Auction Set For Estate Once Listed For $24 Million

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Those who want to live the Gatsby lifestyle, bring your checkbook.

The starting bid for a 10-acre estate in Lloyd Neck will be a whopping $5.75 million at an auction set for next Wednesday.

“This is the type of home that really embodies the Gatsby lifestyle. It’s rich, it’s elegant, and I would say it’s timeless,” said Misha Haghani, founder of Paramount Realty USA, which is heading up the auction.

The home, which has previously been listed for as high as $24 million, has 25,000 square feet of living space. Its 37 rooms include 19 bedrooms, a full basement, eight fireplaces, an indoor squash court, covered porches, a bluestone patio, a 3-acre, award-winning garden and a  lighted staircase that leads to 1,800 feet of beach with a deep-water dock. There’s also a ballroom, state-of-the-art kitchen, solarium and a banquet-sized dining room.

The 1904 brick Tudor style home has been restored by its current owners, Greg and Kimberly Campbell, who purchased the estate in 1990. The mansion has been updated with new heating, air conditioning, electric and plumbing. A 5,000-square-foot garage fits 16 cars.

It’s all found at 31 Fort Hill Drive on Lloyd Neck, sitting on a 110-foot high bluff overlooking Long Island Sound.

First developed in 1910, the Fort Hill home has a rich history. During the Revolutionary War, the British built Fort Franklin on the site.

The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, more than a century after it was purchased in 1879 by Anne Coleman Alden who commissioned famed architectural firm McKim, Mead & Bigelow to build her a summer residence.

It was purchased again in 1900 by industrialist William John Matheson, who commissioned a sprawling brick and limestone structure that paid homage to its predecessor, Fort Franklin. Matheson later added the indoor squash court, a porte cochère, ballroom, and acres of formal gardens.

Next Wednesday’s auction, which will also offer up five other luxury homes, will be hosted at The Sands Point Preserve on June 14, 6 p.m. To register, visit Prusa.com.