Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

Iconic Migdale Castle goes for $8 million at auction

Iconic Migdale Castle goes  for $8 million at auction

Migdale Castle located off Route 44 was sold at auction for $8,000,000 plus a buyer’s premium of 12%. It was most recently listed for sale in April for $14,000,000.

Heather Croner, Sotheby’s International Realty

MILLBROOK — Migdale, the Tudor estate built by Andrew Carnegie’s daughter in 1927, was sold on Thursday, May 30 at Sotheby’s Concierge Auction in London.

One of the Hudson Valley’s most iconic properties, the expansive, renovated stone estate of four stories, 34,000 square feet, and 29 rooms, achieved a sale price of $8.96 million in cooperation with co-listing agent Heather Croner of Heather Croner Real Estate Sotheby’s International Realty.

Located at 3872-3874 Route 44, the property was purchased by the art dealer and horse breeder Guy Wildenstein in 2020 for $5,290,000 and then underwent an extensive four-year renovation that was rumored to cost $20,000,000.

The estate on 68 acres includes twelve fireplaces, ten bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, an indoor pool, a 5,000-bottle wine cellar, a tennis court and a billiard room. There’s also a 5,000 square foot gate house and an additional 10,000 square foot staff house with 6 guest apartments.

The identity of the purchaser has not been revealed nor whether the buyer will exercise the first right to purchase the additional adjoining 129 acres with walking trails, orchards and fields.

Previous to the London auction New York restaurateur Will Guidara, perhaps inspired by the success of estates turned into resorts like Blantyre in Lenox, Massachusetts, was purported to have a $20,000,000 deal to purchase the property. The sale was contingent on Town of Washington approval of a zoning change that would permit “a world-class getaway” luxury resort called Second Mountain with a hotel, spa treatments, two restaurants, cottages and glamping.

Local residents, quickly mobilized to oppose the project, and Guidara withdrew his application.

Latest News

A Halloween scream with David Arquette

David Arquette, left, talks with moderator Victor Dandridge during “Behind the Scream” at the Warner Theatre in Torrington on Oct. 31.

D.H. Callahan

This December marks the 30th anniversary of Wes Craven’s “Scream,” one of the most influential movies in horror history. On Saturday, Oct. 31, David Arquette, one of the film’s stars, came to the Warner Theatre in Torrington for a Halloween screening and conversation billed as “Behind the Scream.”

“Scream” was met with critical praise when it premiered in 1996, with many noting its satirical, self-aware look at the horror genre without the usual trappings of camp or kitsch. Featuring a cast of mid-1990s A-listers including Drew Barrymoore, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Liev Schreiber, Neve Campbell and “Friends” star Courteney Cox, the movie was destined to be part of the cinematic zeitgeist.

Keep ReadingShow less
After 30 years, Dave Jones is shifting into lower gear


Now, 30 years later and in his late 60s, Jones is at the point in his life where he’s ‘figuring out how to land the plane.’

My husband and I first met Dave Jones in 2019, after we’d just moved into our house in Lakeville, a former auto repair garage with 14-foot-high ceilings that had been renovated into a residence. One day, when we woke up to a dead car battery, we called Lakeville Automotive, the nearest repair shop. Jones answered the phone a bit gruffly but then surprised us by showing up in half an hour to jump-start our car. We invited him inside for coffee, and looking around, he said with a grin that for 10 years, back in the day, he’d stored his Mazda Miata right in our living room.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

A different kind of neighborhood bar

A different kind of neighborhood bar

Ryan Andrade brings his passion for inventive cocktails and neighborhood hospitality to Le Bar in Sharon.

D.H. Callahan

When Ryan Andrade moved back to the Tri-Corner region during the pandemic, he wasn’t looking to create a new kind of neighborhood bar. But by the time he connected with Robert Arbor of Le Gamin in Sharon, his vision was clear. In May, they brought that vision to life at a revitalized Le Bar.

Andrade grew up around Millerton, attending the Webutuck High School before heading to Western New England University, where he studied psychology. He’d been slinging coffee since high school but didn’t catch the cocktail bug until managing a cafe at the SoHo Grand Hotel, which, thanks to an international clientele accustomed to different time zones, had a morning bar service. It was there that Andrade discovered the seemingly infinite possibilities of the cocktail world. While there was only so much one could do with coffee, learning about the potential for cocktails, with their shelves and cabinets of curious ingredients, had Andrade feeling like a kid in a candy shop. It wasn’t long before he was seeking out mentors to teach him the industry secrets required of an innovative mixologist.

Keep ReadingShow less

Gretchen M. Studio opens in Salisbury

Gretchen M. Studio opens in Salisbury

Grethen Mol at her new studio in Salisbury.

Natalia Zukerman

The keys are hanging from the lock when Gretchen Mol comes to greet me at her new studio on Academy Street in Salisbury. The door is open, and so, it turns out, is she. Mol has the easy familiarity of someone you’ve known for years. And in a sense, you have.

The actress, known for her roles in “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Notorious Bettie Page” and, most recently, “Tulsa King,” is opening Gretchen M. Studio, a creative space and showroom for her small-batch clothing line, with an open house Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harvesting experimental sounds at Hungry Reaper Farm

Hungry Reaper Farm founders and managers Will O’Meara and Jill Verzino

D.H. Callahan

On Saturday afternoon, Nov. 7, the farmers at Hungry Reaper Farm in Morris, Connecticut, will host the first concert at their new outdoor venue, The Three Hickeries, smack in the middle of a beautiful field on their farm.

Farm co-founders and co-managers Will O’Meara and Jill Verzino have always been interested in independent means of production. On the farm, that means growing organic produce on a small scale with a big impact. Their crops feed folks from Bridgeport, where Verzino runs a farmers market on Saturdays, all the way over to Millerton, where their vegetables can be found at Tri Corner FEED Market, the community-minded grocery store offering locally sourced food on a sliding scale.

Keep ReadingShow less
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.