The Wall Street Journal
The fashion designer is listing the 22-acre property amid a ‘very strong’ market driven by New Yorkers relocating to the tony Connecticut town.
Designer Tommy Hilfiger may be known more for his all-American clothing brand, but he is also a prolific house renovator: He has fixed up and sold seven homes in the wealthy town of Greenwich, Conn., over the last 35 years.
Now, at a time when New Yorkers fleeing the pandemic are driving up Greenwich property values, Mr. Hilfiger is listing yet another Greenwich home, a sprawling French Normandy-style estate, for $47.5 million.
“I hear from my friends in real estate that the market is very strong, and it hasn’t been this strong in years,” noted Mr. Hilfiger, who said he is heading to Palm Beach, Fla. He and his wife Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger had been considering the move for some time, but Covid-19 accelerated their timeline.
‘I hear from my friends in real estate that the market is very strong, and it hasn’t been this strong in years,’ said Tommy Hilfiger, who is listing his Greenwich, Conn., estate.
PHOTO: KARWAI TANG/GETTY IMAGES
The Hilfigers bought the roughly 22-acre Greenwich property in 2010 for $31.375 million, records show. Known as Round Hill for its position at the top of tony Round Hill Road, the property was built in 1939 for real-estate investor Charles Vincent Paterno. It was also the onetime home of financier and prolific art collector Joseph Hirshhorn.
Starting in the 1960s, Mr. Hirshhorn stored his vast collection of 19th- and 20th-century art at the property before much of it was relocated to the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., according to listing agency Sotheby’s International Realty.
Mr. Hilfiger said he and his wife fell in love with the “Old World charm of the house,” which had fallen into disrepair, and spent three years working to bring it back to its original glory.
They redid all the house’s mechanicals, rewiring and adding new plumbing and ventilation. They also replaced the roof, commissioning a company in Turkey to fabricate the unusual terra-cotta tiles to match the originals. They hired landscape architect Miranda Brooks to reimagine the gardens with boxwood hedges and fountains.
Mr. Hilfiger called the project a labor of love, and said he spent millions on the project. “It was frustrating and took a lot of patience,” he said.
Inside, the décor of the 13,344-square-foot home reflects the couple’s extensive travels. A screening room takes its inspiration from Ms. Hilfiger’s Turkish heritage, with hand-painted fabric walls inspired by tiles the couple saw in a palace in Istanbul. The large family room has custom plasterwork ceilings and an 18th-century French fireplace. A dramatic carved oak staircase connects the floors.
One recurring motif: antlers. There are antler chandeliers, an antler mirror surround and even outdoor animal statues with antlers. “We’ve gone to Austria and Switzerland skiing, and we love the Swiss and Austrian hunting lodges,” Mr. Hilfiger said, noting that the motif harks back to the property’s own history as a deer- and fox-hunting estate. The antlers, as well as other furnishings, aren’t included in the sale price.
The estate’s position on a hill means it has views of the Long Island Sound and of the lights of Manhattan at night, Mr. Hilfiger said. It also includes an original tennis court, which they fixed up.
The designer, 69, said he and his wife spent the early months of the pandemic at their home on the Caribbean island of Mustique. They are now in the process of buying a new Florida home; one they own in Miami is on the market for $24.5 million. While Florida’s favorable tax policies were a factor in their decision, they aren’t the sole reason for the move, Mr. Hilfiger said.
The Hilfiger Home in Miami
