Where to go? What to do? Litchfield County is my home, AND its only 1 hr 45 mins from Manhattan. As a real estate broker, not only do I sell house here, but I help people enjoy all the area has to offer. The more I travel to other destinations, iphone in hand, gps in my car, the more I appreciate local people with inside tips. There are some things your iphone won't tell you. I have tried to include websites and addresses, so you can plug the info in your tech device and go. So think of this guide as a helpful local, with all the inside dirt. And while you are enjoying Litchfield county, if you really fall in love with it, check out the real estate section on the back of this guide, then call me and I can help you find the home of your dreams.
where to chow down?
bar The Village! Of course! You'll never feel lonely here. (they also have my all time fav salad - the roxbury romaine with cajun shrimp) http://www.village-litchfield.com, 25 West Street, Litchfield, CT 06759 (860) 567-8307
romance Outside at GW Tavern in Washington. Fab stone patio overlooking rushing river. (love the cobb salad) www.gwtavern.com, 20 Bee Brook Road Washington Depot, CT 06794, (860) 868-6633
with kids Poppies is fun for hot dogs and burgers, and ice cream. Great to eat on the gliding tables. (my kids love the popcorn chicken) only downer is that there isn't a rest room, but an outhouse. 7 West St, Morris, CT 06763 (860) 567-0504
for a picnic or carryout to ____? takeout from The Pantry. OMG so much to choose from. (love the smoked salmon sandwich, but really, I love everything. Desserts, cheeses, soups, salads) www.thepantry.com, 5 Titus Road, Washington Depot, CT 06794 (860) 868-0258
pizza Del Capo. Great family style pasta and salads too! http://dacaporestaurant.com 625 Torrington Rd , Litchfield, CT 06759 (860) 482-6246
for foodies You've got to, got to, GOT TO go to the Woodlands. 192 Sharon Rd, Lakeville, CT 06039 (860) 435-0578
breakfast Patties. I heart Pattie. (everything here is good, but I love the waffles with fresh strawberries.) if there is a line (there usually is) it's worth waiting for. This is also a great lunch place if you are with the kids! 499 Bantam Rd, Litchfield, CT, 06759 860-567-3335.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 17, 2009
great litchfield in-town home!
Full of beautiful light, first floor master suite, walk to town.
Great Deal!
ONLINE TOUR:
"http://homepage.mac.com/olliestokes/iMovieTheater3.html">
CALL ME TO SET UP A PRIVATE VIEWING. 860-459-7797
Monday, February 16, 2009
marina on bantam lake for sale
Bantam Lake, Litchfield County
Beverly’s Marina
OFFERED AT $2,950,000
Investment Highlights:
2.82 direct waterfront acres, zoned “Lake Commercial.”
714 linier feet of direct water frontage.
Currently used as a Marina with 120 boat slips and a 10,000 sq/ft boathouse having 2 residential apartments within.
The Marina currently has an Annual Net Income of approximately $150,000.
Land is zoned for many uses, including residential, hotel, retail, restaurant, gas station, office, and general commercial use.
Breathtaking views in every direction, south facing property overlooking lake and White Memorial Conservation land.
About Bantam Lake & Litchfield County:
At nearly 1,000 acres, Bantam Lake is the largest natural lake in CT.
Litchfield County is a popular second home market for New Yorkers and Fairfield County residents. Many consider it a preferred alternative to the Hamptons.
Fishing, boating, kayaking, water skiing, jet skiing, and sail boating are all among the activities enjoyed daily on Bantam Lake.
Houses with direct frontage on Bantam Lake sell between $750,000 and $3,000,000.
Bantam Lake is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes from New York City.
About the Property
The property currently contains a 10,000 sq/ft building, having a history throughout the 60’s 70’s and 80’s as a famous restaurant and rock n’ roll nightclub called the Music Box and then Beverly’s. Currently, the property is being very underutilized. The marina is still active with approximately 115 available boat slips. The restaurant is no longer active and there are two apartments in the building being rented. The property is located next to the entrance of Deer Island, a private, sought-after residential community. Further, the property is completely flat with no trees and has sewer-line access. From the property, there are views of the lake facing south and east, and when one-story above ground, there are also lake views facing north.
Opportunities
Many opportunities exist to significantly increase the value of the property. A hotel, spa, restaurant, banquet facility, and upscale marina are just a few of the numerous possibilities. This is the only sizeable commercially zoned parcel of land with this much frontage on Bantam Lake.
