Agents suggest ideal homes for Tom Cruise
Their mission, if they chose to accept it, was to find Tom Cruise a home on Connecticut's Gold Coast.
Greenwich Time spoke to several real estate agents in Greenwich, Stamford and New Canaan, where the "Mission Impossible" star is rumored to be house hunting, to find out which properties they would show Cruise if they landed him as a client.
According to a recent New York Daily News article, Cruise's people got in touch with a Realtor from Sotheby's International, who then reached out to agents in a few wealthy towns in Fairfield and Westchester counties. The paper said he is looking for a private estate, where he can be in complete privacy with daughter Suri when she visits from Manhattan, where she is living with Cruise's estranged wife, Katie Holmes.
Holmes filed for divorce in June, ending the couple's nearly six-year marriage.
"I haven't heard any rumblings about him being out here," said Bill Andruss, a Sotheby's broker in Greenwich. "That doesn't mean that it hasn't happened."
Andruss said he would have to sit down and talk to Cruise to get a sense of what he wants.
Other agents had a little fun, digging through the listings of luxury homes to find the perfect one for Cruise, his daughter and his likel! y enormous staff.
Tamar Lurie, who specializes in high-end properties, said two of her listings -- one a private home on the waterfront, the other a massive backcountry estate -- could have what Cruise is looking for.
"If he wants to be on the water and he's just looking for a pied-a-terre in Greenwich, then my listing on Chimney Corner Lane would be ideal," said Lurie, who works with Coldwell Banker.
The 12-year-old waterfront home, relatively small at 6,000 square feet, is located in the very private Indian Harbor Association. The modern structure with walls of windows, which sits on just under 2 acres, is listed for $10.75 million.
Or, Cruise could be more comfortable in a 17,000-square-foot English country manor on 4 acres at 164 Round Hill Road, on the market for $15.75 million.
Kathy Markby, an agent at Round Hill Partners, agreed that the Round Hill Road property could be private enough for Cruise.
"You don't even know it's there," Markby said. "You'd have to hunt for it."
Lurie said she will also soon be putting a 27-acre backcountry property on the market. The land is adjacent to Dunnellin Hall, hotelier Leona Helmsley's former estate.
"It's a different kind of buyer," Lurie s! aid. "But! , on the other hand, who knows -- maybe he wants to build."
Markby thinks the exclusive Conyers Farm could work for Cruise. A 17,000-square-foot mansion on 21 acres at 105 Conyers Farm Drive is on the market for $19.75 million. Cruise would be among some familiar faces -- Conyers Farm residents include filmmaker Ron Howard and New York Knicks assistant general manager and former player Allan Houston.
Julianne Ward, a broker with Prudential Connecticut Realty, said Old Mill Farm, owned by actor Mel Gibson until 2010, is likely the best option for Cruise in Greenwich. At 75 acres, it is plenty private. Gibson sold the estate -- which features a nearly 16,000-square-foot, Tudor-style mansion, greenhouse, log cabin and stream-fed pond -- for $24 million, but it is now back on the market for $33 million.
"I think a different level of celebrity will require a different level of security," Ward said. "It's gated, it's got guest cottages, it's a beautiful, big house. It worked for Mel Gibson for quite a few years."
If Cruise wants to venture east to New Canaan, agent
"It has such an authentic feeling of the earlier era," Cleary said. "Clearly that begs for someone who really would appreciate that 52 acres and a beautiful house of that status."
Cruise and Holmes were married in an old Italian castle, but it's not clear if the actor would be up for maintaining an antique. If not, there's always a more modern home on Chichester Road, Cleary said. Built in 2008, the 15,500-square-foot mansion has excellent craftsmanship, Cleary said, as well as the requisite home theater and a vanishing-edge swimming pool.
"The materials used in this house are absolutely stunning," Cleary said.
Cruise was also said to be looking in Stamford, but agents there are not so sure that's the best spot.
"Somebody of that status is going to want something with extreme privacy," said Lorraine Leonard, who owns a real estate firm in the city. "I'd love to toot my own horn, but I don't see Stamford as the place" for Cruise.
Cleary thinks New Canaan, on the other hand, would be perfect. While not home to any mega-stars, singers Paul Simon and Harry Connick Jr. have put down roots.
"It's a cosmopolitan town," Cleary said. "People are very used to celebrities."
lisa.chamoff@scni.com; 203-625-4439; http://twitter.com/lchamoff
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