Sony Music ex-CEO Tommy Mottola has listed his estate in Greenwich, Connecticut. The hobbyist home-restorer is asking $19.95 million for the property, which he purchased in 2010 for $2.85 million. The designing and planning, and construction and landscaping, took about four years to complete.
The Colonial Revival main residence is a formal behemoth, in size and in style: an imposing, symmetrical façade is crowned with a soaring second-floor pediment over the entryway, and the interior living space comes to well over 12,000 square feet.
The house represents a fairly wild convergence of periods and styles; outside, the house and grounds may evoke the formal landscaping and balanced design of the 18th century, but the interiors are a combination of the rustic and quasi avant-garde, warmth and abstract detachment. A massive entertainment space is defined by rough-hewn timber, open trussed ceilings, and fieldstone, while a spiral staircase in steel is a chilly exercise in sculptural visuals.
Materials throughout were carefully considered, and reclaimed wood and stone were used to establish and sustain the sense of history. Hanging light fixtures are frequently metallic and antique, offering contrast to the wide-plank hardwood; in the case of the ubiquitous kitchen-island pendants, they’re industrial statements with a historical pedigree.
The house sits on nearly six acres, and part of the property renovation included a line of site to the lake which rests partially on the property. The home incorporates a pool and lounge area, as well as a pavilion with a lovely plank ceiling.
Mottola was CEO of Sony Music for fifteen years, and now co-owns Casablanca records. He is married to Mexican pop chanteuse Thalia.
