Historic Greenwich compound
Property is setting for five-bedroom home, garage and guest accommodations
Sharon Kinney is both the listing agent and owner of the compound at 731 Lake Ave., Greenwich. The Douglas Elliman Realtor – along with her professional partner, Margi Vorder Bruegge – have listed the property for $4.5 million. Kinney refers to her home as “a real Greenwich landmark and treasure.”
The house debuted on the site in 1743 – authentically Colonial – and was a Mead family residence for 150 years or so. The Meads became one of Greenwich’s founding families in 1640, when patriarch John Mead settled his family here.
Regarding her home, built a century later, Kinney said, “Considered a gentleman’s farm, it was enlarged and renovated in 1917, when many others were being torn down to make way for the wave of Tudors that hit Greenwich in that time.”
“It was the home of Imre and Dottie Cholnoky for 26 years,” she continued. “Imre developed Stratton Mountain and Pickwick Plaza in Greenwich, and his wife Dottie is still beloved in town. She visited after our complete renovation and loved what we did. … Lowell Weicker bought the house from the Cholnokys, and we bought from him.”
The renovation Kinney referenced began in 2011, and it transformed the house with an addition and newly imagined interiors. Today, the house affords 6,760 square feet of living space.
“It now has good ceiling
heights, a spectacular kitchen, family room, laundry and mudroom,” Kinney explained. They also added a 50-foot porch along one side of the house.
The renovation project also allowed for the “infrastructure” to be upgraded, including all new heating, air conditioning and electrical systems. They installed new windows and a new roof. They added insulation and rebuilt the chimneys. They even added a generator, ensuring the home would never be without power
should the area lose it due to inclement weather.
For outdoor living and entertaining, this property delivers with an expansive, covered porch and a stone patio that’s itself a work of art. The property spans 3.05 acres, with lush lawn, gardens, stone walls and a variety of trees. Landscaping lighting has been cleverly integrated into the grounds and gardens around the house.
The home has five bedrooms, including a decadent primary
suite, with two bathrooms and a dressing room. Two of the family bedrooms have en suite baths, as well, and the two final bedrooms share a hall bath.
The lower level was tapped for some must-have amenities: exercise space and a media or gaming room. There’s also a full bath on the lower level and plenty of storage space.
In addition to the main house, there’s a detached garage with four bays, and a two-bedroom apartment on the second level. It was beautifully renovated, as well, and can be leveraged for guests, live-in staff, or even as a legal rental property. The two bedrooms are complemented by a living room, dining area, full kitchen, a full bath and a powder room.
Kinney described the home’s setting as “magical.”
“Once you are in the backyard, you would never guess that you are just seven minutes to town and less than a mile to the Merritt Parkway,” she said.