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Rhode Island's Most Expensive Houses

No time like the present to dream. And why not dream really big? Experts say the Rhode Island real estate market is in come-back mode, which translates into some decent deals, even in the luxe market.

Jonathan Wallen

Case in point: The famed Astors’ Beechwood went for $10.5 mil back in January, a steal considering its original $16 million asking price. Of course, a good deal is all relative, but it’s always fun to look — especially when the properties you’re scoping come with helipads and Hollywood lore.
 

The Timbers – $19,750,000
19-23 Ocean View Highway, Watch Hill

Boasting 900 feet of sandy shoreline (sans Scarborough’s crowds) and two three-bedroom guest cottages, this Watch Hill estate, owned by a retired Fairfield County finance guy, is primed for summer entertaining. Toss in a pool, wine cellar and a built-in outdoor grilling area and patio, and the guests aren’t going anywhere. No worries: Twelve fireplaces, a gourmet kitchen, an apple orchard and full bar will keep them warm and sated when fall hits. Built in 1917, the grand English Tudor-style home was designed by John Russell Pope — of Jefferson Memorial and National Gallery of Art fame — and recently went through a historically correct $10 million renovation.

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Hopedene – $19,500,000
43 Cliff Avenue, Newport

As if neighbors named Marble House and The Breakers and having the famed Cliff Walk meander along the edge of your front lawn isn’t glamorous enough, this oceanfront palace owned (according to the NY Post) by Palm Beach socialites, comes with some serious amenities. Gilt and wrought-iron gates set the tone, and the grand 1899 Georgian Revival doesn’t disappoint, packing perks like an Ogden Codman-designed ballroom, eight marble fireplaces, an elevator and killer views of the vast Atlantic. The grounds boast a pool, tennis court, heated garage and — who doesn’t need one? — an FAA-approved heli-pad. The adjacent carriage house offers plenty of space for overnight guests and entertaining, with five bedrooms and three baths up, and a game room and bar down. 

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Pomme de Mer – $16,800,000
7 Niantic Avenue, Watch Hill

Think of Pomme de Mer as a shingle-style beach cottage, on steroids. Surrounded by almost ten acres of greenscape, the secluded grounds are dotted with the formal (peren-nial plantings and specimen gardens) as well as the inten-tionally untamed (sand dunes, saltwater ponds and wild sea grasses). With 1,000 feet of sand and surf, and plenty of Atlantic Ocean-facing windows and terraces to take it all in (under blue skies Block Island appears in the distance), the modern estate provides a restful retreat that’s removed — but not too far — from town. The manse itself is open and airy, with no detail, from marble floors to a gourmet kitchen, overlooked.

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Villa Chiarra – $12,500,000
460 Rochambeau Avenue, ProvidencE

In an area dominated by huge houses looming over postage-stamp-size lots, this gated East Side compound, owned by former American Tourister president Leonard Granoff and his wife, Paula, is an anomaly. The magnificent grounds have a European air, thanks to formal gardens, grape arbors, a hidden courtyard and a Koi pond. The old-world aesthetic continues to the main house, which could be easily mistaken for a Tuscan villa. A grand staircase, soaring ceilings, a glassed-in atrium, and a formal ballroom with balcony and stage set a romantic scene that’s reinforced in the details: a larger-than-life stone fireplace, terra cotta floors in the dining room, and Venetian marble in the master bath. An adjacent carriage house — for guests, staff, or a budding artist in need of studio space — has loft-like living quarters and a kitchen that’s more modern than the main house’s.
 
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Gray Craig – $12,000,000
75 Gray Craig Road, Middletown

Nicolas Cage slept here. Or, at the very least, owned the place for a brief period of time. Tax troubles could be to blame for the bargain tag (relatively speaking) on this Middletown manor. The Oscar-winning actor bought it for $15.7 million in 2007 and, after reports that he owes the town $128,000 in back taxes, it’s on the market for $12 million. Even a non-celebrity can appreciate the privacy Gray Craig affords — being neighbors with the 300-acre Norman Bird Sanctuary has its pluses, and the estate itself has all the necessary bells and whistles, from a gourmet kitchen to a pool and tennis court. There are attached guest/staff quarters, but — added bonus for the unbelievably liquid — 
the adjacent 4,200-square-foot “Kennel Cottage” (sitting on an additional eight acres) is for sale for a cool $7 mil.  

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The Newport – $14,500,000 
1 Tower Drive, Portsmouth

Park Ave. amenities — think concierge, en suite elevators, state of the art security — meet Portsmouth at the Carnegie Abbey penthouse. Soaring twenty-two stories high and occupying an entire floor, the brand-new space comes with killer views as far as the eye can see (past the Newport Bridge and up to the Providence skyline on a clear day). The owner also has full access to the twenty-third floor, a private rooftop oasis with two decks and a glassed-in, temperature-controlled observation room (read: partying perch) with a kitchen and bath. There’s also an outdoor shower and a rooftop Jacuzzi for ten. A comped golf membership is the proverbial icing on the (very tall) cake.

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