orlando Mansion for 27 Million

He bought the land for $2.6M in 2004. Now the whole estate, 22,000 sq ft on 11 acres with 440 feet of private lakefront, is on the market. The numbers are jaw-dropping.

The Off-Field Grand Slam Nobody Saw Coming

Ken Griffey Jr. spent 22 years making impossible look routine on a baseball diamond. Turns out, he applied the same instincts to real estate.

The Hall of Famer just listed his custom-built estate at 5603 Marleon Drive, Windermere, Florida, a quiet suburb southwest of Orlando, for $27 million.

He and his wife Melissa bought the raw land back in 2004 for just under $2.6 million. They broke ground, waited four years for construction to finish, and moved into the finished mansion in 2008.

That is roughly a 10x return on the original land purchase in under 22 years. For context, the average U.S. home appreciated about 150 to 180 percent over the same period. Griffey’s lakefront bet landed in a completely different league.

What’s Actually Inside This $27 Million Estate

Seven bedrooms. Ten bathrooms. Three floors of Mediterranean architecture built the way only a generational athlete could commission it.

The entry alone sets the tone. A 28-foot travertine foyer with a wrought-iron bifurcated staircase and Gothic-style arched windows frame the lake views. From there you get a golf simulator, a home theater, a wine room, a dedicated salon, a gym, and an elevator connecting all three floors.

Outside is where it gets truly outrageous. A 125,000-gallon grotto-style pool with waterfalls and a slide. A private basketball court. A two-story boat dock.

A 10-car garage with two vehicle lifts. And 440 feet of private frontage directly on Cypress Lake, with access to nearby Lake Butler via the community boat ramp.

There is also a separate two-bedroom guest wing with its own entrance, fully independent from the main house. For staff, guests, or family, it works either way.

Listing agent Llin Lu of Premier Sotheby’s International Realty put it plainly: “It’s the grandness of the scale, a 22,000-square-foot home on 11 acres in Windermere. There’s just not that much acreage of that size.”

The Man Who Built It

If you’re not a baseball fan, here’s the short version. Ken Griffey Jr. is arguably the most gifted player of his generation. The number one overall pick in the 1987 draft. 630 career home runs.

13 All-Star selections. 10 Gold Gloves. The 1997 AL MVP. And in 2016, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.32 percent of all ballots, the highest percentage ever recorded at the time.

He earned roughly $150 million in MLB salary alone over his career, closer to $190 million in today’s dollars. His peak contract was a 9-year, $112.5M deal with the Cincinnati Reds in 2000, part of which he still collected in deferred payments for years after retirement.

He isn’t the only athlete sitting on serious real estate either. Aaron Rodgers’ own property situation has been making headlines for very different reasons.

Post-baseball, Griffey didn’t fade away quietly. He became a credentialed sports photographer, shooting the Masters, the World Baseball Classic, and Messi’s MLS debut. He became a minority owner of the Seattle Mariners in 2021, the first former Mariner player to do so.

He also holds a stake in the Seattle Sounders FC and serves as a senior adviser to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

The Florida chapter lasted exactly as long as his playing career, 22 years. And now it’s closing. It’s the kind of move that shows how Florida’s ultra-luxury market keeps rewriting its own record books, this time with a Hall of Famer holding the pen.

If you follow luxury real estate closely, there’s a WhatsApp channel that covers high-profile listings, market shifts, and celebrity property moves as they happen. Worth checking out if this kind of story stays on your radar.

Why This Matters

This isn’t just a celebrity home listing. It’s a signal about where the luxury real estate market is headed, especially in Florida.

Windermere’s average house list price hit $2.36 million in January 2026, up 36 percent year-over-year. Land prices in the area surged nearly 91 percent year-over-year, signaling intense developer and investor interest.

At $27 million, Griffey’s property would be the most expensive active residential listing in all of Central Florida. The previous record sat at $19.5 million.

Florida’s zero state income tax continues pulling ultra-high-net-worth buyers out of New York and California. Windermere has historically drawn professional athletes, with Tiger Woods and Shaquille O’Neal both having held property in the area.

Griffey’s listing, if it closes near asking price, would set a new benchmark for the entire region. That same shift is why agents who built their reputations in other markets are now pivoting toward high-end markets where the real action is.

For a deeper look at the property and full photo gallery, Robb Report’s coverage includes the official listing photos.

And if you want current Windermere market data before drawing your own conclusions, this January 2026 Windermere market report breaks down average prices, inventory shifts, and buyer trends in detail.

Key Takeaways at a Glance

• Address: 5603 Marleon Drive, Windermere, FL 34786, listed May 2026
• Asking price: $27,000,000 via Premier Sotheby’s International Realty
• Size: 22,108 sq ft, 7 beds plus guest wing, 10 baths, 11.5 acres on Cypress Lake
• Land purchased 2004 for $2.575M, mansion completed 2008
• Potentially the highest-priced active residential listing in Central Florida history
• Griffey: Hall of Famer, 630 home runs, part-owner of the Seattle Mariners

This kind of appreciation story doesn’t come around often. 10x in 22 years on a lakefront estate is the kind of return most investors only read about. Do you think this actually sells at $27 million, or is it priced to negotiate? Drop your take in the comments below.

Closing Thought

Ken Griffey Jr. built this home the same year the global financial crisis hit. He held it through market crashes, a pandemic, and nearly a quarter century of Florida’s real estate boom.

The result is one of the most remarkable appreciation stories in Central Florida history.

Whether you’re a baseball fan, a real estate nerd, or just someone who appreciates a well-timed investment, this one is worth paying attention to.

For more stories like this, celebrity listings, market breakdowns, and home investment deep-dives, visit Build Like New. You can also follow along on X and join the conversation on the Build Like New Facebook group so you never miss the next one.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. Property details, prices, and market data are based on publicly available sources including Robb Report, GrowthSpotter, Orlando Weekly, and Windermere market reports as of May 2026.

Real estate values and listing availability are subject to change. We are not affiliated with the listing agent or any party involved in the sale.