SELLER: Phil Donahue and Marlo Thomas
LOCATION: Westport, CT
PRICE: $27,500,000
SIZE: 8,617 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: We first caught wind of this a couple weeks ago from Westport Willie but didn't have any meat on the matter until yesterday when both Westport Willie and Westport Wanda let us know iconic former chat show pioneer Phil Donahue and That Girl wife Marlo Thomas heaved their very East Coast-y waterfront estate in Westport, CT on the open market with an asking price of $27,500,000.
Property records we peeped aren't entirely clear but it appears to Your Mama that Mister Donahue and Miz Thomas picked up the two (or more) parcels that make up their now-for-sale estate in February 2006 for an undisclosed amount of dough.
Listing information is somewhat slim on the details but does indicate the Donahue-Thomas's waterfront spread spans 6.56 acres and has a gated, 420-foot long driveway that cuts through the sylvan property and leads to front and rear motor courts where there's garage space for 4 cars. The main house, an 8,716 square foot cedar-shingled rambler built brand new in 2007, has 5 bedrooms, 4 full and 2 half bathrooms and at least 3 fireplaces. An octagonal guest structure up near the entry gates houses a fitness facility and a gazebo down by the water's edge is probably a nice place to sit back with a big bag of penny candy and a Percival Everett novel.
Other amenities listed on marketing materials include an elevator, security system, wet bar, multi-zoned heating and cooling systems, skylight(s), 9-plus-foot ceilings, office/computer room, partly finished full basement and second floor master suite with fireplace, hardwood floors, walk-in closet, whirlpool tub and vaulted ceiling. Taxes are shown on listing information at a mouth-drying $211,330 per year.
Mister Donahue and Miz Thomas used to live in the 17-room Tudor-style mansion next door which they sold to financial and political worlds mover and shaker Herbert M. Allison Jr. in spring 2006 for, according to property records and previous reports, $25,000,000.
Other residents of the swanky seaside lane include Harvey Weinstein, billionaire hedge funder Marc Lasry, legally embattled financier Rajat Gupta, and controversial radio shock-jock Don Imus who's had his waterfront mansion on and off the market for years with asking prices as high as $30,000,000 and as low as it's current price tag of $19,900,000.
listing photos: Nicholas Fingelly Real Estate