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Sale of 290-acre estate breaks records in New York’s Hudson Valley

Image: Compass

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The sale of a 290-acre estate in New York’s Hudson Valley has broken regional records, according to reports.

The property, known as Steen Valetje, was sold to an unknown buyer by owner Suzy Welch, wife of the late former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, for $18.5 million. It is the most expensive property ever sold in Dutchess County, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The house was listed for $25 million in June and received multiple offers, listing agent Candy Anderson of Compass told the newspaper. Candy Anderson represented the buyer and seller with a colleague and her son Byron Anderson, the article noted.

Suzy Welch purchased the estate, which sits on the border of the towns of Red Hook and Rhinebeck, for $16.5 million in 2020 from financier Martin Sosnoff and his wife Toni Sosnoff, according to the Journal.

The estate has previously been in the hands of multiple prominent American families including the Livingston and the Delano/Roosevelt family. It was given as a wedding gift to Livingston descendant Laura Astor and her husband Franklin Hugh Delano, a great uncle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eleanor Roosevelt was said to have loved the home for its ‘coziness’ and panoramic views, according to the listing description.

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The 16,600-square-foot main house was built in 1850 and contains 10 bedrooms and 10 fireplaces, according to the listing. The mansion is accented by dark oak and mahogany parquet floors and 18-foot ceilings painted with landscapes and frescos.

The grounds offer extensive views of the Hudson River and the Catskill Mountains, along with two, four-bedroom guest houses, a carriage house with four apartments, a two-bedroom gatehouse, tennis courts, an eight-stall stable and a fully stocked pool house.

Red Hook and Rhinebeck and the Hudson Valley at large have seen a huge spike in demand since the pandemic, primarily from New York City dwellers seeking more space and a small town lifestyle. The median home price in Dutchess County climbed 9.9 percent to $400,000 in 2021, according to the Poughkeepsie Journal.

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