A 66-acre estate in Greenwich, Conn. — owned by the same family for four generations — is on sale for the first time after more than 80 years. The asking price is $35 million.
Edwin John Beinecke, best known for his tenure with the Sperry & Hutchinson Company, built the seven-bedroom mansion in 1939, tapping the talents of Yasuo Matsui, the architect who helped design 40 Wall Street and the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Manhattan, according to the family.
Though the mansion is the showpiece of the estate, the sprawling property also has a caretaker’s cottage and a working farm with a barn, two greenhouses, four chicken coops and about 25 apple trees. For recreation, there’s a tennis court and swimming pool.
Mr. Beinecke was the director of 18 companies in his lifetime and led the growth of Sperry & Hutchinson, which created one of the first retail reward programs. Consumers would collect green stamps, most often from gas stations and supermarkets, and redeem them for products from the S & H catalog. Mr. Beinecke, his two brothers and their families created the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University, one of the largest libraries dedicated to rare books and manuscripts.
He died in 1970, and Barbara Robinson, the widow of his grandson, is the current owner. Mrs. Robinson, whose children grew up there, said she was ready to downsize.
Approaching the gate of the estate, there is a sense of grandeur. A beautiful circular driveway leads up to the classic 9,300-square-foot brick mansion with a tall, pillared entryway.
On the first level is a double-entry foyer, a dining room, an eat-in kitchen, a pantry, two screened porches with floor-to-ceiling windows, a sitting room, a soaring library with built-in bookshelves filled with books, and a living room that was formerly a ballroom.
The walls of the former ballroom are complete with brown pine paneling from a 1765 English nunnery, purchased from William Randolph Hearst, founder of Hearst Communications. The most notable design aspect throughout is the original historical charm, integrity and authenticity of its period, which has been a deliberate decision to maintain, the family confirms. Paneling and crown molding accentuate the walls, capturing the beginning of the postwar design era.
Up the grand staircase, the sitting room hall is lined with 19th-century wallpaper from Fontainebleau, France, illustrating a hunting scene. Mrs. Robinson says she believes the wallpaper was most likely purchased from Nancy McClelland, author of “Historic Wall-papers: From Their Inception to the Introduction of Machinery.”
From the upstairs, which houses the seven bedrooms, you can still spot winter views of New York City and Long Island Sound, said Peter Janis, a real estate sales professional representing the estate for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
Outside, there are more views and lush greenery, a remnant of Mr. Beinecke’s passion for gardening. At one point, 11 gardeners worked full time on the property. A unique feature of the land is that it is still a working farm. The family sells their eggs locally to a catering company and a restaurant called The Country Table in Greenwich.
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