Property highlights:
Where: Woodstock, Connecticut
Listed for: $60 Million
Features: Built in the Gothic architectural style of a European castle, complete with a mote, but with modern luxuries.
Added appeal: Featuring nine bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 12 fireplaces and a pool, the property stretches across 400 acres with a 30-acre pond.
You don’t have to go to Disneyland to find a castle in the United States. This castle, found at 450 Brickyard Road in Woodstock, Connecticut, mimics both the architectural style and craftsmanship methods of castles once home to European nobles.
Construction was overseen by current owner Chris Mark and took seven years to complete, coming to fruition in 2010. Stretching 126 feet high, the home clocks in at 18,777 square feet.
The castle was relisted for $60 million in February 2022, a noticeable bump from the previous $35 million price tag in November 2021. The listing is being handled by Compass, with John Pizzi serving as the listing agent. RISMedia spoke with Pizzi about his selling strategy and what makes this an extraordinary space.
Devin Meenan: How would you describe the current state of Connecticut’s luxury market, and how has this affected your efforts to sell the property?
John Pizzi: The financial environment hasn’t really affected the luxury market. While current interest rates are having some impact on lower-end properties (those under $500,000), the luxury market is holding steady.
DM: What was the process behind setting the price for this property?
JP: talked to his architect and his engineers—of course, this was a few months ago, and while prices for materials have come down a bit since then, labor costs have increased. If he were to build another castle, which was his intent, it would cost $60 million to build it, so he decided that would be the price of the one he was selling.
DM: What makes this property a unique opportunity for buyers?
JP: Everything about the property is unique because it’s out of the ordinary and eclectic. If you pull up to the castle and look at it from a distance, you’d think that you’re in Europe and that it was built in the 15th century, whereas in reality, construction didn’t even start until 2003. It’s unique because it’s very Gothic, but it has all the modern conveniences that you can’t see from the structure alone. For example, sound, lights and curtains can be controlled with an iPhone—but not things that take away from the antiquity of the property.
DM: What’s your strategy for marketing the property to buyers?
JP: In addition to social media, we’re also advertising internationally. With a property $60 million, and being uniquely different, you have to find that one person whose lifestyle it appeals to. For most people, living in a castle would be more of a novelty. We get a lot of inquiries, but it’s not your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, modern-construction property.
DM: What makes this a “Great Space?”
JP: No. 1 is the fact that it’s situated on 400 acres. It also features its own pond, called Porter’s Pond, which is actually more of a lake, and they built the castle on a peninsula with a moat completely around it—not that we have to worry about armies coming across, but it gives it that authentic castle feel. The owner brought European craftsmen over to Connecticut to construct and build the property, and while I don’t know the exact number, there are somewhere around 35 or 40 exotic hardwoods throughout the property. While a lot of the doors and mantelpieces come from around the world, the owner frequented various antique architectural salvage places in Europe to truly give the space the feel and flavor of a Gothic-style castle.
For more information, please visit www.compass.com.
