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Published on March 25, 2024
This Old Hudson
Authors
Demetrius Simms
Demetrius Simms is a digital staff writer at Robb Report. After starting their career in PR, they transitioned to freelance writing in 2020. Their work has now appeared in lifestyle and culture…
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Former radio host and Emmy-winning tabloid chat show dynamo Sally Jessy Raphael, whose eponymous daytime talkfest, The Sally Jessy Raphael Show (later shortened to just Sally), ran from 1983 to 2002, has decided to part with her longtime country estate in New York’s historic Dutchess County. The 25.5-acre spread in Pawling, about 70 miles north of midtown Manhattan, is available for $6.5 million via Harriet Norris of Douglas Elliman.
Raphael, famous for her acerbic wit and her collection of bold, bright red eyeglass frames, and her late husband of 57 years, Karl Sodlerland, who passed away in 2020, purchased the sprawling property back in 1997 for a bit more than $1.7 million. It had previously been in the same family for nine generations. In addition to the Elizabethan-style Tudor manor house, the property, known as Elmwood Farm, comprises two caretaker homes, a carriage house with chauffeur’s quarters, a yoga studio, and a 12,000-square-foot stable.
The grand oak staircase features hand-carved wooden animals atop the newel posts.
The main house, an impressive edifice built in 1860 and situated at the end of a long driveway amid towering trees, measures about 15,000 square feet with a whopping 17 bedrooms and nine bathrooms, plus four more powder rooms. There are 10 fireplaces dispersed across the mansion’s 43 rooms. The exterior features a three-story turret, a four-story tower, Gothic spires, and numerous high-pitched gables with carved timber fascia.
The 19th-century mansion could use a bit of spit and polish but still oozes with old-world craftsmanship and the fanciful, OTT elegance and gracious proportions of a bygone era. Lavish embellishments abound, including harlequin leaded and stained-glass windows, elaborate hand-carved woodwork, and hand-painted plaster ceiling accents. A separate wing on the second floor features hand-painted storybook murals.
The fireside dining room will comfortably accommodate more than 18 for a sit-down meal.
The grand oak staircase in the foyer, where portraits of Raphael and Soderland hang facing each other, is enhanced by dozens of newel posts topped by hand-carved animals; stacks of books and an eclectic array of comfy furniture take the stuffiness out of the stately, wood-paneled living room; and a classic Fortuny chandelier hangs from the red ceiling in the baronial dining room.
Elsewhere, there’s a huge kitchen with marble counters and an industrial stove, a marble-floored music room, a small chapel, a solarium with floor-to-ceiling arched windows, and a cozy den with a groin-vaulted ceiling. Bedrooms are ample, each large enough to accommodate a roomy seating area, and each decorated in its own scheme.
The estate includes a 12,000-square-foot stabling block.
The back of the house overlooks a large, somewhat overgrown formal garden, and flanking the carriage house is a swimming pool and a tennis court, both in need of some TLC. A vast lawn stretches from the house to the equestrian facilities, which include a fenced pasture and a picturesque stabling block that wraps around a central courtyard. It, too, could use some fixing up.
Tax records indicate Raphael, now in her late 80s, still owns a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan that she acquired from Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman in 1993. It had previously (and very briefly) been owned by billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz.
Click here for more photos of Sally Jessy Raphael’s Upstate New York home. More
Willem Dafoe, one of Hollywood’s most versatile and accomplished actors, has put his longtime getaway in Upstate New York on the market for $1.275 million. The Hudson Valley property is listed by Christopher Pomeroy and Nancy Falcetto of Brown Harris Stevens.
Tax records indicate the four-time Oscar nominee, whose last Oscar nom came in 2019 for At Eternity’s Gate and who appeared earlier this year in Wes Anderson’s characteristically quirky ensemble film Asteroid City, ponied up not quite $400,000 for a one-acre country estate in New York’s Hudson River Valley in 2008. About five years later, records show he shelled out another $60,000 for an undeveloped neighboring parcel of 4.7 acres.
