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The greater Washington, D.C.-area has seen its biggest deal of the year thus far with the $14.75 million sale of a 17.5-acre equestrian estate, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The mammoth property, located in Great Falls, Virginia, about 20 miles west of D.C., was put on the market for $17.995 million in May 2023. The sale price also marks a new record for Great Falls, besting a $12 million sale from 2017.
The sellers were telecommunications company LightSpeed International co-founder Ian Landy and his wife, Karen Landy. The English-born couple built the house, six-stall stable and dressage ring in 2000.
Daniel Heider of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty represented the listing. Thomas Castagnola of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer, who remains anonymous.
Heider did disclose that the buyers are a local family who intend to make the eight-bedroom, 24,500-square-foot house their primary residence, and are “aspiring equestrians,” he told The WSJ.
The brick-façade estate known as “Wildersmoor House” is set behind a leaf-canopied driveway behind a grand, circular motor court. Interior highlights include French limestone floors, an octagonal skyline above the foyer, 12-foot ceilings, wide plank cherry wood floors and a hand-carved limestone fireplace in the formal dining room.
Home amenities include an indoor swimming pavilion within an Athenian solarium, a paneled billiards room, a fitness center with sauna, a self-contained apartment on the lower level, an elevator, a wine cellar and a screening room.
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The equestrian facilities include the six-stall stable, a sand training arena, three pastures linked to a run-in shed, and ample storage and parking space. The grounds also feature several streams and a pond.
LightSpeed was co-founded by Landy and Lev Volftsun in 1995 and sold to Cisco Systems for roughly $160 million just a few years later.
The couple raised their family on the equestrian estate and decided to sell because they were looking to downsize now that their children are grown.
Great Falls is a wealthy commuter suburb of D.C. in Fairfax County, Virginia, where many lots range from 2 acres to 5 acres at most, Heider told The WSJ. Wildersmoor House, therefore, offers a rare opportunity for a larger plot of land in the area. In 2022, Veranda Magazine named Great Falls one of the 20 Richest Towns in America.
The average sales price in Great Falls during Q4 2023 was $2.2 million, up from $1.75 million the year before, according to Heider. With recently falling interest rates, Heider said consumer confidence is rebounding and providing a boost to home prices.
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