Thursday, September 25, 2008

Billy Baldwin Lists House in Bedford Corners

SELLERS: Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips
LOCATION: Chestnut Ridge Road, Bedford Corners, NY
PRICE: $3,895,000
SIZE: 6,400 square feet (approx.), 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: Long wooded driveway leads to 19th cent grand Carriage House. Exquisitely renovated. Generously proportioned floorplan defined by extensive millwork. Both LR (w/ fpl) & formal DR offer french drs to pergols-covered stone terr, gourmet EIK w/ top of the line appl, FR, onyx-topped wet bar & brass sink, beautiful glass-encl Conservatory, Pool/pool house, 4+ acres of beautifully landscaed property w/ speciman trees, stonework, rock outcroppings.

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Although MTV Movie Award winning ack-tor Billy Baldwin has reportedly lived in the sleepy and uppity bedroom community of Bedford Hills, NY since 1995, the last Your Mama heard about this real estate doings he was dropping about fourteen grand a month to lease a very pretty house on S. Spaulding Drive in Bev Hills. See children, Mister Baldwin needed a Tinseltown crib in which to live while filming his role on boob-toob spoof Dirty Sexy Money as a very married politician with a secret tranny gurlfriend expertly played by gorgeously long legged actress (and real live tranny) Candis Cayne.

Now we hear from Aerialist Dave that Mister Baldwin and his wifey Chynna Phillips–a gal whom all the children will surely recall as the skinny blond gurl from 1990s sugar saccharine pop trio Wilson Phillips–have listed their 4.36 acre estate in Bedford Corners, NY with an asking price of $3,895,000. Records and reports reveal the country living couple paid $3,350,000 for the property in February of 2005.

Listing information indicates the main house was built way back in 1890 and includes 5 bedrooms and 7 terlits. Presumably this bed to bath ratio means that every bedrooms has its own private pooper, which Your Mama always finds appealing. The central entrance hall is both large enough to receive to receive multiple dinner guests at one time and to impress the pimple faced pizza delivery boy. The generously proportioned living room includes a fireplace and at first glance what appears to be a really nice row of three french doors leading to a terrace overlooking a rolling landscape. However, a second look reveals that the doors are not set center on the wall which, unfortunately, creates a cattywompus and visually distressing situation.

The dining room with it's faux-Chippendale style table and chairs looks like the sort of place where no one ever eats except on Thanksgiving and a large green den looks like where the Baldwin family probably gathers to watch the boob-toob and play Wii. This is another room that at first glance we sort of liked. Then that heavily patterned carpeting with the rose motif came into focus and Your Mama was mor-ti-fied. That might be okay in the 10-room Park Avenue apartment owned by a lacquer haired octogenarian, but we just don't think it's a very prudent choice for a young family. It's just so darn old lady.

Clearly many thousands of dollars was spent on high grade stainless steel appliances for the large kitchen and in fact there are separate SubZero refrigerator and freezer, an excellent feature for a growing family of five. However, Your Mama just cringes and cries like a baby over this kind of caucky brown raised panel cabinetry that looks like it's trying desperately to not look like a damn kitchen. And those massive corbels with the carved grape clusters on the center island just make Your Mama wanna puke. Sorry, but they do.

We recognize that this traditional style house and large leafy property will likely appeal to a lot of people. Traditional designs often do. It is indeed a very family friendly environment where all the well educated, well employed and well dressed residents are expected to keep up their lawns and make nice-nice over cocktails with the neighbors even if they can't stand the smell of each other.

However, Your Mama does not care for the Westchester suburbs, which for the geographically challenged, sit just north of New York City. It's a personal thing. It's not that we can not or do not understand why rich people want to raise up their kids in such a bucolic and upscale environment, and it's not that we don't think the rolling landscape isn't jaw droppingly beautiful, terrifically expensive and home to loads of rich and famous folks such as domestic diva and ex-con Martha Stewart and supah-fine 5-time Oscar nominated (always a bridesmaid, never a bride) actress Glenn Close. The posh suburbs are simply not our real estate cup of tea. Unfortunately Your Mama has read entirely too many gloriously bleak and deliciously depressing John Cheever short stories to make the notion of riding a commuter train from Mt. Kisco to Grand Central Station every day seem anything but soul crushing and suicide inducing.

Once upon a time not so long ago there was a strong and solid market among Wall Street types for this kind of traditional multi-million dollar estate. With the rather tenuous financial situation continuing to scare the buhjeezis out of all the bankers in Manhattan, Your Mama has to wonder if there are so many Wall Street huzbands willing and able to cough up nearly four million clams for all these expensive to buy and costly to maintain houses in quietly swank towns that dot the hills of Westchester County.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ugh, that kitchen!
Speaking of John Cheever, there's an article about his daughter (and her sex addiction) in the Home & Garden section of today's NY Times.

Anonymous said...