The densely wooded acreage, about 90 miles north of Manhattan, on the outskirts of the tiny hamlet of High Falls, where painter Marc Chagall took refuge for a few years after he fled Europe during WWII, includes a 1920s farmhouse that marries period details with contemporary accents, a vintage red barn, and a charming writer’s cabin.
The 1920s farmhouse marries vintage details with contemporary accents.
Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens
All but hidden behind a thicket of trees and foliage on a picturesque country lane, the carefully restored and artfully renovated three-bedroom and two-and-a-half-bath residence measures roughly 1,800 square feet, much of it outfitted with radiant heated hardwood flooring. Beyond the slender front porch, a minimalist fireplace warms the spacious living room. Sash windows provide ample light and sylvan views, while French doors swing open to a heated sunroom overlooking the backyard.
The up-to-date kitchen, with polished concrete countertops, two sinks, and designer appliances, is configured around a center island alongside a casual dining area. Nearby is a screened porch with a concrete floor and an oversized utility sink.
The country estate’s three buildings are set in a grassy clearing surrounded by dense woodlands.
Chase Pierson for Brown Harris Stevens
Upstairs, two guest bedrooms share a bathroom fitted with a classic claw-footed tub, and the ample primary bedroom offers lots of custom closet space and a compartmentalized bathroom with a floating two-sink poured concrete vanity and a deep soaking tub set into a windowed corner.
The property’s trio of buildings are sprinkled along the wooded edge of a sunny clearing where a rolling expanse of grass is broken by a sinuous, stacked stone wall. The red barn stands beneath the branches of a huge apple tree, and the simple writer’s cabin, the roof dotted with several skylights, is set on a high point with a view toward the house and barn.
Records show that the Platoon star and his wife, Italian actress Giada Colagrande, also maintain a two-bedroom residence in Manhattan’s West Village that was purchased almost a decade ago for almost $3.9 million.
Click here for more photos of Willem Dafoe’s Upstate New York home.
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Bobby Flay is a fierce competitor in the kitchen, and as far as his home in Saratoga Springs goes, that’s just as tough to beat.
The Tudor-style residence, located just outside the Oklahoma Training Track at the Saratoga Race Course, is being dished out for $3.3 million, The Times Union reported on Monday. Back in 2021, the Food Network alum bought the property for $1.7 million, which is about half the asking price if your math skills aren’t up to par. At the time, Flay tapped New York City’s Olivia Capuano, founder of Olivia Jane Design, to totally and quickly revamp the place, a huge project that she managed to complete in less than six months.
“The design was aimed at bringing the vibrancy and energy of the track indoors while creating an inviting and comfortable space for hosting guests,” Capuano told House Beautiful earlier this year.
Bobby Flay’s Saratoga Springs getaway comes with a custom bourbon lounge
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Her biggest task in renovating the 3,087-square-foot, four-bedroom abode was converting an office into a swanky bourbon lounge for the celeb chef, who’s a well-known whiskey drinker and racehorse enthusiast. She also transformed an existing backyard fire pit into an outdoor kitchen.
“A large chunk of the budget was spent on updating the back patio,” Capuano told the magazine. “As track season coincides with the most lovely weather for upstate New York, we knew that it was an incredibly valuable entertaining space.” In addition to expanding its overall square footage, she installed a custom concrete grill counter and an outdoor television.
The residence was recently remodeled and includes a large outdoor patio with a kitchen
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Inside, the sunken living room feels super cozy and offers up views of the track, while the kitchen is bright and spacious, equipped with vaulted ceilings and an exposed brick fireplace. (Yes, it’s as impressive as you’d expect for an Iron Chef.) Elsewhere, you’ll find a primary suite on each level so there’s no need for a tension-filled throwdown for who gets the best bedroom.
“I asked Olivia to create a warm home with the Deco era in mind, as the house was originally built in 1939. I think she did an amazing job,” Flay added.
JoAnn Potrzuski Cassidy with Julie & Co. Realty has the listing.
Click here to see all the photos of Bobby Flay’s Saratoga Springs house.
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