Millbrook’s Hitchcock estate listed for sale at $65 million

Millbrook’s Hitchcock estate listed for sale at $65 million

Behind this stone Bavarian gatehouse at the entrance to Millbrook is the 2,079 acre Hitchcock estate with a listing price of $65 million.

Christine Bates

MILLBROOK — The famous Hitchcock estate was listed for sale on June 25 by Heather Croner Real Estate, Sotheby’s International.

The property was assembled beginning in 1889, by German-born acetylene gas mogul Charles F. Dieterich, a founder of Union Carbide, who named the complex Daheim, German for “home.”

The property includes over 2,000 acres of farmland, forest and lakes as well as the storied 1889 10 bedroom, 6 bathroom main house of 14,000 square feet and 10,000 square foot guest house designed by Addison Mizner of Palm Beach fame in 1912. Also on the grounds are a tennis court, inground pool, gatehouse, original barns, Victorian bowling alley, carriage house, 3 bedroom cottage, and two farmhouses.

The large rectangular property has frontage on four roads and is unencumbered by conservation easements. Currently the full market assessment according to Dutchess Parcel Access is $29 million. If sold for the asking price it will be the highest priced residential sale in the history of Dutchess County.

The estate, which has been owned by Peggy Hitchcock and her brothers for over 60 years, was described as “ground zero of psychedelic awakening” in the 1960’s when the owners, inheritors of the Mellon banking fortune, invited Timothy Leary of LSD fame to the property in 1963. Reportedly Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Aldous Huxley all stopped by to participate in the goings on. After raids by Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Gordon Liddy, the Hitchcocks asked Leary and his followers to leave in 1968. The mansion later fell into disrepair but has recently been renovated.

Latest News

HVRHS bus routes

Bus routes are subject to change. Check www.region1schools.org for updates.


Keep ReadingShow less
Region One elementary school bus routes

Bus routes are subject to change. Check www.region1schools.org for updates.


Keep ReadingShow less
Clyde Perham Weed
Clyde Perham Weed
Clyde Perham Weed

CORNWALL — Clyde Perham Weed, 74, passed away peacefully at his home in West Cornwall, Connecticut on Sunday, August 17.

Clyde was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Jeanne and Herbert Weed. He was the grandson and namesake of Clyde E. Weed, Chairman of the board of Anaconda Copper.

Keep ReadingShow less
Backgammon series begins at Hotchkiss Library of Sharon
Backgammon lessons kicked off Wednesday, Aug. 13, at The Hotchkiss Library. Instructor Roger Lourie works with Pam Jarvis of Sharon, while his wife, Claude, assists at a second board with Janet Kaufman of Salisbury.
Leila Hawken

In light of rising local interest in the centuries-old game of Backgammon, Wednesday afternoon backgammon instruction and play sessions are being offered at The Hotchkiss Library of Sharon. The first such session was held on Wednesday, Aug. 13, attracting two enthusiastic participants, both of whom resolved to return for the weekly sessions.

Expert player and instructor Roger Lourie of Sharon, along with his equally expert wife, Claude, led the session, jumping right into the action of playing the game. Claude chose to pair with Janet Kaufman of Salisbury, a moderately experienced player looking to improve her skills, while Lourie teamed himself with Pam Jarvis of Sharon, who was new to the game.

Keep ReadingShow less