Lauded landscape designer Miranda Brooks—whose clientele has included such luminaries as Anna Wintour—has said that with each of her creations, she aims “to connect the architecture to the natural world” and “to create a strong sense of place.” Brooks certainly succeeded here—on these 47.85 acres in a prestigious area of New York’s Westchester County, some 50 miles outside Manhattan near the town of Bedford. Here she manifested glorious gardens that seem to have always existed alongside a stately 1920s manor and its complementary buildings.
Katonah, New York | Fran Ehrlich, Sotheby’s International Realty – Greenwich Brokerage
The residence features an uncommon combination of sleek contemporary style with Old World elegance—seen in the classical façade, Venetian plaster walls, a gracefully spiraling stairway, vintage wood millwork, and surfaces of regal marble—with cameos by the occasional rustic detail, such as rugged wood ceiling beams. In addition to seven bedrooms and 12 baths—among them a lofty luxurious primary suite that boasts two lavish baths and room-sized closets—the home offers a dramatic great room with a floor-to-ceiling stacked-stone fireplace, a formal living room, a sophisticated dining room with an adjoining butler’s pantry, and a well-outfitted movie theater. A welcoming family room and a dazzling solarium—which easily serves as a unique casual dining area—adjoin a bespoke Smallbone kitchen with an outsize island and a towering skylight.
The home’s gardens are rather formal—parterre paths and a fountain interspersed amid impossibly lush grass—with living and dining terraces just beyond. Further afield is a second garden—a vibrant assemblage of grass, flowers, and other flourishing flora bounded by a timeless rock wall and accompanying a collection of auxiliary buildings. Visitors are stylishly accommodated in the three-bedroom, three-bath guest cottage. An entertaining pavilion has a “disappearing” NanaWall that gives way to a wisteria-draped arbor, creating an impeccable setting for festive indoor-outdoor gatherings. A onetime barn has been cleverly transformed into an impressive, thoroughly equipped gym with a ballet barre, a bath, and a rare aromatherapy room that promotes rejuvenation with a special combination of essential oils, light, colors, sounds, and dry heat.
Steps away are a 72-foot swimming pool, a tennis court, an eye-catching climate-controlled octagonal storage barn, a four-car garage crowned by three one-bedroom apartments, and a charming “writer’s cottage” whose provenance can be traced to the property’s earliest days. A private trail meanders around the verdant acreage, all of which encourages relaxed moments of idyllic rambling and wandering amid thriving trees and those delightful, colorful, quintessential gardens.
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