clickable link

Here is a link that might be useful: clickable link

Ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

I want it. Now.

(Plus I love how she says "allure".)

Thanks graywings for posting the link....

Very nice. I hope some of the "secrets we can't show you here" are a bathroom or two. I like how she says "foyer."

uh, yeah! Clearly out of the reach of all but a few but simply gorgeous. The grounds and views are breathtaking. It's actually quite cozy for 2...... and the full time staff of 20 you'd need to take care of the place!!!

Thank you for sharing the beautiful real estate, respite for the eyes.

I agree. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

Look at the postcard in this article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Article

Ahh yes, that's Robert Vaughn's old home. (I live in Ridgefield.) I think it's been on and off the market for several years. More info below from The Ridgefield Press: [oops, sorry redlover, didn't see you linked to the article already]

Don't know if Robert Vaughn still lives in town or not. You use to see him around frequently -- Stop 'n' Shop, pumping gas into his Rolls Royce, Venice restaurant -- but I haven't spotted him in a long while. He has the celebrity demeanor where he sees you but pretends he doesn't see you to keep people at a distance. Once he & I were going into the UPS store at the same time. He held the door open for me jusssst barely and didn't make eye contact. He just dropped off his package at the counter and left -- no waiting in line for him!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Selling of Sunset Hall

This post was edited by awm03 on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 14:50

A little more info from the NYTimes in 2007 (pre-recession):

"Pricing a view, however, can be tricky. This property is currently listed at $9.2 million, down considerably from the $11.5 million asking price when first listed in 2005. The owners tried putting the house up for auction last year. Though they received an offer of $7.5 million, Ms. Fox said, they ultimately declined to sell, having put some $6 million into the house in renovations. The property was relisted in November, partly in anticipation of the record-high Wall Street bonuses, she said."

So much for anticipating record-high bonuses in 2007. The ultra high end homes here have been a tough sell since the economy tanked.

Here is a link that might be useful: article here

Shocking price. What can be wrong with it? Severely in need of updating, perhaps? I am somewhat familiar with the area...Greenwich, specifically. Seems to me it should be priced over 15m.

Shocking price. What can be wrong with it? Severely in need of updating, perhaps? I am somewhat familiar with the area...Greenwich, specifically. Seems to me it should be priced over 15m.

Love the house!

Reminds me of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club where my parents had their wedding reception. My mother was from the same area on Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY. If you click on the link, you will see the reception area staircase. I have B&W photos of my parents on that staircase.

How I would love to visit that CC in person. It has been featured in movies and T.V. shows, like The Bounty Hunter and The Good Wife.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sleepy Hollow

This post was edited by newhomebuilder on Sun, Jun 29, 14 at 16:57

Stunning, stunning home and amazingly low price for that much land and square footage. I'm surprised someone hasn't grabbed it. Is there a major problem of some kind.

Truly lovely property all the way around. The grounds are so well tended and beautiful and the home is stunning and timeless.

Odd as it is to say, for the size of the house and the area, the acreage of 5ish is kind of low. And the pond is not private; although the other homes on it are very lovely as well.

The accent is absurd, the idea of a Chinese buyer totally silly (unless you are talking major cities, resorts or W Coast), and it is only an 'hour to NYC' at 3am. And Sotheby's takes any old listing at all, despite trying to cultivate a high end image.

AWM, how did it escape me that you are in Ridgefield? We should do another CT lunch!

Bonuses were record high in 2007. But by that time a lot of people were wary of housing. The high end has come back in the city and will only slowly radiate outward.

Sorry, the British accent and "whimsical." Just too much :)
The views are nice, though.

Lovely house and grounds. Thanks for sharing something liveable.

For those of you familiar with the area :MTN,AWM, can you explain the price? Seems, from the little I've seen in Greenwich, it should be much higher in price. I suppose it's the surrounding neighborhood?

I know, mtnrd, I was thinking the same thing....time for another CT lunch...

No, the neighborhood is lovely... rolling hills, large estates. There really aren't bad neighborhoods in this area; it is more country than urban or even suburban. Ridgefield itself is a charming quintessential New England town. Ridgefield prices are less than Greenwich because it is a much longer commute to NYC. It says an "hour", but that is not during commuting time, although on a weekend you can get in in an hour. The train takes 90 minutes to Grand Central, for example. So IMHO it is not really commutable to NYC. The buyer base for a home like this is either as a second home, or those who commute into Stamford/Westport or Westchester (it's right on the NY border)

This particular home is on less acreage than some competing properties. I'd also venture a guess that the bathrooms and master suite are not quite what people want at this price point, but frankly that is not really material in the scheme of things (I know a local purchaser who spent 11mn on a "knockdown") The real issue is that "starter homes", ie 1mn and under, are selling briskly, but there is lots of inventory at the upper end, some on the market since when we bought 4 yrs ago.

