UpperBrookville

I've written about this property before but new pictures and a lower price make it worth a second look especially because I think it is due for another price cut. The Italian Renaissance mansion in Upper Brookville, New York was built for investor Henry Sanderson in 1915. It's a classic American example of the exuberance of wealth. The 40-room villa on 24 acres was used by the Roman Catholic Church as the St. Francis Retreat House.The estate is owned by Sylvia Kumar, wife of imprisoned former Computer Associates chief Sanjay Kumar. Sanjay Kumar was ordered by a federal judge to pay back $798 million to shareholders after he pleaded guilty to securities fraud. The home was bought by Sylvia Kumar from St. Francis Monastery for $6.75 million in 2001.

The home has a domed rotunda, a loggia, a winding staircase, a library, two dining rooms, seven bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The home has stone columns and arches, wrought iron doors and delicate Renaissance style paintings. There is a possibility that the land could be subdivided into five acre plots and the property does have a renovated three-bedroom cottage and a walled carriage house with heated garage, five indoor stables, six bedrooms, workshop and two bathrooms. It was listed at $17 million, it was chopped to $14.5 million last December but given that the home itself likely requires significant updating, I am guessing that it may take another deep price cut to sell this home.

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Yesterday's estate was a modern version of a French chateau. Today's version is the real deal, a 17th century Chateau which was shipped to the United States in the 1920's. It now sits on 6.7 acres in Upper Brookville, NY. The listing says that the seven-bedroom chateau which measures 6,800 square feet has been renovated for today's living, but we'll have to take their word for it since there aren't any interior pics. The outside is pretty fantastic though with all sorts of antique stone details.

The NY Times did a story on this home when it was listed at $6.995 million last year. it turns out that the home is from the village of Les Petits Thons in the Vosges area of France, about 120 miles from Dijon. Ashbel H. Barney, part of an old New York family, shipped an entire wing of the Château des Thons, to New York. Rumor has it that this is where Voltaire carried out his affair with Madame de Chatelet but that turns out to be a myth. If the home looks familiar you might have seen it in the background of ads advertising various products. It is now listed at $5.995 million.