Bantam Lake & Surroundings
Bantam Lake is centrally located in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut and at the doorstep of the Berkshire Mountains. At nearly 1,000 acres, Bantam Lake is Connecticut’s largest natural lake and, arguably, its most beautiful. Roughly fifty-percent of Bantam Lake’s shores are owned by The White Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization that owns over 4,000 acres of wildlife and nature preserve. The land is open to the public and sports miles of hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding trails. The Foundation has a museum and routinely hosts nature and hiking events. On the north shore of the lake is the entrance to Bantam River, an incredible kayaking river that takes you deep into the heart of the nature preserve. Take a ride up the river or along the shore of the lake and you will see Heron, Eagles, Ducks, Deer, Turtles, Geese and maybe even a Black Bear. Fortunately, The White Memorial Foundation acts as a caretaker for the entire lake, ensuring that the lake will forever be clean, quiet, and beautiful. And being that the Foundation owns much of the shoreline, a good portion will always remain undeveloped.
Bantam Lake is known for its great fishing and sailing, and for never being too overcrowded. Other than a small sailing club, the proposed investment opportunity is the only sizeable commercial marina on the lake. A lack of marinas, combined with a limited access State boat launch, guarantee that the lake is never overcrowded even on the most popular summer holidays.
The subject property is only minutes from historic downtown Litchfield, famous for its rolling hills and well preserved New England charm. Litchfield offers abundant opportunity for sightseeing, recreation, shopping, dining, and cultural activities. In addition, the property is located only twenty-minutes from Mohawk Mountain – Connecticut’s largest ski resort.
In recent years, Litchfield County has seen a transformation as a multitude of New Yorkers and Fairfield County residents have purchased second homes. An article in The New York Times titled, “Litchfield County Adapts to the Surge of City Folk” dated July 10, 2005 states, ‘The once sleepy summer escape is now a sophisticated self-contained destination, where social and cultural options are available year round, from antiques to theatre to restaurants, and where outsiders evolve into locals…’ In another article in The New York Times titled “In Litchfield County, a $25 million Explosion”, Stanley Gniazdowski from the Real Estate Institute at NYU says, “More and more wealthy echo boomers are taking their new money to Litchfield County…This is a place that people are discovering is not only beautiful, but you can get there from here [Manhattan].”
Beverly’s Marina
OFFERED AT $2,950,000
Investment Highlights:2.82 direct waterfront acres, zoned “Lake Commercial.”
714 linier feet of direct water frontage.
Currently used as a Marina with 120 boat slips and a 10,000 sq/ft boathouse having 2 residential apartments within.
The Marina currently has an Annual Net Income of approximately $150,000.
Land is zoned for many uses, including residential, hotel, retail, restaurant, gas station, office, and general commercial use.
Breathtaking views in every direction, south facing property overlooking lake and White Memorial Conservation land.
About Bantam Lake & Litchfield County:
At nearly 1,000 acres, Bantam Lake is the largest natural lake in CT.
Litchfield County is a popular second home market for New Yorkers and Fairfield County residents. Many consider it a preferred alternative to the Hamptons.
Fishing, boating, kayaking, water skiing, jet skiing, and sail boating are all among the activities enjoyed daily on Bantam Lake.
Houses with direct frontage on Bantam Lake sell between $750,000 and $3,000,000.
Bantam Lake is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes from New York City.
About the Property
The property currently contains a 10,000 sq/ft building, having a history throughout the 60’s 70’s and 80’s as a famous restaurant and rock n’ roll nightclub called the Music Box and then Beverly’s. Currently, the property is being very underutilized. The marina is still active with approximately 115 available boat slips. The restaurant is no longer active and there are two apartments in the building being rented. The property is located next to the entrance of Deer Island, a private, sought-after residential community. Further, the property is completely flat with no trees and has sewer-line access. From the property, there are views of the lake facing south and east, and when one-story above ground, there are also lake views facing north.
Opportunities
Many opportunities exist to significantly increase the value of the property. A hotel, spa, restaurant, banquet facility, and upscale marina are just a few of the numerous possibilities. This is the only sizeable commercially zoned parcel of land with this much frontage on Bantam Lake.
