An Italian-Style Villa in Darien Lists for $7.95M

Diane di Costanzo, Photographs Courtesy of Halstead,

This Mediterranean-style villa in Darien was formerly the summer home of Walter Sachs.This listing just barely qualifies as an island, accessed via a narrow causeway leading from the mainland in Darien to Delafield Island. The circa-1911, Mediterranean-style manse served since the 1920s as a summer home for Walter Sachs, a grandson of the founder of Goldman Sachs. His estate sold it a couple of decades ago to Eugene Grisanti, a former chief executive of International Flavors and Fragrances, who transformed the nearly 7,500-square-foot, 16-room interiors into his dream of an Italian villa. La-dolce-vita-style features start with the entrance loggia, graced with a fountain. A sweeping staircase leads to a two-story sitting room with a fireplace and a wall of arched doors opening onto a 50-foot-long terrace with views over Scott’s Cove and Long Island Sound. Additional pleasures include 275 feet of private waterfront, a beach, a pool and a deep-water dock. Becky Munro of Halstead Property lists the property for $7,950,000.

The elegant entry hall. The breakfast room features an ornately painted ceiling. The home is full of ornate detailing. The porch looks out over the water. Cascading terraces lead down to the pool.
This article appears in the July 2017 issue of CTC&G (Connecticut Cottages & Gardens).