New construction, new contract on Cat Rock
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81 Cat Rock Road, asking $3,250 million, is under contract. Not surprised; well-built home, though with a somewhat compromised lot. But these days ….
The curse continues up at Leona's old haunt
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Say goodbye to all that
521 Round Hill Road currently asking $16.5 is under contract, years after it started at $65 million in 2014. The friend who brought that news to me this morning called it “haunted”, and that’s indeed been the case. Everyone who’s owned this place since it was built has suffered tragedy or misfortune: the death of children, bankruptcies, two imprisonments, divorce, and according to my friend, one owner who escaped arrest by fleeing to Latin America faking his death by stuffing his chauffeur into what was supposed to be the owner’ coffin. And, of course, Leona’s woes, including her stay in Bedford Women’s Prison. Now the current owners are being hit with a loss in the tens of millions of dollars.
That kind of loss has happened before: after Leona’s death, David Ogilvy listed it at $125 million (a ridiculous price, set for the publicity it garnered as the highest-priced home in Greenwich before it sold to these owners two years later in 2010 for $35 million. Naively believing thay’d scored a bargain, the put it up for resale a year later for $42.9 million; worse, when it failed to sell, they spent three years and God knows how much money restoring the wreck and, as noted, put it back on the market at $65 million in 2014. Three dumb moves: buying it in the first place, especially for $35 million; wasting money trying to restore it, and grossly mispricing it in 2014.
And I doubt the final selling price will be anything close to the current ask of $16.5 unless, of course, the greater fool principle is in force. The house is 17,630 square feet — a size that almost no one wants, and if this buyer is one of those rare egotists who like palaces, the chance of finding another megalomaniac billionaire when he goes to sell will be slim.
There are 40 acres here, and the GIS map shows six lots. Even assuming you can build six new homes (freeing up the sixth lot by razing this pile of bricks), I’d peg the value of the lots to range between $1.5 - $2 million, with only the highest lot, which offers a wonderful view down to the Sound, approaching that $2 million. Final sales price prediction: $6.5, and that’s only if the town and zoning regs permit six lots. We’ll see.
UPDATE: That same friend sends along this 1988 AP article that recites the history of the curse. Fun read.
It's really no different than what they've already accomplished in our schools, just more obvious
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So long, George
D.C. Mayor’s Committee recommends removing Jefferson Memorial and Washington monument
I’m so old, I remember when Trump was ridiculed by the media for predicting that Washington and Jefferson would be next
I’ve been despairing that Trump would lose the election, but if these people keep it up, a lot of people will wake up and realize that the Democrats are out to destroy the country, and maybe they’ll vote accordingly.
Have I already sent a resounding thank you to de Blasio?
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86 Lower Cross Road spent a year on the market and expired unsold at $1.995 in February 2019. It came back on 52 days ago at $2.295 and has a contract. it’s a good house, gutted and rebuilt just a few years ago, but 0.66 acres in the 4-acre zone, three hours (approx) from downtown Greenwich, it seemed like it would be a tough sell, and it was, until the Chinese so nicely intervened in our housing market.
Credit listing agent Danielle Malloy with not only staging and photographing it beautifully but also coming up with the perfect text to appeal to naive NYC co-op evacuees:
Sensational, ultra chic light filled pied a terre. Meticulously rebuilt down to the studs, this Manhattan North colonial has superior quality finishes & sophisticated design. Over 3600SF, 4 BDRMs, 3.1 BTHs, FP, 5'' Character White Oak hardwood floors, wired for speakers & recessed LED lighting. Stunning custom Italian made state-of-the art kitchen. Luxe master suite with vaulted ceilings, master bath is a spa like experience w/marble tile, soaking tub, separate shower & radiant heat floors. Peaceful haven located on beautiful professionally manicured picturesque gardens & stonewalls backing up to Babcock preserve. 10 min drive to train, town, restaurants & shops.
(If her estimation of driving time to the train is a wee bit optimistic, well I’ll merely direct the buyers to Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, and its depiction of Greenwich realtors — you should know better.)
