Huh: Turns Out the Founder of Yankee Candle Had a Jaw-Dropping Car Collection

My mom dragged me into Yankee Candle at the mall countless times when I was young, and it was always excruciating. No kid wants to spend 40 minutes in a store just to smell pistachio latte-scented candles. Perhaps my misery might’ve been lessened, had I known that the company’s founder was actually a massive car fan.

Michael Kittredge, the founder of Yankee Candle, died in 2019 at 67 and left behind a massive estate. When it went up for sale in 2023, it was the largest residential property in Massachusetts with several structures that combine for a whopping 120,000 square feet. One of those buildings was a garage that featured an enormous collection of high-performance supercars and luxury cars, both modern and vintage. While the collection is pretty typical for a rich guy and lacks some imagination and taste, it’s still cool that Kittredge was collecting top-dollar machinery with his candle money.

While his entire collection isn’t listed, we can spot several slick cars in the real estate listing. At the very least, Kittredge owned a pair of Jaguar XK120s, three mid-engine Ferraris, a Lamborghini Gallardo, several Porsches, an Aston Martin DB9, a Bentley Continental GT, and a Shelby Cobra, among others. Sure, plenty of rich guys have a similar collection with multiple Italian exotics and some American classics—that’s what they’re told to buy in their rich guy handbooks. Nevertheless, Kittredge’s roster still puts him in the Cool Car Club.

It’s a shame Kittredge never built a small track on his property; with 60 acres, he had the space. Judging by the 50,000-square-foot spa, indoor water park, nine-hole golf course, and a massive tennis court-slash-auditorium-slash-arcade, he clearly wasn’t afraid to spend money. He even had actual seats from the Boston Garden, the stadium where the Celtics used to play that was demolished in 1997, and one of the seats has NBA legend Larry Bird’s signature. Another one of his priceless collectibles was Stubs’ wooden hand from Happy Gilmore.

With all that empty space, collection of go-fast metal, and the willingness to spend big bucks, a track would have been a welcome addition to Kittredge’s home.

If you want this enormous estate, it won’t be cheap. The last price listed by agent Johnny Hatem was $23 million, but the current listing just says that the price is provided upon request. It’s unclear if the cars come with everything, but if they do, it could be a good value. Not only would you be getting a monster estate fit for royalty, but you’d also have a kick-ass supercar collection that’s totally turnkey.

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