Mel Gibson's Old Mill Farm, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 16th 2007 at 1:08PM

I first mentioned this listing on Sunday. The esteemed Braden Keil of the NY Post broke the story that Mel Gibson has put his Greenwich, Conn. home on the market. The listing with photos just went live today so I wanted to bring you the pictures of why this home just might be worth the $39.5 million asking price. As commenter Spectacular Bid noted on my last post about this house, Old Mill Farm is a design by architect Charles Lewis Bowman built in 1926 for his horse lover client, G.L. Ohrstrom. The home is one of the last great manor homes in Greenwich and is significant not just for the architecture but for the fact that it has 77 acres of land.

The home itself is an Elizabethan-inspired Tudor mansion of 15,800 square feet and the property has 15 bedrooms and 18 bathrooms total. The jaw-dropping room of the place is the great hall which has a 40-foot cathedral ceiling with a stone minstrel's gallery, walk-in fireplace and leaded glass ceilings. The grounds, which were done by landscape designer James Doyle, include formal gardens and a maze. There is also a terrace pool, tennis court, greenhouse, stable, staff houses, log cabin and a pond on the property. For your $39.5 million you really do get a chance to slip into a whole other world. After the jump, imagine the movie Mel could have made here.

Tags: connecticut, estate of the day, greenwich, luxury real estate, mel gibson, MelGibson, old mill farm

Filed under: Estates, Celebrity Shopping

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Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)

Elaine Vazquez Jul 20th 2007 7:13PM

re the landscaping commment about being second rate, come on its gorgeous, it ties in perfectly with the home there is nothing second rate about this beautiful mansion. As for the furniture there are alot of antiques there, and they look just that, antique. I understnad that people love to knock what they could never begin to afford. I guess that makes them feel better, but usually you just come off loking like sour grapes.

Marcy Jul 20th 2007 4:38AM

A thing of beauty is a joy forever, I believe in living in a simple life. If I have a roof in my
head and food on my table and no collectors calling
me, I will be contented in life. If I have to buy
that kind of house, I will have to work the rest of
my life to maintain it. I would like very much to
live in that kind of house, maybe you need a maid or
something?? Let me know, that will satisfy me as well since I will be living in a Mansion and get paid
at the same time...

elaine chanin Jul 20th 2007 4:42AM

My first thoughts when looking at this beautiful home and manicured landscape was how can a man like Mel Gibson who's so filled with hate live with such beauty and still be so full of rage? He needs to get intensive therapy because his heart and soul is filled with such venom. So many of the wrong people seem to have all the money but it can't buy them respect...it only serves to make people more disgusted with them. EC

Pat Gramig Jul 20th 2007 7:01AM

This is the most exquisite piece of history that I've seen in a long time. It deserves the best care and love an owner can give a home. When I saw this beautiful piece of architecture, I was witnessing my dream "home" and how it must have been during our period of grandeur. I always dreamed of owning a Tudor home where there was pride, beauty, and a feeling of "belonging".

I have a folder where I put pictures of items that I would like to put in my home. From time to time, I am able to copy or purchase an item from my list of dreams. I am putting Mel Gibson's home in this folder to remind me of the home I always wanted.

If Mr. Gibson sells this home I hope the new owner will take as much pride in its upkeep as it appears in these Photos. If he doesn't sell it, I hope he preserves and maintains this "beauty" with tender care for which it so richly deserves.

Bert Jul 21st 2007 4:28PM

#3 and #20, I agree with #36 -- the history and background you offered was a welcome addition to what is, in my mind, a beautiful estate. Tudor may nor be to everyone's taste; nor is my taste limited to Tudor. But beauty IS beauty, and this estate -- at least the buildings -- are beautiful. I haven't the expertise to comment on the landscape, but I find the maze and the topiary work intriguing. As for the furnishings: 1) We don't even know if they're offered with the estate; and 2) they will not show up as well in photographs as do the rooms because of the size of the rooms. This is an estate one would have to visit in person to get a real feel for its beauty and scope; as #3 mentioned, the photos don't even show what that person feels is the most beautiful exterior facade of the main house, from the forecourt.

Norma Jul 21st 2007 4:36PM

Can you do an article and get pictures of Henryk de Kwiatkowski's Lower Cross Road estate??? Would love to see and learn about that!!!