One note: it has long been common sense, and thus ignored by sellers, that if a house hasn’t sold at a lower price, an improving market is not the time to raise the price, but rather, put it back on the waters at the price you would have accepted before, and be happy. This market may be different, maybe, and will allow a bit more. It worked in this case, but I’d advise against it as a general rule.
And another quick sale
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16 Center Road, Old Greenwich, $3.699 million, 25 days. In, say, 2005, I wouldn’t have described Center Road as a neighborhood of expensive homes, but this must have set some kind of record when it sold new in 2011 for $3 million, and now the COVID panic has enabled the owners to break another pattern, selling for a huge premium over what they’d paid for new construction.
The builder makes a solid house of good quality, but his taste and mine differ.
At this price, I’d expect a masonry chimney, but I’m old fashioned and obviously too demanding.
The Kung Flu market continues apace
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313 Stanwich Road, $7.495 million, contract in 21 days ( I remind readers that contracts in Greenwich are signed only after building inspections and lawyer negotiations are complete, so you can usually subtract 2 weeks or so from these days-on-market counts). It was a nice, but extremely dated 1928 house – old money shabby (depleted old money, alas) might best describe it — back in 2013 when these owners paid $3.255 for it (after it had started at $6.495 in 2009), so there’s obviously been some updating, I hope significant updating, since then.
My memory of the house dates back to when I was a young lawyer in the early 80s and summoned to the manor to discuss a legal matter the lady of the house had become embroiled in. I was instructed to “use the second driveway” which, when I got there I discovered had a sign identifying it as the “Service Entrance”. I backed up and went to the front door.
It was an amusing, if ineffective snub because the lady’s late father-in-law had been one of the country’s most prominent lawyers, and I’d have thought she wouldn’t consider lawyers to be on a par with laundry deliverymen. Then again, maybe she was offended at “Dad’s” role as the chief architect of the Japanese internment during WWII, though she didn’t strike me as a woman who would be concerned about such things.
But I digress; the point is, nice house, selling for a very large sum, in a very short time. God bless de Blasio.
UPDATE: Just for fun, I went back to the previous listing looking for, and finding these two “hunting rooms”, which the current owners thankfully got rid of. When I saw these rooms I innocently observed that the husband must be quite a hunting enthusiast. “Oh no, Johnnie doesn’t hunt — I did these rooms, for that old New England look”. Despite her reputation as a “Greenwich” interior decorator, I made a note not to hire her any time in the future.
Another young man with a promising future ruined because Trump
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Clearly a lone wolf and not a member of ANTIFA: he’s black
A Mr. Olajuon Johnson has been arrested for setting afire a boat flying a Trump flag
BRIDGEPORT — A city man has been charged with arson after officials say he was seen with a gasoline can on a boat with a Trump flag at the East End Yacht Club.
Olajuwon Johnson, 25, of Bridgeport, was charged with third-degree arson. His bond was set at $10,000.
… a caller told the dispatcher he smelled smoke “and noticed that a boat cooler was on fire on the same boat,” putting out the flames himself before calling 911.
Lauder Way sale price reported
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6 Lauder Way, $9.750 million. Nice house, but it took a long time to find a buyer: it’s been on and off the market since 2008, when it started at $16.9 million. From all accounts, the owner can afford to take the hit.
Antique home in north Stamford
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353 Old Long Ridge Road, new today at $2.350. Owned by very good friends of mine — in fact, I lived in the guest cottage for two years, it’s a 1740 home extensively renovated, on three acres with pool, tennis court, and huge vegetable garden with superbly-crafted raised beds (of course they are, I built them). Two-bedroom, renovated Guesthouse, and an attached barn that the owners converted to an art gallery. The previous owner ran a trading operation out of the barn, and it would a great place for a remote office.
It’s not Greenwich, but you’d never find this property at this price in Greenwich, either. About 20 minutes to town, it’s a great place to live.