Yankee Candle Inventor’s Backyard Waterpark
Posted: June 6, 2025 | Source: www.realtor.comMichael Kittredge started making candles as a teenager, selling them to friends and family. One of his first products was a Christmas candle he made for his mother on the family stove out of his melted crayons and a wick from a shoelace. Within a few years, he had opened his first Yankee Candle Shop in his hometown of South Hadley, Massachusetts. The business expanded to become the wildly successful Yankee Candle Company whose candles are sold all over America. Kittredge cashed out in 1998, selling 90% of his company for $500 million. His one-of-a-kind estate in Leverett, Massachusetts, is listed for $14.9 million.