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    Bill Koch’s Storied Cape Cod Compound Once Hosted JFK. Now It Can Be Yours for $24 Million.

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    Billionaire collector Bill Koch is parting ways with a piece of Cape Cod history. 

    His 7.5-acre waterfront estate in Osterville’s gated Oyster Harbors enclave just hit the market for $23.85 million with Joanna Dresser and Kelly Crosby of LandVest | Christie’s International Real Estate—and it comes with some serious provenance. Before Koch bought the property in 2013 for $19.5 million, it belonged to banking heir Paul Mellon and his wife, Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the influential horticulturist who designed the White House Rose Garden. The Mellons hosted everyone from movie stars to world leaders here, including their close friends John and Jackie Kennedy. 

    The main house, built in 1954, clocks in at 7,300 square feet with eight bedrooms and plenty of breezy, understated style. Think wide-plank floors, original fireplaces, and views of either the gardens or the sea from just about every room. There are also two two-bedroom guest cottages, a former art studio-turned-private suite, a greenhouse, and a beach house that’s barely changed since the Kennedys came by for cocktails. 

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    The 7,300-square-foot main house, built in 1954, features eight bedrooms.

    Courtesy of Bill Koch

    Outside, Bunny’s signature is everywhere. She spent years shaping the gardens—layering native plantings, specimen trees, and orchards into a landscape that feels effortless and relaxed. And in classic Mellon fashion, when the property lacked natural dunes, the couple simply brought in 2,000 tons of sand to build their own 20-foot privacy berm. 

    “It is important to me to preserve the home the way I remembered it when I used to visit Paul and Bunny, and maintain their influence and style over the estate,” Koch said in a statement. 

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    Horticulturalist Bunny Mellon shaped the gardens and landscape of the Cape Cod retreat over the years.

    Courtesy of Bill Koch

    The property includes over 500 feet of waterfront, a deepwater dock, and access to a small private island that now serves as a bird sanctuary. Koch has used the home as guest overflow in recent years and occasionally rented it out for $25,000 a week, The New York Post reported. 

    The listing comes as Koch trims down his Cape portfolio. He’s also asking $10.5 million for a nearby 1.75-acre parcel and previously listed another piece of the former Mellon spread for $16 million. Meanwhile, his real estate holdings still include a ranch in Colorado, a Palm Beach compound, and a $125 million estate outside Aspen. And if this sale wasn’t enough, Koch just offloaded nearly 8,000 bottles from his famed wine cellar in a record-breaking auction at Christie’s. The three-day sale brought in $28.8 million. 

    Click here to see more photos of Bill Koch’s Cape Cod compound. 

    Courtesy of Bill Koch

    Authors

    Abby Montanez

    Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

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      This $2.2 Million Massachusetts Home Is Where Walt Disney Reportedly Wrote ‘Fantasia’

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      Walt Disney may have settled down in Southern California, but he wrote his hit musical Fantasia at this magical home in Massachusetts. 

      Located in Centerville, a historic village on Cape Cod, the shingled abode is on the market for just shy of $2.2 million. According to the listing, the property originally belonged to a larger estate known as Fernbrook, which dates back to 1881. In its 143-year lifespan, the inn has hosted famous visitors from Audrey Hepburn to the Kennedys and counts Herbert T. Kalmus, the inventor of the Technicolor motion picture process, as its former owner. 

      During Kalmus’s time at Fernbrook, he invited Disney to stay at the estate. The movie and TV producer is believed to have penned the 1940s animated film while holed up in the abode’s water tower, which the house on offer is built around. “The base of the tower is now the primary bedroom,” Gene Orloff of Sotheby’s International Realty—Cape Cod, Osterville Brokerage, told Mansion Global. “The top of the water tower is a wonderful room with a bar and original huge windows that drop into the sills for air and an almost 360-degree view of Centerville and peaks of Nantucket Sound. 

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      The octagonal water tower where Walt Disney is said to have wrote Fantasia.