Bantam Lake & Surroundings
Bantam Lake is centrally located in the Northwest Hills of Connecticut and at the doorstep of the Berkshire Mountains. At nearly 1,000 acres, Bantam Lake is Connecticut’s largest natural lake and, arguably, its most beautiful. Roughly fifty-percent of Bantam Lake’s shores are owned by The White Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization that owns over 4,000 acres of wildlife and nature preserve. The land is open to the public and sports miles of hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding trails. The Foundation has a museum and routinely hosts nature and hiking events. On the north shore of the lake is the entrance to Bantam River, an incredible kayaking river that takes you deep into the heart of the nature preserve. Take a ride up the river or along the shore of the lake and you will see Heron, Eagles, Ducks, Deer, Turtles, Geese and maybe even a Black Bear. Fortunately, The White Memorial Foundation acts as a caretaker for the entire lake, ensuring that the lake will forever be clean, quiet, and beautiful. And being that the Foundation owns much of the shoreline, a good portion will always remain undeveloped.
Bantam Lake is known for its great fishing and sailing, and for never being too overcrowded. Other than a small sailing club, the proposed investment opportunity is the only sizeable commercial marina on the lake. A lack of marinas, combined with a limited access State boat launch, guarantee that the lake is never overcrowded even on the most popular summer holidays.
The subject property is only minutes from historic downtown Litchfield, famous for its rolling hills and well preserved New England charm. Litchfield offers abundant opportunity for sightseeing, recreation, shopping, dining, and cultural activities. In addition, the property is located only twenty-minutes from Mohawk Mountain – Connecticut’s largest ski resort.
In recent years, Litchfield County has seen a transformation as a multitude of New Yorkers and Fairfield County residents have purchased second homes. An article in The New York Times titled, “Litchfield County Adapts to the Surge of City Folk” dated July 10, 2005 states, ‘The once sleepy summer escape is now a sophisticated self-contained destination, where social and cultural options are available year round, from antiques to theatre to restaurants, and where outsiders evolve into locals…’ In another article in The New York Times titled “In Litchfield County, a $25 million Explosion”, Stanley Gniazdowski from the Real Estate Institute at NYU says, “More and more wealthy echo boomers are taking their new money to Litchfield County…This is a place that people are discovering is not only beautiful, but you can get there from here [Manhattan].”
Sunday, February 1, 2009
ba bye CB
Wow. A huge shock to all the agents in Litchfield. CB just closed their Litchfield office (formerly Sue Doyle Country properties). It was very sudden, and clients and agents basically had a few days of notice. This was one of the biggest outfits in town, and most will recall the basement office on the corner of the Litchfield Green. Where will the agents go? Stay Tuned.
read the local article: http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2009/01/28/business/doc497fdfc4d39cb276760710.txt
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Mortgage News
Some interesting mortgage tidbits. (see these great links below for full access to handpicked articles)
It is a GREAT time to obtain a mortgage. The low interest rates are not only spurring on buyer induced deal buying - but are also allowing current home owners excellent opportunity to refinance to a great low fixed rate.
The key is to SHOP around for your mortgage. We are seeing local banks being extremely competitive. if you would like some recommendations on local lenders, please call me.
If you are a buyer that has been waiting and watching on the sidelines - now is the time to step up to the plate and bat. I am shopping like mad with bargain hunters. It's all about value right now and not being afraid to make an offer. Remember that a mortgage appraisal contingency clause will allow for a provision that the house must appraise out. So if you are shaky on value (and a good broker can help you look at comps) the bank wont over loan these days.
Call me for more information. I always love to talk about the current market.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/28424550
Monday, November 24, 2008
THERE is no shortage of warblers in Southbury, but it was the birds of prey that drew Judith Stevens to this town rising gently from the banks of the Housatonic River.
Chief among them are bald eagles, which return in December to the Shepaug Dam. Its waters, which don’t freeze in cold weather, attract fish, providing the eagles with a considerable four-month-long winter buffet.
“What’s special about this town is that you have so many different habitats in one place,” said Ms. Stevens, who volunteers at the 690-acre Bent of the River preserve owned by the Audubon Society. About 16 percent of Southbury’s land — including pieces of eight sizable working farms — is preserved as open space, according to the local land trust.
There are, of course, animals other than birds. In fact, a moose and several black bears recently turned up in Heritage Village, the 2,622-unit condominium complex where Ms. Stevens, a retired science teacher, owns a two-bedroom. When she moved to Southbury three years ago, she said, she paid $185,000 for the condo, which has 1,200 square feet and a patio.