I really do not understand the fashion in these up-scale properties for all this dark wood in the kitchen. In my ever-so-humble opinion it just looks soooo dated. Sorry, but it does. And rightbackatcha Mama about that "old lady" carpet. The last time I saw a pattern like that was after I had rubbed my eyeballs too hard.

Anonymous said...

good post, i like this old property.
the green room looks friendly, minus the carpet, kitchen does suck tho. perfect place to raise a bunch of kids.
imagine all the families that called that place home since 1890.
i always want to see what the house looked like originally & the story of the first family.

Anonymous said...

I like the house a lot...but that kitchen. Yucky...cabinets that match the island would have been much better!

Unknown said...

Mr. Baldwin is moving into the following residence. Comments? www.darlingtower.com

luke220 said...

Sorry, I think the whole place is "old ladyish". Surprising for such a young and with-it couple. Those his and hers rockers in the hat box room blow me away.

Anonymous said...

Overall I cant fault the house, but with four damned acres, couldn't they have put that behemoth of a garage someplace other than smack in the front of the house?

Anonymous said...

Somebody needs to lower their meds. They think the fictional Patrick Darling is real?

Anonymous said...

First thing I'd address is the vinyl pool steps. It makes that carpet look sophisticated.

Anonymous said...

The interior is rather dull, but a stripdown and rehab could work wonders...if you want to live in bedford hills.

Anonymous said...

Even though the kitchen cabinets of a wood tone I do not like much. I prefer this pantry style of cupboard over the traditional up / down cupboard configuration. However, the island korbel, or whatever, is horrible. Throw in about $30K, it would be fine.

Anonymous said...

cheever's westchester wasn't here. it was close in places like hastings and bronxville and larchmont. the places where the mad men folks lived. cheever couldn't afford to live here, and he wrote about where he lived. bedford, the salems, katonah had/have their share of manhattan commuters, but that was really never the vibe. this area is not now and never was about getting together with your upwardly striving neighbors for cocktails and then all the messiness that happens after the cocktails. this used to be big, big old wasp money. lots of complicated family trees involving people on adjacent properties, most with a name that could be easily referenced to the fundamentals of the american economy. well, on second thought, i guess it's really about the same thing, just different people with different houses

Anonymous said...

"And those massive corbels with the carved grape clusters on the center island just make Your Mama wanna puke. Sorry, but they do."

And I thought I was the only one who hates Clive Christian kitchens with the heat of a thousand tanning beds!

Anonymous said...

I think it's beautiful. Just the kind of house I'd love to live in.

Anonymous said...

There IS no Bedford "Corners". It's just Bedford (or Bedford Village, if you're really old-school and insistent on distinguishing from the uncomfortably close low-rent neighborhood of Bedford Hills). I've begrudgingly lived in the area for 40 years, and this "Bedford Corners" name is just a real estate agent marketing ploy to, um, I guess make the area seem even richer and snottier, which is a lofty goal indeed, seeing as Bedford has excelled at snobbery since the 60s.

Anonymous said...

I always feel a little guilty when making negative comments on houses that are bigger and more expensive than mine....but then I get over it.

As the vinylvillager pointed out, what is the deal with that gargage?? that's a deal breaker. The kitchen is an eyesore and just makes me uncomfortable.

I'm guessing those French doors are off center because they were probably added later and placed so that there was symmetry with the window above, which is weird because the front window placement is asymmetrical (which I think is not uncommon on Dutch colonials). Or I could be wrong about all this, but it's just weird.

And the dining room, especially those chairs...wow. Do the Baldwins really live here?

Anonymous said...

anaon701 - is this house historic? it looks too familair to a home that I had visted 25 years ago in bedford for a party.

Anonymous said...

Average Joe here :)

California Home Prices Drop Record 41% Amid Defaults



Forty one percent down. In 12 months.

41%.

So $1 million overpriced California homes became $590,000 pretty quick. That's a freefall of $34,000 a month



but still I am confused, prices in the highend market "2MM and over" have stayed the same

why is that ?

the sky is falling

just sayin

Anonymous said...

Um, listen... AJ, sweetie. I like a morning pick-up as much as the next has-been. But honestly - those falling home prices in CA? I admit there are bank owned properties that have been slashed to get them off the bank's books. Yes, there is one not far from moi that was$1.795 and now $999K - which is exactly what it is worth in this 'hood. But those are rare cases. RARE! Most of the homes in foreclosure are still priced damned close to what they were a year ago. Yes, there are those tract homes out in BFE/Inland Not-Much-of-an-Empire that are down from their original $700K range into the $595K range. But is that really 41%? And I have to say, if I could pick up a $1M home for $590K, I'd start talking to may father again. But that ain't happening either! So, smoke another one bro'ham

Anonymous said...

OMG... I thought this place looked familar. This is where I attended a senior graduation party back in the early 80s! It's been done over since then and it looks beautiful. Wow, does that take me back. It really is a beautiful home. I had such a great time there... Hugs to Mama from Sunshine!

so_chic_darling said...

I think it must be the same house where Laura Ashley died after falling down the stairs.