CORNWALL — After alternating on and off the market since 2014, tennis pro Ivan Lendl’s 445-acre estate in Cornwall and Goshen sold for $12 million Thursday, Jan. 25, to a group of Wyoming-based LLCs, setting a record for the highest residential sale to date in Litchfield County.
The deal shattered a previous record-high sale set in 2008 in Kent by half a million dollars.
The Lendl property, with its custom-built, four-level, 20-room Georgian Federal-style stone mansion, had been listed for the past two years with Elyse Harney Real Estate. At the time of the sale, the asking price was $14,995,000. Agents Elyse Harney Morris and Bill Melnick represented the seller.
Kiara Rusconi of William Raveis Real Estate in Glastonbury, who represented the purchaser in the transaction, said although her client requested anonymity, “What I can say is that it is evident that the property has been well loved by the Lendl family and its legacy will be preserved for years to come.”
Land records indicate that deeds to the property were purchased through six Limited Liability Companies (LLC) filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State on Jan. 18. They include: 400 Mile 1 LLC, 400 Mile 2 LLC, 400 Mile 3 LLC, 400 Mile 4 LLC, 400 Mile 5 LLC and 400 Mile Master LLC.
“I am still pinching myself,” said Morris, several days after the closing. “Very rarely do you find this much acreage in Litchfield County, although you could go over the border in New York and find it all day long. That’s what creates the privacy and the ability to say that you have that much acreage. That is a big deal.”
In addition to the land, at the heart of the estate looms an 18,000-square-foot, 10 bedroom, 12-bath, Georgian Federal-style Greek-sandstone mansion designed and custom-built in 1992 for Lendl and his wife, Samantha, by the American architect Allen Greenberg.
“The symmetry, the proportions, the elegance… and the views. It’s just the epitome of luxury living. This really is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity,” said Morris.
The imposing stone mansion, situated behind grand gates via a long, winding driveway, features a light-filled entryway with a 24-foot ceiling height and grand crystal chandelier. Throughout the four-story home’s first level, French doors lead to gardens and patios.
The wood-paneled library, spacious living room, formal dining room and family room all feature fireplaces and wide-plank oak floors. A trophy room/office and eat-in chef’s kitchen and butler’s kitchen are also located on the main level.
Upper levels feature a primary bedroom suite with two oversized walk-through closets, a sitting room and an oversized bathroom, accompanied by an office with a paladin window, a children’s library and three additional en suite bedrooms on the second floor; the third floor has five en suite bedrooms,
Additional amenities, fitting a professional athlete, include an indoor pool that adjoins two locker rooms, a sauna, a workout room and a full-sized gymnasium. The outdoor amenities include a heated gunite pool with cabana, pool house with a kitchenette and full bath, tennis court, sports court and a three-paddock barn with sand arena, six stalls, hayloft, tack and storage room.
Morris said the listing attracted a handful of offers in the past two years, “but with this one we found the right buyer who really appreciated the property itself and the vast privacy it affords.”
The estate, she said, encompasses 152 acres in Cornwall and 293 acres in Goshen.
Morris described the process between seller and buyer, and broker to broker, as seamless:
“I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful transition from one owner to the next. The Lendls couldn’t have been more gracious, and the buyer’s agents were incredibly nice to work with.”
Rusconi, too, had nothing but praise for the process, the sellers and their agent: “It was such a pleasure working together on such a monumental transaction for Litchfield County and for Connecticut as a whole.”
Morris noted that for the Lendl family, leaving behind not only their beloved home but the communities where they have resided full-time since 1992 was “bittersweet.
They loved the Litchfield County communities where they were able to live, work play and enjoy. It is a normalcy that is hard to find if you’re in the spotlight.”
From 1980 to 1992, the Czech-American Lendl spent 270 weeks atop the mountain as the best player in the world during a championship-laden 13-year span, according to the International Tennis Hall of Fame (ITHF)
Lendl, 63, retired from professional tennis in 1994 and was inducted into the ITHF in 2001.
Morris, who is co-owner and broker of Elyse Harney Real Estate in Salisbury, noted that although “we’re super excited” to have brokered the largest sale in Litchfield County history, her family’s independently owned agency “remains committed to selling homes to the local community. Five hundred thousand to $2 million is really our bread and butter. I do not lose sight of that at all.”
Riley Klein contributed to this article.
Anne Day
The home’s grand staircase.
Sharon Historical Society director Abbey Nova and President Christopher Robinson show old maps that are part of the ‘Independence Revisited’ exhibit now at the society’s museum.
“We wanted to give a sense of what Sharon was like at those times,” Robinson said. “How they celebrated independence, why they did it the way they did and what independence meant to them.”
The duo noted that it was an intentional choice because various wars had gone on during those years.
The focus is largely on 1776. Although no battles were fought on Sharon soil during the Revolutionary War, its impact was significant. About 300 men joined militias and went off to fight, leaving their families to fend for themselves. Local farmers provided food while the iron industry supplied wartime equipment and materials. The war also brought new people to town who were seeking safety and community.
The exhibit is filled with stories about the people who inhabited Sharon during that time, including attorney John Canfield, who arrived in 1765 and was later elected to the Continental Congress in 1786, but died before he could serve. His nephew, Judson Canfield, took over his practice and served many terms in the House of Representatives, eventually becoming a judge.
A familiar name featured in the exhibit is Cotton Mather Smith, a Congregational minister described as one of the most influential men in Sharon. Arriving in 1754, Smith and his wife, Temperance Gale Smith, became the moral heart of the community, settling minor disputes, serving as matchmakers, taking in the sick and indigent and caring for people during the smallpox outbreak of 1784.
An old spinning wheel made in Amenia, N.Y., is part of the Sharon Historical Society’s exhibit titled ‘Independence Revisited.’Ruth Epstein
Sharon was the scene of a historic event the third week of November in 1778, when 4,500 British and German prisoners camped along the road to Amenia Union. After the defeat at the Battle of Saratoga, those men who survived were marched to Boston. Two years later, Washington ordered they be escorted to Charlottesville, Va. Divided into six groups of approximately 750, they were sent off in succession. Sharon was designated the hand-off place where the Connecticut militia was to transfer custody to New York. Chaos reigned when the New York militia arrived late. Alexander Hamilton, who was then stationed in Pawling, was called to Sharon to assess the situation. Eventually the week-long backlog eased and the prisoners continued on their way.
Visitors will also find stories of social intrigue, including the relationship between Theodosia Prevost and Aaron Burr, as well as lesser-known facts – such as Sharon’s support for Shays’ Rebellion and its comparatively restrained treatment of Loyalists.
Nova noted that an economic slump followed the war. “There was a lot of economic hardship,” she said. “There was a severe cost to rebelling.” By 1876, Sharon was a “town in transit,” with the iron industry declining and tourism starting to emerge.
While no notable centennial celebrations took place, in 1976, there were pageants and picnics and people talked about what independence meant to them. Visitors will recognize familiar faces in the photo collages taken during those times.
The exhibit, which features many photographs, paintings and historical pieces, will be open through the end of the year.
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