But for all its natural assets, the town has an ample share of asphalt and concrete. Interstate 84 cuts across its 40 square miles; two enormous shopping centers flank the highway.
Commuters make up a majority of Southbury’s 19,722 residents, traveling to and from places like Hartford, Stamford or New York City. They have little choice but to do so by car, because Southbury does not offer rail service. During rush hour some days, long lines can form at traffic lights on Main Street North, especially if I-84 is backed up.
The mix of rural and suburban appeals to residents like Jenna Murphy, who moved to the area three years ago from a two-family house in densely settled South Norwalk, in part because she “wanted a country lifestyle with the convenience of shopping close by.”
Today, she shops at the Kmart in Southbury Plaza and the Gap at the newer Southbury Green mall. The locally owned Newbury Place, which sells jewelry, is also a favorite, she said.
But the area held an additional enticement for Ms. Murphy, a school psychologist. She had been looking for an antique home, and all the ones she had seen in the town of Fairfield, where she had first looked, either cost a prohibitive $1.5 million, or “were really small and required a total rehab.”
Her husband, Chris, had discovered Southbury in passing, on road trips to visit clients for his food-distribution business. They ended up with a 1790 colonial in one of the town’s historic districts.
Despite additions and renovations, the four-bedroom home, with three and a half baths and 3,200 square feet of space, retains its wide-plank chestnut floors, 12-over-12 leaded-glass windows and a three-opening fireplace that’s tall enough to stand in.
It cost $700,000, though the Murphys have spent $100,000 on upgrades, including paving the driveway so their three children can ride bikes on it.
Their property, bordered by a stream, covers nearly three acres — plenty of room to run around. “Playing outside really teaches them to respect the environment,” Ms. Murphy said, “and all that it has to offer.”
WHAT YOU’LL FIND
Most homes, according to brokers, are primary residences, despite the fact that this New Haven County town abuts Litchfield County, a popular second-home destination, and that the terrains are similarly rugged.
In the town’s northwestern Purchase section, roads with “Cattle Xing” signs loop past pine-covered hills and horses; on Spruce Brook Road on a recent afternoon, by a farm with red barns, drivers slowed to let three wild turkeys cross the road.
Orchards have sprouted subdivisions in the past decade. Older and newer dwellings often coexist, as on West Flathill Road, where recent colonials with Palladian-style windows offset houses with fieldstone foundations, built much nearer the Colonial period.
Lake Lillinonah, the dammed-up portion of the Shepaug River, is nearby. Many sizable contemporary homes have their own docks there. (Most of Southbury’s newer homes are zoned for two acres.)
The best-preserved 19th-century properties are found along Main Street North, set back behind low stone walls, and in South Britain, where the fancy Greek Revivals by the Pomperaug River serve as a reminder that Southbury once prospered from the mill trade.
The area used to be known as a second-home haven. The television impresario Ed Sullivan, who had a weekend retreat on North Georges Hill Road, helped put it on the map for New Yorkers. And after dams started deepening parts of the Housatonic, summer-cottage communities sprang up — though most are now lived in year-round. One of them, Lakeside, has A-frame houses terraced into slopes.
Another is known as Russian Village, for the émigrés who settled an artists’ colony founded by Ilya Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy’s son. The onion-domed St. Sergius Orthodox chapel endures, its scarlet door topped with a religious painting, but few Russian residents remain.
Southbury’s population is older than the state’s over all, with 30 percent over the age of 65, versus 14 percent in Connecticut, according to the last census.
The town also has a far greater proportion of attached housing units than the state as a whole. Most — about 2,900 — are condominiums; they account for 25 percent of the housing stock, brokers say.
The trends converge at Heritage Village, an age-restricted community whose first phase was completed in 1967 and was among the East Coast’s first condos. When it opened, said Henry J. Paparazzo, the chairman of its development group, “we virtually doubled the size of the town. But it’s still managed to regulate development well.”
WHAT YOU’LL PAY
Still, like the rest of Southbury, Heritage Village is suffering from current market conditions. Only 130 units there will change hands this year, down from the typical 200, and prices are off 10 percent, according to Mr. Paparazzo.
That is in line with the numbers for single-family homes. From the end of May through November this year, for example, 47 properties sold, versus 70 over the same period a year earlier, according to the Consolidated Multiple Listings Service.
Similarly, the average price has dropped, to $462,008 from $495,838. Yet homes seem to be selling faster, as the average market time has shortened to 112 days from 135.