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      The current residence, which was constructed in 1995, last sold in 2017 for a cool $1.13 million. Altogether, the dwelling measures 5,050 square feet and features six bedrooms and four full bathrooms. Another cool feature: legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, best known for designing several public parks, starting with Central Park in New York City and Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum, was tapped to spruce up the roughly one-acre grounds, which include a lily pond and lush gardens. 

      The home features refinished wood floors and a vaulted, wood-clad ceilings.

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      Set across three floors, the home is decked out with exposed beams and oversized windows that overlook the bucolic landscape. On the first level, you’ll also find the primary suite, a renovated chef’s kitchen, a guest room, and a dining area. Elsewhere, surrounding porches and decks are perfect for soaking in the sun and provide easy access to the heated swimming pool.  

      RELATED: Harry Connick Jr. Is Asking $12.5 Million for His Coastal New England Retreat

      Nestled on Centerville’s Main Street—recognized by the National Register of Historic Places—the house itself is a stone’s throw from Craigville Beach and the beloved Four Seas Ice Cream. Taylor Swift and Adam Sandler have visited the latter. The shop was reportedly put up for sale in February.  

      Click here to see more photos of 489 Main Street.  

      Nauset Media for Sotheby’s International Realty

      Authors

      Abby Montanez

      Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…

      Read More More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Luxury

      Harry Connick Jr. Is Asking $12.5 Million for His Coastal New England Retreat

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      You’ll need more than a wink and a smile to pick up this Massachusetts estate! As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the coastal 1.3-acre spread long owned by award-winning singer, pianist, and actor Harry Connick Jr. has just popped up for sale in the Lower Cape Cod enclave of Chatham, asking $12.5 million. The listing is held by Paul Grover and Matthew de Groot of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Robert Paul Properties.

      Records show the New Orleans-born crooner and his wife, former Victoria’s Secret model Jill Goodacre, paid $5.3 million back in early 2006 for the Oyster Pond Lane property. Tucked away behind tall hedges and a lengthy tree-lined driveway, the charming wood-shingled structure boasts five bedrooms and six bathrooms in a tad over 5,300 square feet of two-level living space, all of it accented throughout with the original pine floors, reclaimed wood, and numerous fireplaces.

      The backyard has an inviting freeform pool, an expansive terrace, and a fire-pit conversation area.

      Jack Vatcher Photography

      Built back in the 1960s but extensively renovated during the couple’s tenure, the blufftop structure overlooks Chatham Village and Oyster Pond, a saltwater basin that flows to Nantucket Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. There’s also a staircase and a raised walkway leading down to a boathouse and a private dock, plus an attached two-car garage.

      Other highlights include an entrance hallway displaying a traditional staircase, along with a cozy family room sporting built-in bookcases flanking a wood-burning fireplace. A gourmet kitchen is outfitted with a built-in buffet, an eat-in island, top-tier stainless appliances, and a dining area flaunting two sets of French doors spilling out to the backyard.

      A private balcony in the primary bedroom overlooks picturesque water vistas.

      Jack Vatcher Photography

      Accessed via a private staircase is an upstairs primary suite, which comes complete with a water-view balcony, a walk-in closet, and a luxe bath equipped with dual vanities, a soaking tub, and a glass-encased shower, as well as a study where Connick worked on his tunes. Outdoors, the park-like grounds are dotted with manicured gardens and mature trees and host a fire pit and a freeform swimming pool surrounded by a brick-clad terrace.

      According to WSJ, Connick and Goodacre have decided to let go of the house, which is being sold fully furnished, because they are spending less time on the Cape now that their children are grown.

      In other musician-related real estate news, Kendrick Lamar reportedly just dropped $40 million on a nine-bedroom estate in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, while his current arch nemesis Drake wrangled a sprawling Texas ranch for $15 million. Meghan Trainor also scooped up DJ Zedd’s rockstar-worthy mansion in L.A. for $17 million.

      Click here for more photos of Harry Connick Jr.’s Cape Cod house.

      Jack Vatcher Photography More