Monday, July 9, 2012

Don Imus Gives It Another Go in Connecticut

SELLER: Don and Dierdre Imus
LOCATION: Westport, CT
PRICE: $19,900,000
SIZE: (approx.) 10,000 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Our unofficial aide de camp Hot Chocolate gave us a ringy-dingy over the weekend after s/he noticed radio firebrand Don Imus had once again heaved his Westport, CT waterfront estate on the market with a (familiar) asking price of $19,900,000.

This is not Mister Imus's first time at the real estate rodeo. No siree, Bob. Indeed, lightening rod of political and social conservatism has had the property on and off the market since at least spring 2009 when it carried a much higher and (in hindsight) preposterously optimistic $30,000,000 price tag.

Property records indicate Mister (and Missus) Imus paid $4,600,000 for the 4-acre property in 1997 and proceeded to erect an approximately 10,000 square foot, 14-room, multi-winged main mansion described in an older listing as a "Greco-Georgian" -style pile.

In addition to the spacious and tastefully traditional (if sorta snoozy) living quarters in the 6 bedroom and 6.5 bathroom main house, the compound-like property includes garaging for 9 cars, a 2 bedroom gate house, a new(ish) 2 bedroom guest house, and a flat, football field-sized backyard that extends ends abruptly at the 215 feet of bulk-headed and sandy beach front. The property does not currently have, as far as we can tell, a tennis court or swimming pool and—no offense to the often offensive Mister Imus—but for twenty million bucks we want an already-installed swimming pool and tennis court, thank you very much.

Mister Imus continues to own a pair of New York City apartments in the same Neo-Renaissance-style pre-war building on Central Park West as well as Imus Ranch, a 4,000(ish) acre, village-like working cattle ranch near Santa Fe, NM operated as a charitable enterprise where children with cancer and the siblings of SIDs victims can visit (for free) and experience what it's like to live and work on a functioning cattle ranch.

That Girl Marlo Thomas and her chat show pioneer hubby Phil Donahue have lived along the same coveted stretch of Connecticut seaside as Mister and Missus Imus. In 2006 they sold a 17-room Tudor-style mansion for—so say the reports—$25,000,000 and moved right next door to a custom-built mansion on 6.5 acre they heaved on the market earlier this year (2012) with an asking asking price of $27,500,000.

Other high-profile and or high-net-worth property owners along the swanky seaside lane include movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, billionaire hedge funder Marc Lasry and legally embattled financier Rajat Gupta.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

This guy has no talent and can barely string 2 words together and he has this kind of money from his radio show? Stange!!

Anonymous said...

This is a great example of greed in action. If Imus had priced the property correctly to begin with, he would have pocketed at least the (now) asking price or more. Tisk tisk.

Anonymous said...

Very occasionally, i.e., rarely, not often, you might, Mama, give us pictures of a sale of, say, a place on the South Side of Chicago or somewhere in Detroit, that is going for, like, $45,000 or maybe even $50,000. In short the kind of house the vast US underclass inhabits. Why? Well it might do our souls and brains and sensibilities, if we still have any, some good to understand the extremes of wealth and poverty in this land of supposed democracy where everybody is, ahem, considered "equal." Just a little suggestion.

Anonymous said...

We are all "equal" under the law. Equality doesnt mean that everyone in this country should make the same pay or have the same prosperity. And if I want to see properties in the 50k range, I can probably go to your house.

Anonymous said...

@11:13, but we should all earn a living wage. No one said that a meter maid deserves the same pay as a neurosurgeon.

Extreme poverty does no society any good. Most of the poor work!

Anonymous said...

The way he's looking lately, and calling in sick to his 'show', he might be on his last legs and wanting to leave DeeDee and his boy more money.

Anonymous said...

Hard for me to be interested in anything Imus does or owns. Just never cared for him. How he could ever make the money he made to afford this place I will never know.

Anonymous said...

11:13 Thanks for your understanding. I can see you are very likely one of Bush's "compassionate" conservatives. Did I say everyone should make the "same pay"? I guess to mention the word "equality" is to use a dirty word, these days at least. How unequal would you like the US to be income-wise? A Gini Index of .99 perhaps?

Anonymous said...

July 10, 2012 3:46 PM
Save these comments for other types of websites.

people come here to 'relax their brains and get away for awhile.

you are not helping and not doing any thing useful at all here.

Anonymous said...

6:35: Well perhaps comments on the super rich don't belong on a blog about the houses of the super rich, or perhaps they do. In any case I might be performing a useful service in keeping your brain from becoming too "relaxed." Too many American brains are a bit too "relaxed" these days in my view, at least.

midTN said...

***

Anon: 3:46 PM...

You always come in with your Bush in a knot....you need to find time to relax and "unweave" it a bit.

Maybe try donating your spare time to the obama campaign?

***
I too am mystified as to why Imus is still, or has ever been, on the air for any reason. Including his very poor health. Good luck on the house sale though, Dierdre always needs the money for her charities.

Anonymous said...

This house is overpriced..

Unknown said...

Why in this country do we so worship the wealthy? These people apparently can do no wrong no matter how they got their (not there) money i.e. the Kennedys. Imus just drolls on about nothing and for some unknown reason gets paid $8 million a year! Something is very, very wrong here!

Sam Katz said...

Deirdre's biggest charity is herself. Spent a fortune on the New Mexico so-called charity ranch -- of other people' money, and has to beg for dough for the kids -- hardly any I might add. They could have cured cancer for all the money they spent on their houses and SUVs and private jet and all of it. And Don is the same miserable bastard he's always been for 40 years. He used to make fun of yuppies and had a "Die Yuppie" tee shirt, and he became the biggest money blow hard of them all. Hope he remains as miserable as he seems, despite his talentless casting couch hooker of a wife and her house cleaning books -- like she ever cleaned out anything but his wallet!