After reading about the real estate downturn in Greenwich, Connecticut in a recent issue of The New Yorker, I wondered what effect this will have on homes still on the market, in particular, Mel Gibson's Old Mill Farm. A quick look at the listing reveals that Gibson, who has had the property on the market for $39.5 million for over a year now, recently dropped the price to $35 million.

The home is one of Greenwich's treasures. No McMansion, Old Mill Farm is a design by architect Charles Lewis Bowman built in 1926 and 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 which includes formal gardens, a maze, pool tennis court, greenhouse, stable staff houses, log cabin and a pond. 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 great hall has a 40-foot cathedral ceiling with a stone minstrel's gallery, walk-in fireplace and leaded glass ceilings. In this real estate climate, will a $4.5 million price cut be enough or does Mel need to lower the price a bit more?

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.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Mel Gibson has put his estate in Greenwich, Connecticut on the market for $39.5 million for the 28-room Tudor-style mansion on more than 75 acres. Gibson bought the home in 1994 for a reported $9.25 million. It has 15 bedrooms, 12 full bathrooms, a great room with a 40-foot ceiling and a massive fireplace and landscaped grounds that include a maze. The listing is here.
--Christie Brinkley is set to relist her Tower Hill estate in Bridgehampton. It was last on the market for asking price of $26.5 million.
--Fashion designer Tory Burch has just rented a s home in the Hamptons for the next four weeks for around $360,000.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Seagram liquor heir and Warner Music Chairman and C.E.O. Edgar Bronfman Jr. has sold his 31-foot-wide townhouse at 15 East 64th Street. It will become the second townhouse in New York City history to break the $50 million mark. He downsized into 1040 Fifth Avenue which was listed at $19.5 million.
--John Cleese, who recently put his gorgeous California ranch on the market for $28 million, has bought a New York apartment for under $1.5 million.
--A two-bedroom loft at 380 West 12th Street was sold by American socialist leaders Jack Barnes and Mary-Alice Waters for $1,872,500.
--Gregg Hughes of the Opie and Anthony radio show has bought a 40th-floor apartment in the Trump Place complex for $3.35 million.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jamie Kennedy has picked up a modern house in Los Feliz owned by fashion designer Philippe Naouri which was listed at $2.275 million.
-- Salvator Xuereb and his wife writer Nikki Toscano have purchased a home in the Franklin Hills/Los Feliz area for $915,000.
--Michael Madsen's Malibu home has headed for foreclosure is now listed at $7.8 million, a deep discount since it was on the market for $9.95 million just a few months ago. The listing is here.
--Once again a messy divorce equals a house on the market. Anne Heche is splitting from her cameraman hubby Coley Lafoon and their charming Paul Williams English-style Los Angeles home is on the market for $3.795 million. The listing is here.
--Britney Spears has put her Beverly Hills home back on the market, this time for $7.495 million (up a couple million from the last time she listed).
--Rumor has it that Paris Hilton is set to put her house on the market.

From Big Time Listings:
--The official price that Josh Duhamel and Fergie paid for their new house in Brentwood is $4.875 million.
--The official price for Denis Leary's Manhattan apartment is $3.9 million.
--Nicky Hilton's new Hollywood Hills home cost her $2.8 million.
--Richard Gere's Manhattan townhouse sold for $12.8 million.


A tip from a reader, Darlene:
--If Clarence Clemmons ever wants to give up the music business, the legendary sax player could do a fine business in real estate voiceover. Check out his smooth jazz and vocal stylings to sell his home at One City Plaza in West Palm Beach, Florida.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Damon Dash has sold his Benedict Canyon home of five years for $3.6 million.
--Frank Leboeuf, a member of the French national soccer team when it won the World Cup in 1998, has just closed escrow on a Craftsman-style home in L.A.'s Miracle Mile area for $979,000.
--Radio man Todd Leitz has sold his Sherman Oaks home which was listed at $829,000 and bought a larger residence in Studio City for about $1.5 million.
--Gavin MacLeod, captain of "The Love Boat," lived in this '60s-style home from 1976 to 2001, and now it's on the market in Palm Springs at $899,000. The listing is here.

Mel Gibson has just put his Malibu mansion on the market. The house is next door to Britney Spears's home in a gated community and the actor is tired of all the commotion that Brit causes. Apparently, with the paparazzi and fans swarming all over the gates, not to mention the recent visits from the police and child services, Mel fears for the safety of his children.

Gibson bought the beachfront house for $24 million back in October. At 7,000-sq feet, it has six bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, a gym, library, an office, elevator, bar, lagoon pool and a cabana. Mel and his family will be moving into a home that the actor already owns in not-too-far-away Santa Monica Mountains, nearer to the Catholic church that he built.