FORT WORTH -- A sprawling 120-acre spread off Blue Mound Road is said to be the largest estate for sale in Fort Worth, for a cool $10 million.
It's being marketed as the Amon Carter Estate, the onetime ranch of the late, influential and tireless promoter of Fort Worth whose wealth is behind the Amon Carter Museum of American Art and a charitable foundation that bears his name.The real estate listing claims that the philanthropist and founder and publisher of the Star-Telegram built the property in 1906.Only one problem: The 8,000-square-foot house, two-story historical barn and guesthouse at 7760 Blue Mound Road were never owned by Amon G. Carter Sr.The property is not without a connection to the newspaper, however.James M. North, who was an editor of the Star-Telegram under Carter, bought the property in the 1930s. It straddled Blue Mound Road and included nearly 500 acres on the west side. He named it Northwoods Stock Farm and raised Hereford cattle.Pat Harris, chief investment officer for the Amon G. Carter Foundation, said the group bought the 492-acre tract on the west side of Blue Mound Road in 1963 and sold it in 1995.Amon Carter owned about 3,000 acres around Eagle Mountain Lake to the north, which has also been sold.But in 1906, Carter was in his 20s and had not yet come into his wealth.The North family sold the 120-acre tract on the east side of Blue Mound Road, which is now for sale again. That property has changed hands at least five times since, deed records show.Harris said Carter family real estate records that date to 1946 show no ownership of the Blue Mound Road property on the east.Marilyn Hoffman, broker/owner of Hoffman International Properties, which is listing the property, said that until the Star-Telegram called and questioned the ad's accuracy, she was unaware that Carter was never the owner.The property is now owned by Gary and Nancy Fritchen, where they operate Fritchen Outdoor Creations nursery. They bought the property in 2006 from the developer South Chisholm Ridge Ltd., according to deed records.Hoffman said the current owner told her and the listing agent, Alicia Hipps, that the property was once the Amon Carter estate. They had no reason to doubt it, Hoffman said."That's what they were told when they bought it," Hoffman said. "He was told Amon Carter lived there. We take the seller's word for it. We can't check everything. As a broker, we're not obligated to check on something like that."Sherry Matina, chief executive of the Greater Fort Worth Association of Realtors, thinks otherwise. She said she saw the ad and was surprised that Hoffman International would use such an iconic Fort Worth name without checking it out."I can't imagine taking that kind of a risk," Matina said.The Fritchens did not return phone calls seeking comment.Steve Gee, president of Gee Development, which operated the limited partnership South Chisholm Ridge, said he did not tell the Fritchens that the property was owned by Amon Carter."No, absolutely not," said Gee, who now works for Onyx Homes in Plano. "He bought the property to make a tree farm out of it."Charles Lasater, who sold the property to Gee and who did some of the most extensive remodeling and renovations on the property after buying it in 1981, said his research shows that the property was built in 1900 and not by Amon Carter.Hoffman said her agency, which says on its website that it has sold some of the finest estates in the country, spent $5,000 on marketing brochures that now can't be used."I'm sorry this happened," Hoffman said."It makes us look really bad."On Thursday, the real estate agency's website was still listing the property as the Amon Carter Estate, "a rare opportunity to own a part of Texas history."Real estate advertising is scrutinized by the Texas Real Estate Commission, which licenses agents, and by the National Association of Realtors.Typically, a complaint must be filed before the groups will look into allegations.An agent can face fines if the ads are found to be false or misleading.A check with those agencies showed that no complaint has been filed about the Hoffman International ad for the Fort Worth property.Moreover, the Texas Real Estate Commission's website shows no false-advertising complaints against Hoffman International in the last 10 years."Unless the commission is aware of the situation, we can't take action," spokeswoman Christine Anderson said.Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727Twitter: @SandraBakerFWSTHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
