04/15/08 - “The house is like a work of art and it’s priced that way,” says local broker Barbara Wells, of Prudential Connecticut Realty

Leona Helmsley’s Greenwich Estate Hits Market at $125 Million

Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY

Leona Helmsley’s Greenwich, Conn., estate (pictured here) is officially on the market with a hefty $125 million price tag. (Property taxes: over $1.8 million.) There will be a broker open house for the home on Round Hill Road today, but no cellphones or cameras will be allowed, a local broker tells us....

...The listing agent is David Ogilvy of Christie’s Great Estates.

Known as Dunnellen Hall, the estate of more than 40 acres was at the center of Mrs. Helmsley’s 1989 federal tax-evasion trial, when she was accused of illegally billing her company for more than $3 million of property renovations. The former model, dubbed the “queen of mean,” served 19 months in federal prison. She died in August at age 87....

...The $125 million price tag is considered hefty even for Greenwich, where few residential deals have topped $100 million. Industrialist Daniel Gray Reid paid $1 million to build it. (See ” ‘Queen of Mean’ Lair to List for $125 Million“).

Dunnellen Hall is one of the few intact historic estates left in town, says an archivist with Greenwich’s Historical Society in this Journal article. Many Greenwich homes are being torn down, according to this Journal article from Saturday. –Christina S.N. Lewis

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04/09/08 - Today's sale is a small fraction of furnishings from Helmsley's 28-room Connecticut mansion.

Leona Helmsley's French Commodes Fetch $421000 at Christie's
Bloomberg

Quote:

``The interiors reflected the wealth and social standing of the Helmsleys,'' said Jason Preston, a Christie's 19th century furniture specialist.

Story:

A pair of 19th century French gilt commodes owned by real-estate heiress Leona Helmsley sold for $421,000 today at Christie's International in New York....

...Leona Helmsley, who left $12 million for her dog, Trouble, had a pair of four-foot high white marble hounds flanking her front door. They sold for $37,000 to a phone bidder....

...Christie's has been selling paintings, silver and other items in auctions throughout the year, though the bulk of her property remains in Connecticut, and at her homes in Manhattan and Sarasota, Florida.

Christie's auction included French furniture, reflecting Helmsley's opulent tastes, and dozens of plates and tea cups. The china was stored in a special butler's pantry, according to Preston. A set of 17 Royal Copenhagen ``Flora Danica''-pattern fruit plates decorated with strawberries and apples sold for $15,000.

Helmsley's 1918 Greenwich mansion is for sale through Christie's Great Estates for $125 million. Once the home has sold, Christie's will auction the remaining items.

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