“If they’re priced well, they will move quickly,” said Donna Matula, an associate broker with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty.
WHAT TO DO
Unlike many Connecticut communities, Southbury lacks a green and many older commercial structures — though there is the South Britain Country Store, where a sausage sandwich costs $6.95.
But the town does have three parks, including Southford Falls, once the site of a Diamond Match Company factory. Another is the 605-acre Kettletown Park, with an inlet and a wading beach.
The new 90,000-volume library — which doesn’t charge for overdue books — has three librarians dedicated to children and teenagers.
THE SCHOOLS
Most elementary students attend either Pomperaug or Gainfield. For sixth through eighth grades, there is Rochambeau Middle School, which has an enrollment of 570.
At Pomperaug High School, about half of the 1,400 students take at least one of the 18 offered Advanced Placement classes. “This allows kids an opportunity to try rigorous courses before going to college,” said Frank H. Sippy, the superintendent. About 95 percent of seniors attend college, he added.
SAT averages last spring were 555 in reading, 565 in math and 541 in writing, versus 507, 503 and 506 statewide.
THE COMMUTE
Southbury hasn’t had trains since 1948, when the Danbury-Plainville line had three stations in town, said Joyce Hornbecker, a local historian.
Commuters take Peter Pan buses to New York daily, but this month, the company reduced its subsidy to the Southbury Travel Center, a waiting-room facility on Main Street, forcing it to close, said Nancy Devine, a clerk there. Tickets will now be sold at a Mobil station nearby.
Buses depart three times between 6:05 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. on the two-hour trip to Port Authority, with a stop in Danbury. A 20-ticket pass costs $260.
THE HISTORY
The Southbury Training School, a campuslike complex on 1,600 acres along Route 172, has been open since October 1940. Its mission is to teach job skills to the developmentally disabled.
Today, 490 people live at the school, with its striking collection of red-brick buildings and a greenhouse for growing poinsettias to sell at Christmas.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
An impressive, 40-room stone building set on 62 acres surrounded by high walls and within walking distance of downtown Great Barrington, Mass., the Searles Castle has been a landmark in the Berkshires since it was completed in 1888.
AdvertisementNow it's for sale. The price tag? A cool $15 million.For more than 25 years, the 60,000-square-foot mansion and adjacent 6,000-square-foot carriage house have been home to the John Dewey Academy, a coeducational college preparatory school with a strong therapeutic component.The school's founder and president, Thomas Bratter, owns the castle and put the property up for sale last year. The school will be moved to anther location in the Great Barrington area once a sale is finalized and time is allotted for a smooth transition to a new campus.Kristine Girardin of the Kristine Girardin Group and a broker associate with William Raveis Exceptional Properties took two visitors on a tour of the castle on a warm summer day. The guests were interested in viewing the structure and discovering its provenance but not in purchasing the property. Thus, the tour took considerably less than the usual four or five hours Ms. Girardin invests in taking potential buyers through the seven-level castle, which has 36 working fireplaces, is filled with detailed woodwork and has, literally, tons of marble in its interior."We have had several offers, one that was close to closing," said Ms Girardin, as she walked through the building's front entrance into a vestibule and then into a hall where several students were reading or doing homework. "We've had interest both from within this country and from international buyers. Individuals have expressed an interest in turning the castle and property into a resort, and others have looked at it as a residence. It's really quite unique, and something like this doesn't come onto the market often."Both the exterior and interior of the castle are in excellent condition, a credit to its original builders. No expense, it seems, was spared in making the castle one of the grandest buildings in the Berkshires. It is not an ominous structure, as some large stone buildings can be. The castle's exterior is softened by several large, round spires that rise three stories high. A red roof adds a touch of distinction to the building, as do its several tall chimneys that rise about the building on all sides.The interior of the castle, whose property includes 1,000 feet of frontage on the Housatonic River, is also quite unlike what one would expect in such a massive structure. The designers successfully imbued the castle with a sense of openness through the use of large windows and a central atrium that offer sunlit views of a portico, lawns, a pond and a faux Greco/Roman temple that hovers over the water feature to the south of the castle. The light marble floors in many of the rooms and opaque ceilings lend a further air of lightness to the building.But let's start at the beginning.The castle was built over a three-year period, from 1885 to 1888, by Mary Sherwood Hopkins, the widow of Central Pacific Railroad magnate Mark Hopkins, who had passed away in 1879 at the age of 66. At the time of his death, Mr. Hopkins was said to have been one of the wealthiest men in the United States. After launching a career as a merchant in New York, he traveled to San Francisco, where, in 1861, he became a founder and treasurer of the Central Pacific. (The Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco was built on the site of his former home on Nob Hill.)After her husband's death, Mary Hopkins returned home to Great Barrington, where she took up the companionship of Edward Searles, a "man of the arts" who was to serve as