PHOTOGRAPHER: MARCOTT STUDIOS & HOMETOURVISION
LARGEST PRIVATE PROPERTY IN WESTCHESTER GOES UP FOR SALE
There’s big, and then there’s $100,000,000 BIG…and this 740 contiguous acre estate – the largest private property in Westchester – is worthy!
To begin with, even set amongst the seemingly endless paddocks and vast swaths of land that make up the property, the main house, built in 2004, commands attention. It’s a 24,000 square foot Colonial manor house by architect Rebecca Rasmussen that’s ‘fit for a king’, which is designed to maximize the bucolic views in every direction.
THE MAIN HOUSE
is set impressively up a dedicated and gated front drive and atop a hill, so that the tree above-ground floors of the white front facade, with balconied second-floor, and slate roof repurposed from the Yale Divinity School, are most imposing upon entry. Yet, upon reaching the courtyard, surrounded by gardens, the mansion takes on the welcoming feel of southern charm.
First Floor
Inside, everything – from the scale of the rooms, to the height of the ceilings, to the 10” width of all the internal walls, to the walls of glass, to the 12” wide reclaimed hand-selected pine plank floors, to the quality of all the finishes – is done on a grand scale.
On the first floor, there’s large formal living and dining rooms, a ‘sunsational’ two-story solarium, a two-story library with saddle leather floors and a 24-foot- high fireplace also finished in saddle leather, a private office, a family room, and a kitchen-complex that includes an island big enough to be called a continent, two areas for informal dining, a butler’s pantry leading to the formal dining room, and state-of- the-art cooking facilities suitable for entertaining large groups.
UPSTAIRS
The second floor includes 6 en-suite bedrooms, each of which would qualify as a master by any standards.
The primary suite takes up the entire third floor and is situated off a landing that features a zen garden. In addition to the oversized bedroom, the Japanese-flavored bath area includes a sauna, steam, tub, shower, stone and wood soaking tub overlooking the front paddock, separate his/her facilities, and two sets of room-size walk-in dressing areas and closets.
SPECTACULAR SPACES
The above-ground walk-out lower level includes a wine cellar, game room, and a movie theater. And there are bedrooms for au pairs behind the kitchen, and other conveniences that are all smartly incorporated throughout the house, but which are not obvious to the house owners and guests.
But, as spectacular as the main house interior is, the house’s main feature may be its connection with the outdoors. Glass French Doors and walls of windows open the house up to numerous patios and gardens in the foreground, and the spectacular views of endless manicured paddocks in the distance.
The ‘backyard’ of the main home, designed by landscape architect Edmund D. Hollander, includes an apple orchard, and a series of gardens, including a zen garden with an extensive koi pond, formal French gardens, an English rose garden, a butterfly garden, and gardens with herbs planted inside neat rows of boxwoods.
And the stunning 4,000 square foot pavilion-style pool house – right out of the Great Gatsby – has a spa, gym, changing rooms, full bath, laundry, kitchen, stone fireplace, and a 60’ swimming pool, with walls of French doors that all open – to make the pool indoor/outdoor as desired.
…AND THE RESIDENCE IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THIS UNIQUE EQUESTRIAN ESTATE…
Stonewall Farm is one of the premier thoroughbred breeding centers in the nation – having produced Kentucky Derby and Breeder’s Cup winners. The facilities, all designed in the style of the facilities at the famed Calumet Farms in Kentucky, include: a yearling barn and jockey room, with 40 stalls; two 24-stall broodmare barns; a breeding barn with 8 stalls; indoor and outdoor riding pens; run-in sheds and paddocks equipped with electricity and water; several barns to house equipment and feed; hundreds of acres of paddocks surrounded by 15 to 20 miles of paddock fencing, and; a 5/8 mile turf race track with rail. …And there are cow pastures and farm barns as well.
In addition, auxiliary housing on the property includes a guest house and 6 staff residences.
In addition, on the more wooded western edge of the property, there’s the cavernous 36,000 square foot stone Spring House, built in the 1800s, which was formerly the Granite Springs Water Bottling Company, and used to tap the dozen-plus clear water wells on this parcel. The unusual building was used by Chase Manhattan Bank to store records in WWII, and is attached to a structure with 4 offices and multiple residential apartments. There’s also a 3,500 square foot underground Cold War era bunker with an entrance near the Spring House.
THE POSSIBILITIES – LIKE THE VIEWS – ARE ENDLESS!
The property could be maintained as a trophy equestrian farm – with all the equestrian facilities being shared by perhaps a dozen homes, each developed on their own 50 acre parcels.
It’s the ideal setting for the perfect family compound – just over an hour from Manhattan.
Alternatively, the property is conveniently already divided into 18 parcels. The main house is carefully located on a 171 acre parcel, which could be easily separated from the bulk of the total acreage while preserving the unfettered views from the house.The entire property, or any of the parcels, could be repurposed as a school campus, for senior housing, a luxury MedSpa, sports training facilities, agricultural uses, a resort, as a housing development, or for just about any other clean commercial, retail or residential use.
The property is listed by Nikki McMann and Hope Mazzola at Raveis.
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