South of France in Connecticut
The outdoor “vignettes,” as Zawacki called them, include an outdoor fireplace sitting area, a free standing hot tub, a pool with a waterfall, a one-acre pond and dock and several horse paddocks.
REDDING — Just driving by, it might be difficult to tell that the property at 241 Black Rock Turnpike is home to a casual European country manor.
But that’s the point, said Gail Zawacki, the listing agent.
The classically designed six-bedroom house is set back several acres from the road by a long driveway, only marked on the state route entrance by a mailbox. It sits on 19 acres of land and borders a land trust and 1,000 acres of horse trails.
It offers a unique amount of privacy given its location near the center of Redding and other towns, as well as New York City, Zawacki said.
“You feel like you’re in another world,” she said. “You could be in the south of France, you could be somewhere in Italy, you could be right here in Connecticut. It’s rare to have that much land with a house like this.”
Homeowner Bob Prusak
said the privacy factor and the property’s expansive outdoor features was attractive to him and his wife Jamie, who bought the house toward the end of its construction in 2005.
The outdoor “vignettes,” as Zawacki called them, include an outdoor fireplace sitting area, a freestanding hot tub, a pool with a waterfall, a oneacre pond and dock and several horse paddocks.
“That was definitely something (we liked),” Prusak said. “You get a little bit of everything.”
The couple was attracted the house, too, Prusak said, because of its classical design.
The European manorstyle includes details both inside and on the exterior of the home, such as intricate stone work, spiral staircases, an antique slate roof, a porch-cochere and Juliette balconies.
“Just in general, the high level of craftsmanship in the house stood out,” Prusak said. “It was definitely the look of something old that was new that was very interesting to us.”
The couple has added