the interior designer of the castle. Also after her husband's death, Mrs. Hopkins adopted the adult son (Timothy) of her widowed housekeeper, but she later disinherited him. That resulted in quite a scandal, as Timothy Hopkins successfully sued for a portion of her estate (most of it, however, went to her much younger, by 22 years, second husband, Mr. Searles).Mary Hopkins and Mr. Searles spent considerable time in Europe, where they acquired a number of items for their Great Barrington mansion, which they called Kellog Terrace. After his wife died in 1891, at the age of 73, Mr. Searles inherited her vast estate, which included 25 percent ownership of the Central Pacific Railroad and considerable real estate holdings in San Francisco, New York, and Methuen, Mass., in addition to Great Barrington.Quite a notable figure in his own right, Mr. Searles would satisfy a love of architecture by collaborating with architect Henry Vaughn on a number of large buildings, including the Stanton Hardcourt Castle, now known as the Searles Castle in Windham, N.H.; the Dream House, known as the Searles Mansion on Block Island; and the Mary Francis Searles Science Building at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.Mr. Searles, who died in 1921 at the age of 79, was also a notable early environmentalist, who would alter the building of a stone wall in order to preserve a tree that he felt was important. Searles Castle in Great Barrington was designed by McKim, Mead and White, and it is believed, though not certain, that the legendary Stanford White was the primary architect. Mr. White, who was considered an embodiment of the American Renaissance style of architecture, was no stranger to intrigue. The bon vivant was murdered in 1906 at the age of 53 by millionaire Harry K. Thaw, the jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbit, a popular actress and artist's model, with whom the noted architect was said to have had a relationship. The resulting court case was dubbed "The Trial of the Century."But back to the castle. The design of the building, with its elaborate rooflines, was in a style reminiscent of Chambord, the older part of Chenonoeaux, France, near the river Cher. Blue dolomite from a quarry on what is known as East Mountain in Great Barrington was brought onto the property and cut down in stone-dressing sheds.The castle, when it debuted, was extremely modern for its time and was equipped with indoor plumbing and electricity. Many of the early electrical fixtures are still intact. Other unique details include curved rooms, curved pocket doors and carved wood and marble fireplaces. An organ that was used in the music room and the castle's elevator were once powered by water from nearby Lake Mansfield.The vestibule of the castle has a floor made of moriah marble from an area near Lake Champlain, with French griotte, a veined and spotted red and dark green marble from the Pyrenees in Europe, and porto venere, verde maurin and American black marble from Glen Falls, N.Y., also employed.A reception room to the right of the vestibule is paneled in black walnut and has a fireplace of red vecchiano Italian marble. It has an elaborate ceiling that is said to be reminiscent of fan vaulting in the Henry VII Chapel at Windsor Castle in England.A "Great Hall" has woodwork of hand-polished English oak, as does much of the building. Ms. Girardin said that legend has it that two "very old" English oaken ships were towed to America and taken apart in order to provide the wood.A wonderful atrium that is nicknamed "The Heart of the House" has side walls of rose of ivory marble taken from the Atlas Mountains of Africa. The room has 16 pillars and flooring of native white marble. Mexican onyx panels conceal electrical lights, which give the illusion of sunlight seeping into the room.One of the most interesting rooms of the castle is the music room. It is 50 feet long and entered through the atrium beneath carved oak pillars. The room has a dome-shaped ceiling that looms 42 feet above the floor. There are carved oak seats where the former owners of the castle and guests once reclined and listened to classical music. A balcony on the second floor and a third floor window allow music to flood the upper floors from the music room.The dining room is done in the Moorish style and paneled in antique oak wood, with a fireplace of French griotte and Belgian black marble. The room opens onto a private porch.One of the more visually stunning and eclectic spaces is the drawing room, which is fashioned in Louis XIV style. The mantelpiece of the fireplace (porto venere black and gold marble with gold bronze ornaments) alone was valued at $25,000 in 1922. The room's ceiling was painted on canvas, and the woodwork of the room is embellished in real gold leaf. A morning room opens to the southeastern side of the castle.Ms. Girardin said an upstairs hall once served as a family living room, and the ceiling is said to be modeled after a palace in Venice, Italy. Upstairs, there is also a circular library with dark native oak, a billiard room finished in butternut wood, and a suite, once occupied by Mrs. Hopkins, on the east wing of the castle that has a mantel of bois d'Orient and Siena marble in its sitting room.As if all this grandeur isn't enough, the property also boasts a 6,000-square-foot guesthouse that is composed of meeting rooms, bedrooms and apartments, as well as a barn and tennis courts.One can only imagine, while sitting on the terrace at the rear of the castle, what wondrous formal gardens once graced the open space around the lagoon and how many grand parties were held here during its heyday."It is a one-of-a-kind setting," said Ms. Girardin, as she described the property. "There is so much history here, and the work and detail that went into the building is incredible," she added.Potential buyers can reach Ms. Giradin at the William Raveis office in Washington, Conn. The phone number is 860-868-0511.
