Llenroc Estate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Oct 4th 2007 at 1:02PM

If a home was rumored to cost $32.5 million to build what should it sell for? The Llenroc Estate, which went on sale in Saratoga County in upstate New York this week is said to have cost that much when it was created by Albert Lawrence in 1992. The castle-like home sits on 12 acres on the Mohawk River. Lawrence, a devoted Cornell alum, modeled his home after the campus center. What is Llenroc? It's Cornell spelled backwards. The five-bedroom home is made from Llenroc stone (the same stone used to create the Llenroc dorm at Cornell). As befits a modern castle there are all sorts of unique details such as Scandanavian marble flooring, hand-painted Portuguese tiles, a dining room with a gilded coffered ceiling and a five-floor glass elevator. Particularly eccentric touches include the sailboat-shaped indoor pool with separate hot tub, a four-story solarium, a mermaid bar with see-through views of the pool and dancing fountains. This home is listed at $12.9 million.

Gallery: Llenroc Estate

Tags: cornell, estate of the day, llenroc, llenroc estate, new york, NewYork

Filed under: Estates

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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)

DAWN Oct 7th 2007 8:56AM

YOU NEED TO COME TO NAPLES FLORIDA TO SEE THE ESTATE THAT IS BUILT ON THE GULF OF MEXICO ON A POSTAGE STAMP SIZE LOT AND TOOK OVER 2 YEARS TO BUILD IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS BEEN THERE LONGER BECAUSE OF THE LANDSCAPING I AM SURE IT COST MORE THAN THIS ONE PICTURED IT IS ON GORDON DRIVE AT 35TH I WOULD BE INTEREDSTED TO SEE IF ANYONE REALLY KNOW HOW MUCH WHAT IT IS WORTH

PandoraH Oct 8th 2007 1:51AM

I rather like the exterior, and interior looks of this particular property. I dislike some of the more pastel and gilted areas, and loved the areas with with real wood floors, railings, and trims. Inside, the house is just a tad too pale. I don't like a heavy wood look throught, but some additional wood detailing would help. And personally, I am all for the elevator, the "lower deck bar" where you can see part of the inside of the pool. Those are quirky things you wont often find. Could they look better? Yes indeed.

Spectacular Bid Oct 8th 2007 8:39AM

Re #14 "It is amazing how many "experts" are weighing in here. The "Spectacular Bid" is the funniest. If that house sits on 12 acres on the Mohawk River and it is 20,000 sq. ft. - there is NO Way it ever appraised at $2.45 Mil and change. Just the location is going to seriously inflate the value."

Erwin please re-read my posting. The 1998 (get it - 9 years ago) it was appraised at $2.45 million per PUBLISHED sourced. See Albany Business Review 7-6-98. Got it? Not your "I think worth .." guestimate on original costs. I did not infer it cost only $2.45 M as tax values generally are far less then actual investment. Understand? You might want to be more careful in your flippant remarks in the future. Am I an expert? Well I'll be polite and simply say my comments are based upon facts.

The structure was built in 1992 - 15 years ago. I don't care how much homes cost today to build in La Jolla, CA or Southampton, NY. So it was built on 12 acres in that part of Upstate NY, no offense, but that isn't Bedford NY or Glen Cove NY so get real that back in the day it was coveted ground. Some might presume that "all that stone" in 2007 would alone cost several millions today - so be it - but the point of contention is what it cost in 1992. It is a facade and not solid stone as the Gilded Age mansions were more apt to be built of.

I attended the auction of “Aknusti” in upstate NY in 1994. It was a 2,000 acre (yes) estate with a beautiful Georgian mansion, stables, guest residence, caretaker’s and staff homes, views from its mountain top site unmatched, it was built and owned by one of the nations most influential and wealthy families, etc. My point: the final selling price by J.P. King Auctioneers? Under $3 million. That was in 1994 and with NYC being only 3 hours away and heavy advertising in the Wall Street Journal, etc. “Back then” the bang for you buck with $1M be it materials or labor was significantly greater then you’ll find in 2007.

Marie Oct 9th 2007 2:36AM

Oh my G'd!! What can I say!? This house is just dreadful, I hated every single part of it, just ugly and with no style at all!!!! What's that? I mean, please someone, define that 'style' if that's a word for it, the interior is dated, tear that house down and build something better, please... Glass elevator!? Isn't that too modern for that? Wood staircase and then a glass elevator... and the pool? OMG! It's a TOTAL disaster.

Morgan Oct 12th 2007 11:51AM

My, My, this is the most beautiful artful mansion I have seen and is my favorite. I'm sure I can find a gallery wall in there that would be worthy of hanging some of the worlds most expensive paintings ever sold. I love the $140M "drip" by Jackson Pollock, $104M "Garcon a la pipe" by Pablo Picasso, 82.5M "Portrait of Doctor Gachet" by Vincent Van Gogh, $87.9M Christies Auction for "Portrait of Adele Bloch-BauerII" by Klimt. With my British pounds sterling everything is like getting it at a 50% off sale.