The lavish Cold War estate in Connecticut, once owned by an heiress to a copper mining fortune, has hit the market for $25.5 million.
Huguette Clark was born in Paris to American entrepreneur WA Clark and his second wife and grew up in the largest house in New York, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, across from Central Park, with 121 rooms for the family of four .
At the turn of the 20th century, WA Clark was perhaps the richest man in America, because while oilman John D. Rockefeller had more money in the bank, the ‘Copper King’ had more assets underground.
During the early days of the Cold War in 1951, Huguette purchased the 1937 estate as a refuge for friends and family in the event of a Russian attack and later expanded it to 25 acres.
Surprisingly, she never furnished the property and spent her last days in a hospital.
During the early days of the Cold War in 1951, Huguette Clark purchased the 1937 estate as a refuge for friends and family in the event of a Russian attack and later expanded it to 25 acres.
Clark was born in Paris to WA Clark and his second wife and grew up in the largest house in New York: 121 rooms for the family of four
The estate was eventually acquired by fashion designer Reed Krakoff, former president and creative director of Coach, along with his wife Delphine, founder and president of Pamplemousse Design for $14.3 million in 2014.
‘Out of sheer curiosity, we Googled the house to see what it looked like. We felt a lot of connection with her story,” Delphine told the channel Wall Street Journal.
The designer also noted that the property was in excellent condition when they purchased it, as Huguette had renovated it to the highest standard.
Over the years the estate has been updated with a ‘light hand’ to ensure its original beauty is preserved.
The estate was eventually acquired by fashion designer Reed Krakoff, former president and chief creative officer of Coach, along with his wife Delphine, founder and president of Pamplemousse Design for $14.3 million in 2014.
‘Out of sheer curiosity, we Googled the house to see what it looked like. We felt a great connection to her story,” Delphine said
The main house is spread over approximately 13,000 square meters and the entrance to the property is flanked by two gatehouses: one used as a caretaker’s house and the other as a gym.
“When we approach a house that has an interesting history, the idea is to serve and restore the house, rather than make it into something that it is not,” Delphine noted.
The Krakoffs spent about $10 million on their renovations, according to the newspaper Wall Street Journal.
The main house is spread over approximately 13,000 square meters and the entrance to the property is flanked by two gatehouses: one used as a caretaker’s house and the other as a gym.
Apart from this, the house features nine bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and multiple fireplaces in all rooms.
On the third floor, the couple added a game room, which later became a TV and meeting room, and on the lower floor a theater with a stage with vintage movie theater seats.
Apart from this, the house features nine bedrooms, 14 bathrooms and multiple fireplaces in all rooms
On the third floor, the couple currently has a games room, which later became a TV and meeting room, and on the lower floor a theater with a stage with vintage cinema chairs.
Over the years the estate has been updated with a ‘light hand’ to ensure its original beauty is preserved
The couple also replaced the curved balustrade of the main residence’s grand staircase.
Surrounded by open meadows, rolling streams and woodland, the extraordinary property has been carefully renovated amid rolling lawns, wildflower gardens, unusual trees and a tennis court.
The estate has a four-car garage, a slate roof, walking balconies and geothermal and propane heating.
The designer also said they had done extensive landscaping around the main building, adding an approximately 1.4 mile (2.25 kilometer) trail for jogging.
For lounging, the property also has a 20-meter pool, lined with antique granite, inspired by a design Delphine saw around a pond in New York’s Central Park.
Surrounded by open meadows, rolling streams and woodland, the extraordinary property has been carefully renovated amid rolling lawns, wildflower gardens, unusual trees and a tennis court.
The designer also said they had done extensive landscaping around the main building, adding an approximately 1.4 mile (2.25 kilometer) trail for jogging
She explained, “The deer know me. The idea was to make it feel like a park and less like a house in the middle of the woods.”
For lounging, the property also has a 20-meter pool lined with antique granite, inspired by a design Delphine saw around a pond in New York’s Central Park.
“We became a little bit obsessed and single-minded in terms of really thinking about what’s good and what it’s going to look like as if it had always been there,” she noted.
According to brokers Rob Johnson and Mary Higgins of Brown Harris StevensThe property is unusually large and if sold as a whole rather than in smaller acres, it could be one of the most expensive transactions in the area.