Barack and Michelle Obama’s Martha’s Vineyard former summer rental selling for $39 million: rumors of divorce increase

Being president of the United States can be a very stressful job and take a toll not just on the person holding the office but also their family and marriage, something that Michelle Obama has spoken about openly. So, finding places where you can escape to for some peace and quiet with your family and feel a sense of safety are highly prized.

For the Obamas, one of those places was the Blue Heron Farm on Martha’s Vineyard, which they rented for three consecutive summers while they were the First Family. They would’ve spent more summers there, but it was sold to architect Norman Foster and his wife in 2011, and he didn’t have plans to lease the property during the summer months.

Now after fourteen years as its owner, the Fosters have decided to put the historic 30-acre property in Chilmark, Massachusetts on the market.

A blend of “timeless New England architecture with impeccable modern upgrades”

The sale of Blue Heron Farm, which “blends timeless New England architecture with impeccable modern upgrades,” is being handled by Maggie Gold Seelig of MGS Group Real Estate and Brian Dougherty of Corcoran Property Advisors. The property is listed at $39 million and was featured in a Wall Street Journal.

Blue Heron Farm features a 7,000-square-foot main house with a wraparound porch and an additional Cape-style guest house. There is also a boat house, a 150-year-old barn, that was moved to the property from Pennsylvania, and a pool house that was added by the Fosters. In total there are 13 bedrooms spread across the various structures on the property.

The property also counts among its amenities basketball and tennis courts, an equestrian riding ring and paddocks, and a pool which the Fosters added after purchasing Blue Heron Farm. Additionally, there is an apple orchard, gardens and it has a private stretch of waterfront on Tisbury Great Pond.

The renowned British architect, who designed London’s Gherkin and Wembley Stadium, invested in other upgrades to the property besides the pool and pool house including renovating the main house and planting new trees.

Michelle Obama addresses divorce rumors

The Obamas, unable to rent Blue Heron Farm, found another house to rent nearby to be able to continue summering on Martha’s Vineyard. Finally, in 2019, they acquired a property of their own, an $11.65 million dwelling which they still own. It’s one of a handful of properties they have including homes in Chicago, Hawaii and Washington DC.

The Obamas have been married for 32 years, and despite the rumors that they are going to get divorced, Michelle recently shared that they just aren’t true. She has been open about how Barack’s political ambitions were difficult on their marriage, speaking about them in her best-selling memoir, ‘Becoming’, and how it resulted in loneliness and exhaustion for her.

Now that they’ve been out of the White House for eight years and with their two daughters all grown up, Michelle is choosing to do what is best for her, she shared on the ‘Work in Progress’ podcast with actress Sophia Bush.

She is no longer doing what she has to do nor what she thought other people wanted her to do she said to explain why she was absent at some recent high-profile events including Trump’s second inauguration and Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

“I could have made a lot of these decisions years ago, but I didn’t give myself that freedom,” the former first lady said, “Maybe even as much as I let my kids live their own lives, I use their lives as an excuse for why I couldn’t do something.”

“And now that’s gone,” she continued. “And so now I have to look at my — I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year, was a real big example of me, myself looking at something that I was supposed to do… and I chose to do what was best for me, not what I had to do, not what I thought other people wanted me to do.”

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