AdvertisementNow it's for sale. The price tag? A cool $15 million.For more than 25 years, the 60,000-square-foot mansion and adjacent 6,000-square-foot carriage house have been home to the John Dewey Academy, a coeducational college preparatory school with a strong therapeutic component.The school's founder and president, Thomas Bratter, owns the castle and put the property up for sale last year. The school will be moved to anther location in the Great Barrington area once a sale is finalized and time is allotted for a smooth transition to a new campus.Kristine Girardin of the Kristine Girardin Group and a broker associate with William Raveis Exceptional Properties took two visitors on a tour of the castle on a warm summer day. The guests were interested in viewing the structure and discovering its provenance but not in purchasing the property. Thus, the tour took considerably less than the usual four or five hours Ms. Girardin invests in taking potential buyers through the seven-level castle, which has 36 working fireplaces, is filled with detailed woodwork and has, literally, tons of marble in its interior."We have had several offers, one that was close to closing," said Ms Girardin, as she walked through the building's front entrance into a vestibule and then into a hall where several students were reading or doing homework. "We've had interest both from within this country and from international buyers. Individuals have expressed an interest in turning the castle and property into a resort, and others have looked at it as a residence. It's really quite unique, and something like this doesn't come onto the market often."Both the exterior and interior of the castle are in excellent condition, a credit to its original builders. No expense, it seems, was spared in making the castle one of the grandest buildings in the Berkshires. It is not an ominous structure, as some large stone buildings can be. The castle's exterior is softened by several large, round spires that rise three stories high. A red roof adds a touch of distinction to the building, as do its several tall chimneys that rise about the building on all sides.The interior of the castle, whose property includes 1,000 feet of frontage on the Housatonic River, is also quite unlike what one would expect in such a massive structure. The designers successfully imbued the castle with a sense of openness through the use of large windows and a central atrium that offer sunlit views of a portico, lawns, a pond and a faux Greco/Roman temple that hovers over the water feature to the south of the castle. The light marble floors in many of the rooms and opaque ceilings lend a further air of lightness to the building.But let's start at the beginning.The castle was built over a three-year period, from 1885 to 1888, by Mary Sherwood Hopkins, the widow of Central Pacific Railroad magnate Mark Hopkins, who had passed away in 1879 at the age of 66. At the time of his death, Mr. Hopkins was said to have been one of the wealthiest men in the United States. After launching a career as a merchant in New York, he traveled to San Francisco, where, in 1861, he became a founder and treasurer of the Central Pacific. (The Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco was built on the site of his former home on Nob Hill.)After her husband's death, Mary Hopkins returned home to Great Barrington, where she took up the companionship of Edward Searles, a "man of the arts" who was to serve as the interior designer of the castle. Also after her husband's death, Mrs. Hopkins adopted the adult son (Timothy) of her widowed housekeeper, but she later disinherited him. That resulted in quite a scandal, as Timothy Hopkins successfully sued for a portion of her estate (most of it, however, went to her much younger, by 22 years, second husband, Mr. Searles).Mary Hopkins and Mr. Searles spent considerable time in Europe, where they acquired a number of items for their Great Barrington mansion, which they called Kellog Terrace. After his wife died in 1891, at the age of 73, Mr. Searles inherited her vast estate, which included 25 percent ownership of the Central Pacific Railroad and considerable real estate holdings in San Francisco, New York, and Methuen, Mass., in addition to Great Barrington.Quite a notable figure in his own right, Mr. Searles would satisfy a love of architecture by collaborating with architect Henry Vaughn on a number of large buildings, including the Stanton Hardcourt Castle, now known as the Searles Castle in Windham, N.H.; the Dream House, known as the Searles Mansion on Block Island; and the Mary Francis Searles Science Building at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.Mr. Searles, who died in 1921 at the age of 79, was also a notable early environmentalist, who would alter the