3.2 Million Opening Bid...

Still, we are talking of the auction of The Château des Thons, a French import, and quite the residence.

     At the end of a long driveway in Long Island, winding uphill through dense woods stands a clearing. There a cobblestone courtyard leads to a castle with two ivy-clad turrets. A family crest is carved in the stone above the imposing 10-foot-high paneled front doors in the entry tower. Limestone balustrades edge the veranda, leading to formal gardens with spouting fountains. A lead-domed wishing well and whimsical stone statuary lend an enchanting aura to the walled garden.

   It IS quite the scene; later today, I will try and upload a picture of said Château.


   The Château des Thons originally went up in the 18th century near Dijon, France. In 1927 the financier Ashbel Barney had a wing of it shipped across the Atlantic and rebuilt here as a memorial to his son who'd served in France in WWI. It is known as Voltaire’s Castle... after the French philosopher.


   An aristocratic history but a melancholy fate. After more than two decades of being listed/ relisted by its owner, Stephen Brown — first for $30 million — the château is to hit the luxury auction block at noon on May 15, with a minimum opening bid of $3.2 million. (The auctioneer is out of Manhattan Beach, Calif.).  Mr. Brown, 73, bought the castle in 1987 for his bride at the time (he has had three), who “decided she wanted to live in baronial style” with “visions of a Rolls-Royce crunching up the driveway.” The couple drew up plans for renovation but broke up shortly thereafter. She moved to the West Coast, he to Manhattan. "I'm not enamored of living in the suburbs,” Mr. Brown's said [rather dryly, methinks].


   The turreted château became a model for other houses in this neighborhood once laden with Vanderbilts, Pratts, Woolworths and other tycoons has 6 bedrooms and 6 1/2 baths, along with herringbone floors and a 300-year-old banister. The kitchen has been updated, the dining room embellished with a mirrored and coffered ceiling. Leopard-print carpeting runs up the curved front turret staircase into the master bedroom suite. The his-and-hers baths were recently renovated in white marble. The swimming pool, hidden within a series of hedges, was retiled last year.



   The decision to delist and instead auction the house was made after Mr. Brown's home in the Malibu colony, CA auctioned in February for $5 million. “In this economy,” he said, “houses are not moving in the traditional manner through real estate brokers [...] the auction is very powerful,” The winning bid commands an 8 percent buyers premium and a 10 percent deposit. Mr. Brown says he is confident that the gavel will end his involvement with the château. Without disclosing the reserve price, he added, “I will take whatever the market decides it’s worth.”