Barbara Jul 21st 2007 10:26PM

We pay our celebrities WAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much money! Sure is a nice house, though!

jan nedley Jul 23rd 2007 8:54AM

Who is the listing agent?

Petrina Jul 23rd 2007 12:20PM

To #8...Craig you are so right. Beside that...what are the views? Give me the cottage on the same amount of acres overlooking the ocean. By Petrina

Spectacular Bid Jul 23rd 2007 1:08PM

Why people get so wound up about these properties and debate the 'rights' of other to buy or sell them is beyond me. Had the current owner not been Mel Gibson I doubt few would think twice about it.

Certainly there was no such outpouring of opinion when the grandson to Junius Spencer Morgan, Jr put his magnificent 4-acre island estate, complete with 1906 stone and stucco English manor mouse, pool, matching garage, et al on the market in the last couple of years for $25M. Look up "Caritas Island" technically in Stamford, CT.

Nor are people bent out of shape with this equally magnificent $38 million Normand-style offering in the nearby Round hill section of Greenwich. I suspect it is because the owner is rather obscure, but no less wealthy, which see:

http://www.christiesgreatestates.com/properties/view_27110/

I shared the info I did on Old Mill Farm as (1) I happened to know somewhat the original owning family, (2) I've been to the estate pre-Mel, (3) and have long appreciated Bowman's architectural legacy - much of it found in Bronxville, NY.

The are plenty of other wonderful homes in Greenwich and I'd never assert this is the single greatest. It is however one of the most lovely pre-war residences remaining. Structurally there are a couple by Swedish born Harrie Thomas Lindeberg (like Bowman an ex McKim, Mead & White fellow) which are as grand, but sadly now on just a sliver of the original acreage which does impact the visual flow and feeling of the architect's initial plans.

Enjoy the property, and some others featured on Luxist, for what they are: expressions of talent using a medium of stone, slate, leaded glass, hard woods, and above all else reserved taste.

Someone asked further about the highest property sold in Greenwich to date at $45 million to Thomas Petterfy. The 80-acre property in Conyers Farm of the late Henryk de Kwiatkowski. The listing agent still has the pictures on the site:

http://www.davidogilvy.com/h1399.htm

Clearly the huge market value was the raw land upon which Peterffy's purportedly building three mansions - one of which will be bestowed to each of his three children.

Cited by someone was that Old Mill Farm has been sold already. No evidence suggest that – despite the Newsday’s article – as Sotheby’s does not list the property as being in contract which would be standard policy.

Merkabah Jul 24th 2007 12:07AM

FOr #19 Continuum How beautifully expressed. Indeed looking back at history could prevent us from having to keep re-inventing the wheel.

Virginia Girl Jul 30th 2007 11:21AM

To #3 (Spectacular Bid), as a horsewoman and a Virginian, and one who has done cover art for The Chronicle of the Horse, I enjoyed reading your comments. Just passed Whitestone this past weekend on Snickersville Tpk. on my way to shop for a horse.

And yes, the estate is lovely. Just needs a good decorator in there and probably some of those ionizers to get Mel's smoke-stink out of there.

Dan G Aug 15th 2007 10:40PM

#8, you haven't any idea what you're talking about. I have been on this huge estate for work reasons. I was at the time in the lasdscaping field. This property was not one of ours to maintain, but none the less I was brought there by my former boss to retrieve some plants from James Doyle.

The lanscaping is very far from second rate. This is some of the best plant materials that money can buy. This really is an unbelievable estate from the landscaping to the houses to the exotic animals running around the property.

Here's a link to another unbelievable estate, it's another James Doyle property. The company the I used to work for actually maintained it. This property is about 7 acres of waterfront in Westport.
It was tough to maintain, I couldn't imagine caring for the gibson estate(which has it's own full time landscaping crew).

http://www.fingelly.com/propertyProfiles/propertyView.asp?key=757# currently on the market for just under $38 million(I miss this property alot, and I only worked there, I can imagine how hard it would be to part with it. BTW taxes on this property are $250,000/year, crazy!!!!

ladyluxe Sep 14th 2007 12:29AM

Being in local real estate, I've seen lots of homes in the area. I think this house looks dark, drab & gloomy. It is massive, but has a very cold feeling. I hope they sell it - could certainly take some time & effort.

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