It's still a rumor, but it seems the Clintons are planning a move. The former first couple would still be staying in Westchester County, N.Y., but moving nine miles north, from upscale Chappaqua to even more upscale Bedford Hills. Apparently, they're eyeing Clover Hill Farm, a 7,000-square-foot estate on 20 acres in an area known for rich horse lovers and low-key celebrities.
According to the Coldwell Banker listing, Clover Hill Farm, priced at $10.9 million, boasts five bedrooms; a fireplace in the master bedroom; a wood-paneled library; stone patios; a wine cellar; his-and-her bathrooms and dressing rooms (hers is two stories); a heated pool and poolhouse; two guesthouses; an artist studio; stables, pastures and a dressage ring; and a koi pond.
The agent is Mady Wengrover in Coldwell Banker's Bedford, N.Y., office.
It's been 11 years since the Clintons moved to 15 Old House Lane in Chappaqua, when Hillary was eyeing a U.S. Senate seat from New York.
Also with five bedrooms, their Dutch Colonial is no dump (Zillow.com estimates it at $1.3 million), but it only has one acre and is a frustrating place for the Secret Service to secure -- you can drive within 60 feet of the Clintons' front door.
The Clintons initially got flack for buying the Chappaqua home. They were accused of using it as a suitable site for Hillary to start her political career, as a resident of a nice-but-not-too-ritzy part of New York State, and that it would only be a part- or -quarter-time residence.
But in fact, the Clintons make good neighbors. The New York Times' Peter Applebome writes that they got very involved in the community, marching in Memorial Day parades, walking the dog at the local high school track, buying egg sandwiches and Starbucks coffees downtown, even attending neighbors' Super Bowl parties.
At Clover Hill Farm, their new neighbors would include Glenn Close, Richard Gere, Martha Stewart and other rich folks who probably own more than one horse.
But Bedford Hills is considered a rung down the ritzy scale than Bedford Village next door, due to two prisons in the area -- one of which is the state's only maximum-security prison for women.
"Does it make sense," asks Chappaqua resident Lawrence Otis Graham in the Daily Beast,"to leave a home five blocks from the bucolic Reader's Digest 114-acre campus to move into a house that sits on the same street as two infamous state prisons? The rooftop of the Harris Road mansion is as visible to a local pedestrian's eye as the glistening coils of barbed wire that loop near the yellow sign and walls down the street...."
But while a suburban cul-de-sac is perfect for a junior senator, it's not needed, politically, when you're secretary of state. The Clintons probably want more privacy and space, which Clover Hill Farm has. And it's not a given that they'll buy it. They've reportedly been looking at other Westchester locales, and even as far north as Woodstock near the Catskills.
One thing for sure, buying a new house is not at the top of their immediate to-do list
-- Chelsea's wedding is July 31.
No comments:
Post a Comment