Ron - your east coast family home is for sale!
Boston Globe
NEWPORT, R.I. --A privately owned house on Newport's mansion row is for sale, a rare auction, especially for a privately owned residence.
The 30,000 sq ft estate, named Miramar, sits on an 8-acre lot with a prestigious Bellevue Avenue address and a view of the Atlantic. There's a main house, a 6,000 square-foot carriage house and a 1-acre oceanfront lot that divides the two buildings.
The house was conceived as home for transportation mogul
George Widener and his wife, Eleanor, in the early 1900s. George and his son Harry, whose book collection later became the foundation of Harvard University's Widener Library, died aboard the Titanic.
Eleanor Widener also was aboard but survived the April 1912 sinking. After marrying Harvard professor Hamilton Rice, she spent two years and $1.5 million completing the estate.
The house went on to have many lives; it's been a summer home, a boarding school, a retreat and conference center for the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island.
Developer Andrew Panteleakis bought the property in 1971 for $118,000. He lives onsite, but has also converted part of the main building into corporate offices.
This time around, the house is expected to sell for eight figures, according to Michael Fine of Sheldon, Good and Co., the firm in charge of the auction.
"A lot of people get to tour the mansions," he told The Boston Sunday Globe. "But only one gets to say, 'I own one. Would you like to come over for dinner?'"
The sale is "as-is," and Miramar lacks many of the amenities of a modern luxury home.
The house went on the market two years ago, but failed to sell for the $25 million asking price. Prospective buyers can tour the house and place a bid on one or all of the three properties after putting up 5 percent.
According to Fine, the highest bidder might not win. The owner might be willing to accept a lower bid to keep the three properties together.
The auction ends Nov. 3.