By E.B. Solomont and Katherine Clarke
Palantir CEO Alex Karp has paid a record $120 million for a ranch outside Aspen, Colo., that was used for decades as a monastery, according to a source with knowledge of the deal.
Located in Snowmass, about 30 minutes from Aspen, St. Benedict's Monastery was listed for $150 million last year, said Ken Mirr of Mirr Ranch Group, one of the listing agents. The deal is the priciest residential sale to date in Colorado's Pitkin County, Mirr said.
Spanning about 3,700 acres, the property had been owned for about 70 years by an order of Trappist monks, Mirr said, although only about five still live there.
Mirr declined to comment on the identity of the buyer, but said the purchaser does plan to use the property as a home.
Karp is the co-founder and chief executive of Palantir, a data-analysis firm best known for working with the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. The company, which was founded in 2003 by a group of entrepreneurs including Silicon Valley heavyweight Peter Thiel, has made Karp a billionaire many times over. The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates his net worth at about $18 billion. Karp is also known to be an avid skier.
Nine-figure home sales are a new phenomenon in the Aspen area. The first took place last year, when former casino mogul Steve Wynn and financier Thomas Peterffy teamed up to pay $108 million for an estate at the base of Red Mountain. And the monastery deal, Mirr said, isn't "your typical sale of a property in Aspen with a 20,000-square-foot home on it."
St. Benedict's was established by Trappist monks -- generally known for living a life of prayer and silence -- who came to the Roaring Fork Valley about 70 years ago, according to the monastery's website.
The circa-1950s main monastery building is about 24,000 square feet, Mirr said. Around 1995, the monks added a roughly 6,000-square-foot retreat center. A handful of houses on the property were built around 1900, and there are several small cabins. Much of the land, however, is undeveloped.
Over the years, the monks raised hens and sold eggs. In recent years, they leased land to a local cattle rancher, Mirr said.
There were several interested buyers, who were drawn to the property's location, size and distant views of Mt. Sopris, Mirr said. Given land-use restrictions in Pitkin County, he intentionally didn't talk to many developers. "We were looking for someone who prized it for what it is," he said.
Ultimately, the price was driven by the rarity of the offering and its close proximity to Aspen and an Aspen. "It's extraordinary to find 3,700 acres in that area that has been relatively untouched," he said.
Mirr had the listing with his colleague and daughter Haley Mirr, and Michael Latousek of Douglas Elliman.
In the Aspen and Snowmass luxury real-estate markets, limited inventory has led to rising prices. As of November, the number of sales at or above $10 million was up 19% from November 2024, according to data from Tim Estin of Aspen Snowmass Sotheby's International Realty, who tracks the market.
A 74-acre property in Aspen is currently on the market for $300 million.
Write to E.B. Solomont at eb.solomont@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 16, 2025 18:00 ET (23:00 GMT)
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