WSJ: The Palins purchase home in Arizona

"As rural as Scottsdale gets"
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According to sources familiar with the real estate transaction, that 8,000-square-foot home in North Scottsdale, Arizona that Todd and Sarah was rumored to have purchased is indeed their second home, the Wall Street Journal reports:

Put on the market in February for $1.75 million, the walled-and-gated house sits on 4.4 acres and has a home theater, a billiard room, a walk-in wine room and a "resort style backyard" with a gazebo and pool, according to the listing and listing photographs. The brown, stucco-and-stone house, which was renovated this year, has several fireplaces, a six-car garage and mountain views. The property has a circular driveway and desert landscaping.

According to the Maricopa County assessor's office, the home was appraised this year at just over $1 million. A spokesman for Ms. Palin couldn't be reached for comment.

The neighborhood is "as rural as Scottsdale gets," says broker Bob Hassett of Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty, who was not involved in the deal but said he was approached in 2007 by a previous owner about listing the home, which he described a "Southwest in feel." Within a square mile of the home, he said, houses are priced between $500,000 and $5 million. Real-estate agent Jeff Sibbach of John Hall & Associates described the area as "low-profile; most of the stuff in there is horse property."

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The $1.65M purchase lends weight to months of speculation that Gov. Palin will run from president in 2012 and base her campaign in Arizona.

Photos of the home are posted here.

- JP