The house in the single family 2-acre zone was known less for its street address at 499 Indian Field Road or its owner, Conservation Institute LLC, than its moniker, Copper Beech Farm, the last of the 50-acre waterfront estates.
The owner behind the LLC reportedly created by Ray Dalio and the sale earlier this month to an anonymous buyer for $138,830,000 is making headlines as potentially the most expensive home sale in Connecticut.
The 13,519 foot Victorian inspired eight-bedroom mansion on Long Island Sound, originally built in 1898 for industrialist John Hamilton Gourlie, anchors the estate that features a three bedroom guest house, two bedroom carriage house, grass tennis court, greenhouses, 75-foot swimming pool, two private beaches and a private island.
But the property also features forestland. And the owners received a break in property taxes in exchange for preserving it.
Citing state statute 12-504A, Greenwich Town Clerk Jackie Budkins said sellers last week paid a forest land conveyance tax penalty.
Under Public Act 490, an important land preservation tool for the state of Connecticut, a property owner’s savings in property taxes can be significant.
According to the Dept of Agriculture, Public Act 490 allows farmers to continue to farm, and other landowners to continue to own forest and open space land without being forced to sell it to pay the local property taxes.
And while the real estate ad copy mentions room for farm equipment and the presence of the original milking stalls, the arrangement to save on property taxes was in exchange for preserving forestland.
Ms Budkins explained that to receive the property tax relief granted to the parcel, the forest land was to continue to be preserved for 10 years.
Since the sellers failed to retain the property for the full 10 years, they became subject to the penalty.
Since the owners, Conservation Institute LLC, purchased the 50-acre property in April 2014 for $120,000,000 from Copper Beech Farm Inc, the preservation only lasted nine years. (Previously, Copper Beech Farm Inc had purchased it from the Lauder Greenway Estate in 1982).
The town received $347,075 in conveyance fees and $434,538 in penalties for the forest land credit for a total of $781,613, not so bad for the sellers in the context of their record-setting sale price.
One wonders what will happen to the forest land.
Note: this story was updated to add to the history of the property transfers.