Here's an interesting listing for comparison...they want $12 mil for this one.

Hillcrest

Details for Sunset Hall
Price:
$5,750,000
Price / Sq. Ft.:
$296
Bedrooms: 11 Full Baths: 8 Partial Baths: 3
Interior:
19,452 Sq Ft.
Exterior:
6.99 Acres
Property Type: Single Family Home Year Built: 1912
-----------------
Details for Hillcrest
Price:
$12,000,000
Price / Sq. Ft.:
$632
Bedrooms: 9 Full Baths: 10 Partial Baths: 5
Interior:
19,000 Sq Ft.
Exterior:
5.85 Acres
Property Type: Single Family Home Year Built: 2010

I suspect the place needs work...that the surprises they have yet to show us are because they are old, dated, or have had issues, common to 100+ year old houses. At least that's my translation of this 'real estate-ese':

The master bedroom suite is ready for your personal touch and customization.

Lovely! And Annie, now you've open a whole new world for me by showing me that, yes, I can actually TOUR homes via YouTube. I never thought of that! Thank you!

The difference in real estate values? Well, in a nutshell:

In Fairfield County, the closer you are to NYC or the easier the commute to NYC, the higher the real estate prices. Beach access is a plus.

Greenwich is a beautiful upscale-on-steroids-ala-the-Hamptons town with super easy access to NYC and is on Long Island Sound = $$$$$.

Westport & Southport are charming upscale towns with easy access to NYC and are on Long Island Sound = $$$$.

Darien & New Canaan & Wilton are charming upscale towns with easy access to NYC = $$$.

Ridgefield, Easton, Weston, & Redding are charming, somewhat rustic towns with acreage for the equestrian set, a middle class to wealthy mix, and with less convenient rail & highway connections to NYC = $$

So whoever has the money to buy Sunset Hall would have to be a wealthy person who doesn't mind being away from the glitzy social scene or the financial hubs of NYC/Greenwich. Or who isn't in to equestrian horse keeping, as I don't believe the property is conducive to that.

re the house needing work, the 2007 NYT article said the owners had put $6 million into it, so it can't be too shabby.

mtnredux, we can drive to NYC in an hour (give or take a few) most of the time by taking route 35 to the Saw Mill . It's the additional driving inside of NYC that eats up time. I can get to the Boat Basin roundabout in an hour, but can take another 30 minutes just to get across town to the east side. So, yes, you can "drive to NYC" in an hour from here, but it doesn't mean you'll be at your NYC destination in an hour.

"Darien & New Canaan & Wilton are charming upscale towns with easy access to NYC = $$$. "

My grandparents retired to New Canaan after my grandfather left his job in NYC. Although I visited a few times as a little girl, I have no address for that home. Both my grandparents and parents are deceased. How I would love to be able to find that home online. :)

They had preciously lived in Westchester (one of the two cities where my mother grew up. The other being Winnetka, Illinois near Chicago) Their address there was simply Ardsley Park, Irvington-on-Hudson. No address number. Again, I would love to look up the house, but cannot find anything online about this location as a street.

Are any of you in that area familiar with Ardsley Park?

This post was edited by newhomebuilder on Mon, Jun 30, 14 at 14:17

Yes, awm, we go the same way. Agree w you about "getting to NYC" vs getting to say, midtown. But even getting to the boat basin during morning rush, can be tough

Well, awm, I'm just trying to figure out why they would be asking less than half the price of the other place which seems quite comparable in terms of land, location and sq footage...clearly age is one factor...

Annie, I think it's because Sunset Hall has been on and off the market several times in the 18 years I've lived here, whereas HIllcrest, a first time offering, well, we'll see if it goes at that price. I've a feeling it will drop considerably. The ultra high end houses aren't selling like hotcakes here.

Here's one close to me that has been on the market for several years. The grounds still have Sandy damage that hasn't been cleaned up -- fallen trees. Lovely grounds, nevertheless, and within walking distance of our beautiful Main Street.
Peaceable St.

And here's another one that goes up for sale every few years. The last owner sunk a pile of upgrades into it, but that hasn't helped it to sell quickly, unfortunately. It's just a block away from Main St. I love this home.
King Lane

This one has been on & off the market for as long as I can remember. It's far more buyer specific, but you'd think surely there are people with a taste for high end concrete contemporary (Palimpsest! He would do wondrous things with it!)
modernist brutalist Rafael Vinoly creation

May this stunning property's "....gracious formal living room" serve as validation for those of us shamed to also have a fireplace with (...rolls eyes...) a TV above it.

Secrets that we CANT show you here? Someone has had to seen whats in that locked room in the basement already.
I find you can still pick up ideas from such of touch realty - not so much ballrooms but sometimes little details or style ideas.