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A Connecticut estate made headlines in 2014 when it sold for a then-record $120 million, making it America’s priciest home sale at the time. Now the unidentified owner of that property, known as Copper Beech Farm, has listed it for $150 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The vast estate includes 50 acres of land and nearly one mile of private frontage on Long Island Sound in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The historic property dates back to the 1890s and once belonged to the Lauder Greenway family, relatives and business partners of Andrew Carnegie. George Lauder, father of Harriet Lauder Greenway who occupied the house in the 1900s with her family, helped Carnegie form the company that evolved into U.S. Steel.
First known as “Kincraig,” the estate includes a 13,500-square-foot French-Renaissance mansion, a three-bedroom gate house, a two-bedroom carriage house complete with clock tower, two private beaches and a bathhouse, and a private island. There are also greenhouses, a grass tennis court and a 75-foot heated outdoor swimming pool and spa.
The main house, which has eight bedrooms, was recently restored, with upgrades made to the kitchen and bathrooms, as well as the electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems. The four-story home includes nine fireplaces, 12-foot ceilings in the main rooms, a solarium with coffered ceilings and formal dining room complete with a plaster tracery ceiling and oak paneling.
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The current owners, whom listing agent Leslie McElwreath of Sotheby’s International Realty-Greenwich Brokerage would only identify to The WSJ as “Connecticutites,” purchased the property from timber tycoon John Rudey, who had purchased the property in 1982 from the Lauder family. Property records currently list the owner as The Conservation Institute, LLC.
Joseph Barbieri, also of Sotheby’s Greenwich location, and Nikki Field of Sotheby’s East Side Manhattan location, are co-listing the property with McElwreath.
The owners reportedly decided to sell the house now because their children have grown up and moved out of the house, noting that the children used to swim to the island and camp out on it occasionally.
The estate is divided into one parcel of 20 acres and one of 30 acres, which McElwreath told The WSJ could potentially be divided into 10 or 12 building lots. But, she believed it would most likely be sold for use as a single-family home.
If Copper Beech Farm sells close to its asking price, it will be one of the most expensive homes sold in recent memory, although it won’t quite meet the record for the priciest home ever sold. That place is still solidly held by Ken Griffin’s $238 million purchase of a penthouse at 220 Central Park South in 2019.
Time will tell whether or not a property of such a staggering price can perform in this slightly slower market.
“This past year was not quite as robust because we had so much instability with the markets, rates going up and the war overseas,” McElwreath told The WSJ.
However, Field noted that she’s seen a significant increase in trophy buyer activity from buyers in India and China recently, and thought a buyer for the estate might come from those regions.
“It is for someone that wants to arrive in Manhattan and immediately have credibility,” she told The WSJ.
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