In the high-pressure world of advertising, Andrew J. Robertson was at the top of his game. Under his leadership at BBDO Worldwide, the firm produced some of the country’s most memorable campaigns, like the “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” Snickers ads, the M&M’s “They Do Exist,” and AT&T’s “It’s Not Complicated” commercials.
“My approach was always: The week belonged to BBDO and the weekend would belong out here,” he said, referring to the sprawling farmhouse in Greenwich, Conn., where he and his wife, Susan, lived for 24 years and raised their three children.
“It’s such a special old house and a fantastic piece of property,” said Mr. Robertson, who was BBDO’s chief executive from 2004 to 2024. He currently serves as chairman.
The colonial-style house was built in 1846 and sits on nearly six acres along Stanwich Road in the town’s estate-filled Mid-Country section. Over the years, it has grown in size through a medley of additions, and now encompasses 9,189 square feet over three stories, with six bedrooms, six full bathrooms and two half-baths. There are seven fireplaces, two of which are currently functional.
“It’s a lot of house now for the two of us,” Mr. Robertson said, which is partly why he and Ms. Robertson have decided to sell it. (The couple also moved their primary residence to a recently built beachfront home in Sag Harbor, N.Y.; and they own homes in Manhattan and the Turks and Caicos Islands.)
The Greenwich property is on the market for $13.75 million, with annual property taxes of $47,117, according to Amanda Bates Goodro, an agent with Houlihan Lawrence, who is listing the property with Louisa Wake, an agent with Hedgerow Exclusive Properties and the youngest of the Robertsons’ two daughters.
The Robertsons had bought the house in 2001 for $5.75 million, though it wasn’t exactly what they had wanted at the time. “We were looking for a new build close to town,” Mr. Robertson said, adding that their real estate agent convinced them to take a look at the farm anyway.
“The minute we wandered around it, and smelled it, and felt it — even though it wasn’t what we said we wanted — this is where we wanted to be,” he said.
The next couple of decades were spent renovating and remodeling. Among the many changes, with the help of the interior designer Thom Filicia: connecting a restored water tower to the house; adding a two-car garage, mudroom and 2,000-bottle wine room in between; and hiring Amish workers to build a barn that can be used as a second garage. Also, the icehouse, once used to to preserve perishable foods, is now where the emergency generator is stored.
“We moved in not thinking we’d do anything to it, and then once we were in, we realized the potential to better utilize the space,” Mr. Robertson said.
A few pre-Civil War details remain, like the wood-burning fireplaces, wide-plank chestnut floors, wood moldings and hardware in the original front portion of the house, which includes the entry and living room.
Throughout the grounds, landscaped by James Doyle Design Associates, are rebuilt stone walls, a hearty vegetable garden where tomatoes, asparagus, zucchini and various herbs are grown, and a seasonal chicken coop. “We have rented chickens for the summer,” Mr. Robertson explained.
Also on the grounds: a 20-by-40-foot pool, a pond, flower gardens, and one of Ms. Robertson’s favorite places on the property, a sitting area with an antique water trough.
The home’s ground level has a wraparound porch with multiple French doors and two main entrances. It contains two powder rooms, a family room, a living room, a home office and a library where Mr. Robertson liked to unwind with a glass of wine and a newspaper. The library is lined with bookshelves and has a dry bar converted from a closet, along with a working wood-burning fireplace, which, when lit, reflects on the lacquered ceiling.
The Smallbone kitchen is equipped with oak cabinets, a marble breakfast bar and countertops, and a spacious eating area. A mudroom/butler’s pantry connects to the wine room and garage addition. And beyond that space, in the renovated water tower, is a gym/bedroom with a full bathroom. Upstairs is a double-height office and storage space.
The formal dining room, near the kitchen, is wrapped in Cowtan & Tout wallcovering and woven sisal carpet.
The top two levels contain the bedrooms, each with an en suite marble bathroom, and there is a laundry area on the second floor. In the spacious primary suite is an extra-large dressing room and a bathroom with a separate soaking tub. There is also a second suite with a sitting room.
“It’s a very prominent house that anyone who’s ever lived here knows of,” Mrs. Bates Goodro, the agent, said of the property. “You feel like you’re stepping back into history, though everything is modern.”
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