In an effort to downsize, iconic rock musician Paul Simon is looking for someone to buy his Connecticut country estate for $13.9 million.
Despite the celebrity connection, Simon is asking for 16 percent less than he paid when he bought the home back in 2002.
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Built in 1938, the 8,500-square-foot estate in New Canaan is a Colonial style with a private recording studio (where Simon wrote several of his latest albums) and a kitchen decked out in light wood and marble. Potential buyers can also enjoy carefully tended and manicured meadows outside.
William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty’s Leslie Razook and Anne Krieger are the property’s listing agents.
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According to Krieger, the price has been chosen based on Simon’s understanding of what would be most likely to secure an interested buyer.
“The current price reflects the current market and a reset not just for this property or New Canaan but for Connecticut and parts of the Northeast as well,” Krieger told Inman.
The large grounds are perhaps the most impressive part of the entire property. It was built as a refuge from New York City and has over 30 acres of lawn, forest, a brook, and even a waterfall. A long garden leads from the house to the pool, while the living room kitchen windows give way to the greenery.
The house itself is built in white-washed Georgian brick and is walled off from the rest of the world by a large stone gate.
Paul Simon.
“The first thing we thought when we moved from Manhattan was ‘Wow! We have our own park,'” Simon said in a press statement about the property. “It took half an hour to walk a loop of the property with the dogs.”
Simon, who was once the half of the iconic duo Simon & Garfunkel, has had a 50-year career in both the iconic group and as a solo musician.
He’s received 16 Grammies, wrote iconic songs including “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and “Mrs. Robinson,” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
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He and his wife, singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, raised their three children in the property before deciding to downsize now that the kids are grown.
Krieger told Inman that a celebrity connection on a home is an added bonus for a Realtor. As a result, she advises agents tasked with selling these types of celebrity homes to discuss how they can use their name in a respectful way when marketing the home.
“Work hard and enjoy it, because it’s a great honor,” she said.
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