building of a stone wall in order to preserve a tree that he felt was important. Searles Castle in Great Barrington was designed by McKim, Mead and White, and it is believed, though not certain, that the legendary Stanford White was the primary architect. Mr. White, who was considered an embodiment of the American Renaissance style of architecture, was no stranger to intrigue. The bon vivant was murdered in 1906 at the age of 53 by millionaire Harry K. Thaw, the jealous husband of Evelyn Nesbit, a popular actress and artist's model, with whom the noted architect was said to have had a relationship. The resulting court case was dubbed "The Trial of the Century."But back to the castle. The design of the building, with its elaborate rooflines, was in a style reminiscent of Chambord, the older part of Chenonoeaux, France, near the river Cher. Blue dolomite from a quarry on what is known as East Mountain in Great Barrington was brought onto the property and cut down in stone-dressing sheds.The castle, when it debuted, was extremely modern for its time and was equipped with indoor plumbing and electricity. Many of the early electrical fixtures are still intact. Other unique details include curved rooms, curved pocket doors and carved wood and marble fireplaces. An organ that was used in the music room and the castle's elevator were once powered by water from nearby Lake Mansfield.The vestibule of the castle has a floor made of moriah marble from an area near Lake Champlain, with French griotte, a veined and spotted red and dark green marble from the Pyrenees in Europe, and porto venere, verde maurin and American black marble from Glen Falls, N.Y., also employed.A reception room to the right of the vestibule is paneled in black walnut and has a fireplace of red vecchiano Italian marble. It has an elaborate ceiling that is said to be reminiscent of fan vaulting in the Henry VII Chapel at Windsor Castle in England.A "Great Hall" has woodwork of hand-polished English oak, as does much of the building. Ms. Girardin said that legend has it that two "very old" English oaken ships were towed to America and taken apart in order to provide the wood.A wonderful atrium that is nicknamed "The Heart of the House" has side walls of rose of ivory marble taken from the Atlas Mountains of Africa. The room has 16 pillars and flooring of native white marble. Mexican onyx panels conceal electrical lights, which give the illusion of sunlight seeping into the room.One of the most interesting rooms of the castle is the music room. It is 50 feet long and entered through the atrium beneath carved oak pillars. The room has a dome-shaped ceiling that looms 42 feet above the floor. There are carved oak seats where the former owners of the castle and guests once reclined and listened to classical music. A balcony on the second floor and a third floor window allow music to flood the upper floors from the music room.The dining room is done in the Moorish style and paneled in antique oak wood, with a fireplace of French griotte and Belgian black marble. The room opens onto a private porch.One of the more visually stunning and eclectic spaces is the drawing room, which is fashioned in Louis XIV style. The mantelpiece of the fireplace (porto venere black and gold marble with gold bronze ornaments) alone was valued at $25,000 in 1922. The room's ceiling was painted on canvas, and the woodwork of the room is embellished in real gold leaf. A morning room opens to the southeastern side of the castle.Ms. Girardin said an upstairs hall once served as a family living room, and the ceiling is said to be modeled after a palace in Venice, Italy. Upstairs, there is also a circular library with dark native oak, a billiard room finished in butternut wood, and a suite, once occupied by Mrs. Hopkins, on the east wing of the castle that has a mantel of bois d'Orient and Siena marble in its sitting room.As if all this grandeur isn't enough, the property also boasts a 6,000-square-foot guesthouse that is composed of meeting rooms, bedrooms and apartments, as well as a barn and tennis courts.One can only imagine, while sitting on the terrace at the rear of the castle, what wondrous formal gardens once graced the open space around the lagoon and how many grand parties were held here during its heyday."It is a one-of-a-kind setting," said Ms. Girardin, as she described the property. "There is so much history here, and the work and detail that went into the building is incredible," she added.Potential buyers can reach Ms. Giradin at the William Raveis office in Washington, Conn. The phone number is 860-868-0511.
Link to article:http://www.passport-mag.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20132455&BRD=2699&PAG=461&dept_id=672335&rfi=6
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