Quick flip

A NYC interior designer paid $7.650 million for 313 Stanwich Road in June 2023, dolled it up, put it back on the market three weeks ago at $8.995 million, and it’s already pending.

So far as I can tell, the designer/purchaser splashed a lot of paint around, placed the existing refrigerator, new last year, behind tasteful cabinet doors, and performed no structural changes; he shouldn’t have needed to, because the entire house was renovated in ‘22-23. So a quick buck here, for quick work.

I was first introduced to this house in the late ‘80s, when, as a young associate, I was dispatched to interview the owner/client who was embroiled in a (very silly) law suit with a fellow Greenwich decorator. “Take the second entrance, she instructed me when I’d called to set up the appointment and get directions, “not the first.”

Upon arrival, I dutifully continued past the first driveway and proceeded to the second, which, I discovered, had a large “Tradesmen Entrance” posted in front of it. What’s good enough for tradesmen is good enough for me, but I didn’t like her attitude, so I turned around and pulled into the first driveway. I found it amusing that the lady had such a low opinion of lawyers because, besides being married to one, she was also the daughter-in-law of one of the most prominent, famous lawyers in FDR’s administration, and who for decades afterwards served as name partner of one of the world’s largest legal firms. A case of familiarity breeding contempt, perhaps.

2023 kitchen

2024 version

The listing promises an “opportunity to buy home fully furnished”: I assume that means this dingy, useful in almost any situation, and its painter, shown below.

The painter may appear to be a bit large for the dinghy; overkill, even, but when the wind is blowing 180 MPH, you'll be glad you paid extra to get it