One of America’s last family-owned Gilded Age mansions set on its own private island has hit the market at $100 million – and it comes complete with its own beach, yacht dock and polo field.
The stunning home, located in Darien, Connecticut on the 60-acre Great Island, features an impressive 10 bedrooms and eight baths in the main house, and is based on over a mile of Long Island Sound waterfront.
The property, which was featured on TopTenRealEstateDeals.com, also boasts multiple additional abodes, including a guest house, 19th century farmhouse, caretaker’s cottage and a picturesque seaside cottage.
No expense was spared inside, with luxury additions including a pool and sand beach, and a deep-water dock that can accommodate a 100-foot yacht.
The sprawling estate is also home to impressive equestrian facilities designed by Rafael Gustavino – known for his work on Grand Central Station in New York – including an 18-stall granite stable, indoor and outdoor riding rings, a polo field, riding trails and many paddocks.
Built in 1902 and then purchased in the early 1900s by baking powder entrepreneur William Ziegler, the compound has remained in the Ziegler family since William bought it.
Ziegler bought the estate as a summer home to escape the hot New York summers.
With its proximity to New York City’s financial centre, Connecticut was a hotspot for grand mansions in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Other high-profile names have flocked to the area over the years, including author Anne Morrow Lindbergh – who lived there are the highly publicised kidnapping and murder of her son, Charles – and Buckminster Fuller, design of the geodesic dome and Dymaxion car.
The estate is currently for sale with Jennifer Leahy of Douglas Elliman, Greenwich, Connecticut, for $100 million.
