Dan Snyder to list Northern Virginia estate again, this time for $49.9M

If you’ve been longing to buy an estate overlooking the Potomac River from the former owner of the Washington Commanders, it may be time to reach for that checkbook.

Sitting on 16.5 acres of George Washington’s original Mount Vernon estate in Fairfax County, Dan Snyder’s mansion will hit the market again May 20, according to listing agent Michael Sobhi of The Sobhi Group in Fairfax County.

This time, the asking price is $49.9 million, about $10 million less than the last time the property, known as River View, was listed in 2023.

“It is one of the most significant and highest priced residential offerings in the Washington, D.C., region,” Sobhi wrote in an email Thursday night. “Very few estates can combine this level of acreage, privacy, waterfront access and proximity to the center of power in the United States. Opportunities like this rarely come available anywhere near Washington, D.C.”

Snyder bought the mansion at 7979 E. Boulevard Dr. in November 2021 for $48 million, at the time reported as the most expensive house in Virginia and the greater Washington, D.C., region.

The owner is listed in property records as River View 7979. However, the home’s address matched an address listed with Snyder’s $25,000 donation in January 2022 to former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s inaugural committee, according to the State Board of Elections.

Sobhi feels optimistic about the house’s potential at the new price point.

“In the ultra luxury market, pricing strategy is critical,” he wrote. “The adjustment creates stronger alignment with today’s buyer pool while positioning the property as an even more compelling value on a global scale. Buyers at this level understand rarity, and there is nothing else that offers this combination of land, waterfront, privacy and access to Washington, D.C.”

On the other hand, Snyder hasn’t had the best real estate luck. He listed his Maryland home overlooking the Potomac River in 2023 for $49 million. When the house failed to sell, Snyder donated the property to the American Cancer Society. Last year, the nonprofit auctioned the home for about $13.3 million.

In April 2023, Snyder sold the NFL franchise for $6.05 billion to a group of investors led by Apollo Global Management co-founder Josh Harris, and Snyder put both homes up for sale the same year, as he and his wife prepared to move to England.

Designed by Bethesda, Maryland-based architecture firm Rill Architects, the 16,000-square-foot Virginia mansion offers eight bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, and custom radius windows and doors to frame the property’s 400 feet of waterfront. The grounds include two security gates and a recreated English colonial boxwood garden.

“The best part of the estate is the feeling that you own an entirely different world while still being connected to Washington, D.C.,” Sobhi wrote.

Designed for entertaining, the estate features both a commercial-grade chef’s kitchen and a separate family kitchen. An elevator provides quick access to the home’s four levels. It has a full bar, a billiards table, and a temperature-controlled wine cellar. Guests can also enjoy a 15-seat private theater.

A large fitness center includes a private spa area with an indoor resistance pool, steam room and infrared sauna.

The property also includes a three-bedroom, three-bathroom guest house as well as a carriage house that includes four garage bays and a studio apartment. As the cherry on the sundae, it features a private dock.

“The Potomac River becomes more than scenery here,” Sobhi wrote. “It’s your private highway into the city. You can leave your dock and arrive in Georgetown or Washington by boat while avoiding traffic entirely. That’s an experience almost no property in the region can offer.”

Last time around, the estate was listed with Heather Corey of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.

Sobhi believes the key to selling the property is understanding that it is a “legacy estate positioned at the doorstep of the most powerful city in the world.”

“Our approach is centered around storytelling and lifestyle marketing,” Sobhi wrote. “We’re creating a global marketing campaign designed to showcase not just the home itself but he lifestyle, prestige and access that comes with it.”

Snyder is worth $4.9 billion, according to Forbes. As a college dropout, Snyder launched marketing firm Snyder Communications, which he sold in 2000 for $2.1 billion. In 1999, he bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders. Later, he was later pressured by other NFL owners to sell the franchise following investigations into allegedly toxic workplace culture.