The legendary musician Paul Simon still needs to find a buyer for his longtime estate in New Canaan, CT.
Simon would like to slip slide away from the residence, which has been on and off the market since 2019. It’s still available for $12 million.
The singer’s plans to downsize have hit the wrong note thus far. One of the most expensive listings in the tony town, the property has struggled to find a buyer.
Purchased in 2002 for $16.5 million, the 32-acre retreat served as a home base where the performer and his fellow musician and wife, Edie Brickell, raised their family, Architectural Digest notes.
With the children out of the house, the couple put it on the market for $13.9 million in 2019, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
The initial price tag was already an admission of loss for Simon. This reflected the “softness of the area’s real estate market,” according to the WSJ.
But with no buyers appearing, the home was relisted in 2020, with a $2 million price cut, down to $11.9 million. In 2021, the home’s price ticked up slightly, to the current $12 million.
Notable home
The elegant estate certainly hits a high note. The spread incorporates a 7,025-square-foot main house, along with a three-bedroom guest cottage that Simon had used for his music studio, and where he reportedly recorded four albums.
Known as Brookwood Estate, the picturesque property offers extensive private grounds and a five-bedroom main residence built in 1938 by the architect Harold R. Sleeper.
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The well-maintained space features period details, soaring ceilings, oversized windows, and an abundance of natural light. Grand rooms flow to terraced patios, formal gardens, and a pool, the listing notes.
The locale is only 45 miles from NYC and minutes to the heart of New Canaan.
Land, no?
Life on the vast acreage was a big selling point for the couple, who extolled the virtues of owning extensive, parklike grounds.
“The first thing we thought when we moved from Manhattan was ‘Wow! We have our own park,’” Simon told the WSJ in 2019.
But such a huge amount of land makes the place an outlier for the area, where it’s easily the largest lot around. Most current listings don’t have more than a handful of acres and therefore carry lower price tags.
Even with the price cut, Simon’s home faces another challenge. It sits well above the median listing home price of $1,565,000. There are 170 active homes on the market in New Canaan, and this is the third-priciest home in town.
However, the offering seems to have had quite a refresh. Compared to the older photos, the interior now boasts new paint, updated decor, and staging that showcases the graceful space. The new look might encourage potential buyers to take another peek.
The Grammy-award winner also owns a home in the Hamptons, which reportedly had to be moved 80 feet inland to prevent it from falling down an eroding bluff.
The performer came to fame as one half of Simon & Garfunkel, with Art Garfunkel. The two recorded five albums together, with such hits as “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” As a solo artist, Simon released the album “Graceland,” which sold 14 million copies worldwide.