Robert Redford's love for the wilderness dates back to his youth and, more specifically, his mother. As revealed in "Robert Redford: The Biography," Martha Hart Redford impacted her son culturally, taking him to Navajo reservations in Arizona and Yosemite, and it looks like that love for the world's natural beauty is something that continued to inspire Redford well into adulthood.
In the 1950s, while riding a motorcycle to the University of Colorado from California, Redford, completely by accident, came across an area in Utah that stuck with him (via Forbes). When he married the Provo-born Lola Van Wagenen in 1958, he took her back to her home state three years later and bought a mere two acres for $500 in what would become his Sundance compound and, later on, the Sundance Mountain Resort. As his career began exploding in the 1960s, he kept buying more land. "Do another TV show, buy another acre," he shared with AD.
By the late '60s, when developers began trying to disrupt Utah's natural landscape, Redford and some friends bought thousands of acres, successfully preserving the area. By the late '80s, he added 95 cottages to his resort, later building over 200. Per Forbes, in 2020, he finally sold his property. "Change is inevitable," he told the outlet, praising the buyers and adding, "[they'll] ensure that future generations can continue to find solace and inspiration here."
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